G VENUGOPAL Vs. DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a retired B. T. Middle School headmaster and he is challenging the proceedings issued by the respondents 3 and 4, ordering recovery of the alleged excess payments made to him, while he was in service, which was confirmed by the Tribunal.

(2.) THE brief facts leading to the filing of this writ petition are that the petitioner was appointed as elementary School Headmaster in the year 1966 and thereafter in the year 1979, i. e. after a period of 13 years, he was promoted to the post of B. T. Middle School Headmaster and since subsequently, the Middle School, where the petitioner was working, was upgraded as High School in the year 1989, he was absorbed as B. T. Assistant in the said High School from 1989 and retired as such on 31. 5. 2003. When proposals were sent regarding the payment of the retiral benefits to the petitioner, the third respondent, took an objection regarding the fixation of the pay of the petitioner as a middle School Headmaster and directed to fix the pay of the petitioner in the time scale of Rs. 1640-2900 instead of rs. 2000-3200 w. e. f. 7. 7. 1989 and Rs. 6500-10500 instead of rs. 9100-14050. It is also ordered that the petitioner is eligible for Special Grade Scale of Pay of B. T. Assistant at rs. 8000-13500 only w. e. f. 7. 11. 1999 and that he is not eligible for bonus increment, observing that the petitioner has not completed ten years in special grade and 30 years in the same post. With such directions, the third respondent directed the fourth respondent to review the entire pay fixation from the date of absorption of the petitioner in the post of B. T. Assistant from the post of Headmaster, middle School and to recover the excess pay and allowances paid to the petitioner. In compliance of the said directions of the third respondent, the fourth respondent, by his order dated 25. 11. 2003, has ordered recovery of a total sum of Rs. 4,35,007/= from the terminal benefits of the petitioner, by re-fixing his pay. These orders were unsuccessfully challenged by the petitioner before the tribunal, resulting in his landing before this Court, by way of this writ petition.

(3.) THERE is no dispute with regard to the fact that by the time the petitioner entered into service in the year 1966, the pay of the post of the Secondary Grade Teacher and the Headmaster of Elementary School is one and same and the post of Headmaster was not a promotive post, which was made so on and from 1. 6. 1988 by giving higher pay scale to the post of Elementary School Headmaster by G. O. Ms. No. 1381, education Department, dated 5. 10. 1990, after the implementation of the V Pay Commission Report. But, even prior to that, i. e. on 7. 11. 1979 itself, the petitioner was promoted to the post of B. T. Grade Middle School Headmaster in Mittapalli, Uthangarai Panchayat Union and since on and from 7. 7. 1989, the said School was upgraded as High School, the petitioner was absorbed as B. T. Assistant. Thus, the petitioner has worked as Elementary School Headmaster for a period of 13 years 5 months and as a B. T. Grade Middle School headmaster for a period of 8 years and 8 months, in toto more than 22 years. As such, since as on 1. 6. 1988, he was holding the post of B. T. Grade Middle School Headmaster and had completed more than 20 years of Service as Elementary school Headmaster and Middle School Headmaster, he was awarded Special Grade Middle School Headmaster pay scale of rs. 2200-4000 from 1. 6. 1988 onwards by the Assistant education Officer, Uthangarai in his proceedings in na. Ka. No. 1266/91, A1, in the month of December, 1991.