SUBASH CHANDER Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner was appointed Superintendent Jail by the State of Punjab. He was promoted as Deputy Superintendent Jail on 15.11.1976 and further promoted as Deputy Superintendent Grade-I/Superintendent Distt. Jail, was given to the petitioner on 16.8.1983. Vide Annexure P/2 dated 29V7.1988, petitioner was transferred as Superintendent Central Jail, Gurdaspur, which is a Class-I job with higher pay scale but the petitioner was transferred as such with the following stipulation: "In his own pay scale of Superintendent District Jail".

(2.) Petitioner filed the present writ petition seeking a mandamus directing the respondents to grant the petitioner pay scale of Superintendent Central Jail Class-I with effect from 29.7.1988, that is the date from which the petitioner was promoted as such and was performing the duties on that post; the second relief claimed by the petitioner was that he be deemed to have been promoted as Superintendent Central Jail with effect from 29.7.1988 and be granted all subsequent benefits for which the petitioner, was entitled to. Counsel appearing for the petitioner, restricted his arguments on the first question only. Therefore, the present writ petition is disposed of only on that count. Counsel for the petitioner stated that for the second relief and for certain other reliefs, the petitioner has already filed a fresh writ petition and seeks the permission of this Court to agitate the relief regarding in any other forum and the present writ petition is restricted to the first relief claimed by the counsel for the petitioner.

(3.) Contention of the petitioner' is that since the petitioner was discharging the duties of Superintendent Central Jail which is a Class-I post, he has to be paid the grade which the said post carries and the petitioner could not be compelled to work on a higher post in his own pay scale of Superintendent District Jail. For this relief, petitioner has relief upon an unreported judgment of this Court in Sadhu Singh and another V/s. The State of Punjab and another, CWP 5980 of 1990, decided on August 1, 1990 and K.L. Goyal and another V/s. The State of Haryana and another, CWP 11486 of 1990, decided on 19.3.1991. In K.L. Goyal's case under somewhat similar circumstances, the Division Bench of this Court held as under: