SHIV KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners are employed as language teachers in Government High Schools in the State of Haryana after having been selected through the Subordinate Services Selection Board in the year 1972. They are drawing salary in the pay scale of Rs. 1200-2040. All the petitioners are Hindi teachers except petitioner No. 46, who is a Punjabi teacher working in the Government High School, Bighar, District Hissar. Undisputedly, they are all matric pass (full subjects) with Prabhakar and J.B.T. Punjabi teacher (petitioner No. 46) is Giani pass with J.B.T.

(2.) Besides the petitioners, there are other language teachers as well as in the State of Haryana who are all matric pass (full subjects) with Prabhakar/Giani and O.T. and some of them were recruited along with the petitioners in the year 1972. It is common case of the parties that all the language teachers in the State prior to April 30, 1990 were drawing the same scale of pay no matter whether they possessed the qualification of O.T. or J.B.T. The State of Haryana as per its letter dated August 23, 1990 revised the pay scales of language teachers w.e.f. May 1, 1990 from Rs. 1200-2040 to Rs. 1400-2600. It is not disputed that this revised pay scale was not given to the petitioners because they did not possess the qualification of O.T. while all other language teachers who possessed this qualification were given the benefit of the revised pay scales. Petitioners represented that they be also given the revised pay scales w.e.f. May 1, 1990 as, according to them, the qualification of O.T. and J.B.T. had been treated by the State of Haryana to be equivalent all through and even at the time of their recruitment, teachers with J.B.T./O.T. qualification were considered to be possessing equal qualifications. Petitioners also relied on the letter dated March 12, 1976 issued by the Director, Public Instructions, Haryana laying down qualifications for the appointment of language teachers. According to this letter, the qualifications for a Hindi teacher were Matric-Prabhakar-O.T. or J.B.T. and that of a Punjabi teacher were Matric- Giani-O.T. or J.B.T.

(3.) In the reply filed on behalf of the respondent-state it has been categorically averred that the revised pay scales were given to the Hindi and Punjabi teachers who possessed the qualification of O.T. as prescribed under the Punjab Education Class-III (School Cadre) Rules, 1955. It is also the case of the respondents that Prabhakar O.T. is a higher qualification than J.B.T. According to them a language teacher acquires the qualification of O.T. after passing Prabhakar and is specifically trained as a language teacher whereas a teacher acquires the diploma of J.B.T. after passing matriculation and is specifically trained for teaching the primary classes and the respondents, therefore, submit that the qualification of Prabhakar/Giani and O.T. cannot be equated with Prabhakar/Giani and J.B.T.