JASMAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner was appointed as a Master (Teacher) in school cadre in 1992 and respondent Nos.4 and 5 were appointed as Mistresses in March and April 1994. At the time, the rules of service were known as the Punjab State Education Class III (School Cadre) Service Rules, 1978. Male and female cadres were separate and seniority was cast accordingly and promotions made cadre-wise from two channels according to separate lists on the next higher post of Lecturers. Respondent Nos.4 and 5 were promoted as Lecturers in August 2001. The petitioner claims he did not know of this till 2010 when the seniority list of teachers in school cadre was circulated. The petitioner was promoted as Lecturer in May 2012. He had evidently been 'ignored' for promotion according to longer length of service, at the time his female juniors were promoted in 2001 from their seniority list.

(2.) Aggrieved by being ignored for timely promotion from the date when his juniors were promoted he served a legal notice on the respondents which was not decided. He has approached this Court for an issuance of a mandamus to the State directing it to promote the petitioner with effect from the date when the juniors respondent Nos.4 and 5 were promoted eleven years before him even when they had much shorter length of service to their credit.

(3.) In Neelam Rani vs. State of Punjab and others, 2010 1 SCT 588, the Division Bench of this Court considered the constitutional validity of maintaining separate lists of male and female teachers and read down Rule 3 of the rules to mean:-