RAWAIL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This shall dispose of Civil Writ Petitions No. 12141 of 1989, 4878, 6418, 6721, 9941, 9944, 9945, 13858, 13926, 16499, 17064, 6791 of 1989, and 3568, 4730, 8403, 3274, 11156 & 16623 of 1990. The facts are taken from Civil Writ Petition No. 17005 of 1989. In all these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, prayer has been made for the issuance of a writ in the nature of Mandamus, directing the respondents to refix the pay of the petitioners, w.e.f. 1.1.1978 by stepping up their pay equivalent to the persons who entered into service with Post-Graduate qualifications or acquired Post Graduate qualifications after 1.1.1978. The precise grievance made in the petition is that Masters and Mistresses who joined service with Post Graduate qualifications or acquired these qualifications later to the petitioners are drawing more pay than what is being paid to the petitioners who joined service with Post Graduate qualifications or acquired these qualifications earlier, as the case may be.

(2.) In brief, the facts are that petitioners joined service as Masters/Mistresses and acquired the Post Graduate qualifications, such as M.A./M.Sc. M.Ed. Petitioners previously had filed writ petitions in this Court, claiming that they are entitled to advance increments, i.e. three increments in the case of those who were 1st and 2nd Class M.A./M.Sc./M.Ed. and two increments in the case of those who acquired these qualifications in 3rd division as envisaged by the Punjab Government Educational Services Class-III, School Cadre Rules, 1955 (in short, 1955 Rules) which govern their conditions of service and also Govt. instructions contained in letter dated 23.7.1957 and the subsequent letters/instructions issued by the State vide its order No. 9/9/79-FR(2)/143 dated 19.2.1979 and No. 8937-5PEDII-79/2659 dated 20.9.1979. The matter came up for hearing before I.S. Tiwana, J, (as his Lordships then was) in Civil Writ Petitions No. 2632, 4428, 5170, 5537, 5544, 5700, 5885, 6021 of 1985 and 445 and 446 of 1986, and the same were allowed by passing a common judgment in Civil Writ Petition No. 2632 of 1985 on 21.2.1986. It was held therein that petitioners who were either having Post Graduate qualifications, i.e. M.A./M.Sc./M.Ed., at the time of their entry into service, are entitled to advance increments in the light of letters dated 1.9.1960 and 19.2.1979, with effect from the date of their entry into service with higher qualification or date of acquiring the Post Graduate qualifications. It would be relevant to notice the following observations in Civil Writ Petition No. 2632 of 1985 :

(3.) When the relief granted in the afore-mentioned writ petitions by the Supreme Court was not given to the Post Graduate Masters and Mistresses including the petitioners in similar writ petitions, they filed contempt petitions in this court. The Punjab Government vide Memo. No. T(32) 85-IEDU- 11/4 dated Chandigarh, 1.1.1978 accorded sanctioned for providing a charged amount of Rs. 4.50 crores in the revised estimates of 1987-88 under the Head of Account, 22.2 Gen. Edu-02-3 Secondary Edu. 109 Government Secondary Schools to implement the orders of this Court which had been confirmed by Supreme Court, for granting advance increments to Masters and Mistresses on acquiring qualifications of M.A./M.Sc./M.Ed. The Director of Public Instructions (Schools) Punjab, Chandigarh, sent copies of the Writ Petitions filed by these Post Graduate Masters and Mistresses to the concerned District Education Officers for the implementation of the said order.