JAGDISH CHANDER SHARMA Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Is the post of Assistant Librarian in the office of the Advocate General, Haryana equivalent of that of Librarian in the Haryana Civil Secretariat This is the short question that arises for consideration in this writ petition. The petitioner claims that in the year 1977 he was appointed to this post and was placed in the scale of Rs. 300-600 which was also the scale for the post of Librarian in the Civil Secretariat. Inferentially, the two posts were treated as equal and the action of the State Govt. in placing the post of Assistant Librarian in a lower scale of pay than that granted to the Librarian suffers from the vice of discrimination and is thus violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Is it so A few facts may be noticed.

(2.) The post of Assistant Librarian in the office of the Advocate General, Haryana, was sanctioned by the Govt. vide order dated November 4, 1977. A copy of the order has been produced as Annexure P-1 with the writ petition. A perusal thereof shows that the Govt. had accorded sanction "to the creation of the post of Assistant Librarian on purely temporary basis in the grade of Rs. 300-25-600 plus usual allowances as sanctioned by the Haryana Government from time to time from the date of entertainment upto 28.2.1978." The petitioner who was working as a Clerk was promoted to this post on November 5, 1977. Thereafter, there have been periodic revisions of scales of pay. The position in this behalf has been summarised in para 5 of the written statement filed on behalf of the respondents. It is as under :-

(3.) Mr. Surya Kant, learned counsel for the petitioner, submits that the post of Assistant Librarian was equated to that of Librarian in the year 1977. Thereafter, nothing had happened which could entitle the State Govt. to create a disparity between the two posts. The petitioner was entitled to parity of treatment in the scale of pay and should have been granted the same scale of pay as had been granted to the Librarian in the Civil Secretariat. Ms. Ritu Bahri, appearing for the respondents contests this claim.