JASPAL SINGH Vs. COMMANDANT GENERAL, PUNJAB HOME GUARDS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner was appointed as Bandman in the Office of Commandant Combined Home Guards and Civil Defence Training Institute, Mohali in the scale of Rs. 400-600. This appointment was on ad-hoc basis for 89 days and was further extended thereafter. Bandman in a Class IB post and it is not in dispute that the petitioner did not fulfil the educational qualifications prescribed for this post by the Punjab Home Guards Class III (Field) Services Rules, 1983. The Commandant General, Punjab Home Guards and Director Civil Defence, Punjab referred the case of the petitioner to the State Government for relaxation in educational qualifications which was permissible under the rules. The State Government declined to relax the educational qualifications and, therefore, by an order dated 13.9.1993 the petitioner was given appointment as a Class IV employee for 89 days against vacant post. It is this order that he been challenged in the present petition. The Motion Bench while issuing notice of motion on 22.10.1993 stayed the operation of the impugned order.

(2.) During the pendency of the writ petition, the State Government filed Civil Miscellaneous application 3588 of 1995 with a prayer that it should be permitted to absorb the petitioner as a regular Class IV employee since he did not fulfil the qualifications for the post of a Bandman. Another prayer made was that the stay order granted by this Court be vacated, by an order passed on 6.7.1995 the stay order was vacated and die State Government was permitted to give a regular appointment to the petitioner as Class IV employee. The petitioner then filed Civil Miscellaneous Application No. 9401 of 1995 alleging that he had not been paid his salary since June this year and that the respondents be directed to pay the same. When this application came up for hearing today, counsel for the parties requested that the main writ petition be disposed of. The request was allowed and the writ petition was taken up for regular hearing.

(3.) It is common case of the parties that the petitioner does not possess the qualifications for the post of Bandman. He cannot, therefore, be appointed against that post The only other alternative with the respondents was to give the petitioner employment as a Class IV employee which they have done. No further direction is thus necessary in this regard. Since the petitioner claims that he has not been paid his salary since June, 1995, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to pay his salary upto date within 2 weeks from today. No costs.