K L WADHAWAN Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner was appointed as a Lecturer at Hindu College, Amritsar, on 16. 7. 1963 and he worked in that College upto 9. 7. 1964. Thereafter, he left the said college and joined D. A. V. College as Lecturer in Physics on 10. 7. 1964. One B. L. Seth who was lecturer in Physics was appointed in D. A. V. College, on 18. 2. 1964 while Shri K. K. Gupta, was appointed in D. A. V. College as Lecturer in Physics on 16. 10. 1963. In the seniority list maintained by the D. A. V. College, Sarv Sh. B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta were shown as senior to the petitioner.

(2.) IN this writ petition, the petitioner is seeking the relief of issuance of a writ of certiorari to quash the seniority list circulated by the 3rd respondent on 27. 1. 1988 and also issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the release of selection grade to the petitioner as according to the petitioner, if his seniority is fixed over the above S/shri B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta, he will be among the first 20 persons on the basis of the correct seniority. Though in the main writ petition, the petitioner has not impleaded B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta, they got themselves impleaded as respondents No. 4 and 5 in this writ petition. The D. A. V. College, Amritsar, which is respondent No. 2 filed a written statement saying that Sarv Shri B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta joined the D. A. V. College much prior to the petitioner's joining the same and therefore, they are rightly treated as seniors to the petitioner. It is further averred that the petitioner was confirmed as Lecturer only on 10. 7. 1965 whereas B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta were confirmed as Lecturers on 18. 2. 1965 and 16. 10. 1964 respectively. Further, according to the respondents, the petitioner cannot take advantage of his one year service rendered by him in Hindu College, Amritsar. The appointment in the D. A. V. College, Amritsar is a fresh appointment and therefore his seniority was rightly fixed according to the date of his joining in the D. A. V. College and therefore the petitioner is not entitled to any of the reliefs prayed for in the writ petition. Similar, contentions have been raised by private respondents 4 to 5.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the petitioner placed much reliance on the decision of this court in C. W. P. No. 17354 of 1994. There the claim of the petitioners therein was for the grant of benefit of past service rendered by them in the various colleges in the State of Punjab and for the grant of senior/selection grade with all consequential benefits. That decision does not deal with the question of fixing the seniority of Lecturers inter se working in the Colleges. The question whether a person who joined later in point of time after resigning the service in other college can claim a march over and above the persons who are already working in that college, has not come up for consideration in that case. The inter se seniority of the Lecturers working in the College was not in issue in the decision relied upon. Same is the case with the decision in C. W. P. No. 8030 of 1976. Therefore, I am not able to place any reliance on the aforesaid decisions. I am of the opinion that the case is fully governed by the rules governing the service conditions of the lecturers appointed in D. A. V. College. Under the rules, governing the conditions of service, the seniority in a scale will be determined by length of service from the date of confirmation in the College. The petitioner was admittedly appointed in the year 1964 and he was confirmed on 10. 7. 1965 whereas Sarv Shri B. L. Seth and K. K. Gupta were confirmed on 18. 2. 1965 and 16. 10. 1964 respectively. Further under the rules governing the appointment in D. A. V. College, "a Teacher transferred from one College to another at his own request will take seniority from the date he joins the college to which he has been transferred. However, seniority of a teacher transferred from one College to another at the instance of the D. A. V. College Managing Committee will be protected".