BAL KRISHNA SINGH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Rajendra Narain, Learned Counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Gautam Bose, learned AAG-8, on behalf of the State. As with regard to the following prayer of the petitioner:-

(2.) Mr. Gautam Bose, Learned Counsel for the State, on the other hand, would submit that when the Central Council for Indian Medicine being the statutory controlling body for the Homeopathic Medicine, had itself decided to recognize equivalence of diploma and degree holder only up to 1983 session, the petitioner, being a diploma holder of the year 1984, would not be entitled to get the same pay-scale as extended to the diploma holders up to the year 1983. To that extent, he has placed reliance not only on Annexure-A to the counter affidavit containing a notification dated 21.11.1992, but would also rely on an order passed by the State Government on 15.9.1997 pursuant to an order passed by this Court in the case of one Dr. Amreshwar Prasad, also a Homeopathic Chikitsak.

(3.) In the considered opinion of this Court, while it would be always open for the State to lay down educational qualification as a criteria for fixation of pay but no discrimination can be made in the matter of fixation and payment of pay scale and salary amongst those who have already entered in service on the basis of same qualification for the same post. In this case, when the petitioner had entered In service in the year 1987 on the basis of an advertisement issued in the year 1986 containing the requirement of the post of Homeopathic Chikitsak to be either of a degree holder or diploma holder it did not earmark the year of passing of diploma examination for the fixation of pay. In fact a diploma holder, who had qualified in terms of the advertisement, was entitled to get same pay i.e. Rs. 850-1, 360/- as payable to a degree holder. Eventually, when the said pay-scale was revised with retrospective effect from 1,1.1986 in Rs. 2,200-4,000/- and a classification was sought to be created for diploma holder Homeopathic Chikitsak by placing them in lower pay-scale of Rs. 1,500-2,750/-, this Court did not approve the same and had specially remitted the matter back to the authority to decide this very issue. Pursuant thereto, the State Government by an order dated 15.9.1997 in case of Dr. Amreshwar Prasad Sinha, who had earlier filed CWJC No. 2950 of 1995, had held as follows:-