NAGESHWAR THAKUR Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) I shall dispose of these two C.W.J.C. Nos. 1339/74 and 1562/75 by a common judgment.

(2.) The common point arises for consideration in both these petitions are whether Acharyas are entitled to get special Pay-scale of M.A. Trained teacher in the High School? It is conceded by the counsel of both the parties that 'Acharyas' are treated at par with M.A. In this connection learned Counsel for the petitioners relied on a decision of the Supreme Court in Rampalit Vyakaran Acharya v. Punjab University . It is relevant here to quote paragraph 8 of the judgment. That Acharya is equivalent to M.A. is clear from the Government of India, Ministry of Education to Education secretaries of all the State Government/Union Territory Governments/Administrations and Registrars of all Universities on the subject of equivalence of Sanskrit Examinations as given in an enclosed statement. Entry 21 in column 1 of that statement mentions the Punjab University, Chandigarh, where Shashtri is shown as equivalent to B.A. and Acharya to M.A. It is significant to note from the fetter of the Ministry of Education that Government is keen regarding development of Sanskrit in the country and it has impressed upon all the Universities 'that they should employ at least Me traditional Sanskrit Scholar and the scholar so employed should enjoy the same status and pay-scales as his counter-parts trained on modern lines with equivalent degrees". It goes on further to say "that the employment of traditional Sankrit Pandits in High/Higher secondary Schools/Colleges should also be given the due encouragement. Teachers so employed should be treated on par with other teachers possessing equivalent qualifications of the general educational set up.

(3.) Now the admitted position is that "Acharya" examination is treated equivalent to M.A. in Sanskrit. In C.W.J.C. 1339/74, the petitioner-Nageshwar Thakur passed the Acharya Examination in Sanskrit with Vyakaran as special subject. In C.W.J.C. 1562/75, the petitioner--Bhagwat Sharan Tripathy passed the Acharya examination in Sanskrit with Sahitya as special subject. It is, therefore, clear that both these petitioners will be treated at par with M.A. These two petitioners also claim that they have passed training courses in Education.