CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) Decided on : 21-03-2011 Ram Kumar ....Petitioner VERSUS State of Haryana and another ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. R.N.Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. Harish Rathee, Sr. DAG, Haryana MAHESH GROVER, J This civil writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking a right to be considered for the post of Headmaster High School from the date when his juniors have been promoted. He further prays that since his case has already been set in motion vide orders dated 23.5.2009 he should be granted the consequential promotion w.e.f the date when his juniors have been promoted on 30.4.2008. The case of the petitioner is that he is working as Hindi teacher and has to his credit the qualifications of Prabhakar, BA, MA (Sanskrit) and has also acquired a Language Teacher Course (LT) and thus is fully eligible for the post of Headmaster as against the seven percent quota meant for promotees which is to be given effect to as per roster given in Appendix E of the Rules. He invokes Rule 9(d) of the Haryana State Education (School & Inspection Cadre) (Group 'B') Service Rules, 1998 which is as follows:- “9(d) In case of Headmaster of High School/Junior CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) 2 Specialist/Programmer Assistant: (I)xxx (II)xxx (III)7% by promotion from amongst the Hindi Teachers as per roster given in the Appendix E. Rule 7 of the said rules provides the qualifications for the post of Headmaster which is also extracted herebelow:- “Rule 7 of the Group B Service Rules is concerned with the qualification qua the post of Headmaster and as per that no person can be appointed to the post of Headmaster unless he or she is in possession of qualification and experience specified in column no.3 of Appendix B to the rules which is being reproduced here as under:- Sr. No Designati on of posts Academic qualifications and experience, if any, for direct recruitment Academic qualification and experience, if any, of appointment other than by direct recruitment 1 2 3 4 4 Headmast er of High School/ Junior Specialist/ Programm er Assistant i) BA/B.Sc/B.Com or equivalent qualification recognized by Haryana Education Department Preference will be given to MA/M.Sc.. M.Com or equivalent Post Graduate qualification recognized by the Department ii) B.T/B.Ed./SSTC/ SAV/LT/ Diploma in Basic education or one years teachers training for Graduate at University or Post Graduate Training college. iii)Eight years teaching experience as Master in Govt. recognized Senior Secondary/ High Middle Schools/ Teachers Training Institution relaxable to four years for Emergency commissioned officer but the total teaching experience and service in the Army should be Eight years iv) Hindi upto Matric Standard. (i) Three years experience as Block Education Officer; knowledge of Hindi upto Matric Standard. By Promotion (i) Eight years experience as Headmaster of Middle School or Master; or (ii) B.T/B.Ed and eight years experience as Sanskrit Teacher/ Hindi Teacher or Punjabi Teacher by transfer to deputation. (i) Two years experience as Headmaster of High School (ii) knowledge of Hindi upt Matric Standard. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner there are CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) 3 two sources from which Headmasters can be appointed i.e. direct recruits and promotees and quota of 7 percent having been provided for the latter category and he being fully eligible should have been considered and appointed as such with effect from the date from which his juniors have been promoted. The respondents have disputed the claim of the petitioner primarily on the ground that he does not possess the requisite qualification of BT/B.Ed and that he belongs to category of Lecturers and thus dis- entitled for the claim which he has set up in the writ petition. On due consideration of the matter, I am of the considered opinion that the stand of the respondents is fallacious. The respondents have contested the eligibility of the petitioner to say that he does not have the requisite qualification of BT/B.Ed which is essential for the category of promotees. There is no denial to the fact that the petitioner has the requisite experience and has been denied promotion solely on the ground that he does not have the requisite qualification which plea is also found to be baseless because if the qualification for the direct recruits is to be seen then the prescription is BT/B.Ed/SSTC/SAV/LT. It is thus abundantly clear that LT (Language Teacher Course) has been recognized as the essential educational qualification enabling a person to be appointed as Headmaster/Head Mistress. If this particular qualification is good for the direct recruits then it is not conceivable as to why it is held to be inapplicable in the case of promotees. In CWP no.1681 of 2002 titled as 'Ajit Sen, Sanskrit Teacher vs. State of Haryana decided on 17.9.2004. this Court observed as under:- “In view of the observations of the Division Bench CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) 4 of this Court in Ajit Sen's case (supra) by which I am bound, the qualification of Shiksha Shastri (OT Sanskrit) having been found to be recognized as equivalent to B.Ed examination, it is to be taken that the same is valid not only for recruitment as Sanskrit Teacher but also for the purpose of promotion to the post of Headmaster in terms of Group 'B' Rules. In fact, in the written statement, it is the stand of the respondents themselves that the degree of Shiksha Shastri (OT Sanskrit) has been recognized by the State Government as equivalent to B.Ed degree for direct recruitment to the post of Headmaster. Therefore, it is incomprehensible as to why the same qualification of Shiksha Shastri (OT Sanskrit) is not a valid or a recognized qualification for the purposes of promotion to the post of Headmaster. The stand, therefore, that the rules for promotion to the post of Headmaster does not contain words “ or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana Government” and thus, cannot be read in rules is devoid of merit, as the respondents have themselves read the same in rules for the purposes of appointment to the post of Headmaster by way of direct recruitment. Therefore, there cannot be two different sets for equivalence for the purpose of appointment to the same post of Headmaster in the present case. In other words, the respondent cannot take the stand that the qualification of Shiksha Shastri (OT Sanskrit) from Chandigarh Administration is an equivalent qualification to that of B.Ed for the purposes of appointment as Headmaster by CWP No. 14737 of 2010 (O&M) 5 direct recruitment but is not equivalent for the purposes of appointment by promotion. This would be clearly arbitrary and discriminatory besides being hit by Article 14 of the Constitution.” The aforesaid view was approvingly followed by the Division Bench of this Court in case titled as Bahadur Singh vs. State of Haryana reported as 2009(1) RSJ 100. The respondents therefore are clearly in error in creating this artificial distinction, as the same is irrational. The impugned action is therefore, totally arbitrary and unsustainable. Accordingly, the writ petition is accepted and the petitioner is held entitled to promotion as Headmaster. The necessary decision in this regard be taken in the light of the observations made above within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of this order. In the event of the petitioner being promoted, the promotion shall be granted to him with effect from the date when his juniors have been promoted. However, he shall not be entitled to any monetary consequences and only a notional promotion from the date when his juniors were promoted be awarded to the petitioner. March 21, 2011 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge