Civil Writ Petition No.13092 of 2008 : 1 : IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: September 14, 2009 Joginder Singh ...Petitioner VERSUS State of Haryana & others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJIT SINGH 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present: Mr.R.K.Malik, Senior Advocate with Ms.Renu Chaudhary, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr.Harish Rathee, Sr.DAG, Haryana, for the State. ***** RANJIT SINGH, J. The petitioner was appointed to the post of Helper by sending a requisition to the Employment Exchange on 31.10.1988. As per the requisition, matric with ITI was the essential qualification for appointment to the post of Helper. In August, 2004, some of the Helpers, who are matric with ITI qualification, were granted pay scale Civil Writ Petition No.13092 of 2008 : 2 : of Rs.1200-2040 w.e.f. 1.5.1990 and were further granted scale of Rs.4000-6000. The petitioner claims the same relief being similarly situated as compared to these persons. The petitioner approached the authorities for the grant of said relief, but no action was taken. The petitioner then served an advance notice of writ petition-cum- final demand notice on 25.8.2007 for claiming the same relief. He still did not receive any response. Accordingly, he filed this writ petition on 26.9.2007claiming pay scale as was granted to the similarly situated employees. In support of his claim, the petitioner has placed reliance on a Division Bench decision of this court passed in Civil Writ Petition No.2032 of 2000 (Attar Singh Fitter and others Vs. State of Haryana and others), decided on 17.9.2002 (Annexure P-3). The operative portion of the judgment reads as under:- “11. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and having given our thoughtful consideration to the entire controversy, we find that the present petition deserves to succeed. It is not in dispute that the petitioners did possess the qualification of matriculation with ITI certificates and it was only on the basis of the aforesaid qualifications with ITI certificates that they were actually appointed in the workshop run by the Haryana Roadways. The judgment of the Division Bench in Ram Kishan's case (supra) wherein a direction had been issued to the State of Haryana to refix the pay of the petitioners according to their qualification. The matriculation with ITI certificates supports the contention raised by the petitioners. Civil Writ Petition No.13092 of 2008 : 3 : Subsequently, a Single Bench judgment of this court in Labh Singh and others Vs. State of Haryana and others, 1995(1) Recent Service Judgments 345 followed the directions issued in Ram Kishan's case (supra). 12.Thus, in this view of the matter, the present writ petition is allowed and the order dated February 12, 1999 Annexure P/5 is hereby quashed. The respondents are directed to fix the pay of the petitioners in the pay scale of Rs.1200-2040 with effect from May 1, 1990 as per the circular dated August 23, 1990. 13. Accordingly, the respondents shall re-fix the pay of the petitioners are indicated above within a period of four months from the date a certified copy of the order is received by them. However, the payment of the arrears to the petitioners on the aforesaid basis is restricted to the period of 38 months prior to July 22, 1997 i.e. the date when they served the legal notice upon the respondents claiming the aforesaid modified pay scales. No costs.” It is, thus, seen that the persons, who possessed the qualification of matric with ITI certificate were held entitled to the pay scale of Rs.1200-2040, it being the essential qualification and being basis for appointment. Reference can also be made to another Division Bench judgment in the case of CWP No.7920 of 1993 (Ram Kishan and others Vs. State of Haryana and others), decided on 1.12.1993. The petitioner has placed on record Civil Writ Petition No.13092 of 2008 : 4 : Annexures P-6 and P-7, which would show that at the time of sending requisition for filling up the post of Helper, the Transport Commissioner had clearly asked for the person with the qualification of matric with ITI diploma. Counsel would also refer to Annexure P-7 to say that the petitioner was appointed with ITI diploma being the essential qualification. Mr.Rathee, however, will oppose the prayer on the ground that the petitioner at the time of appointment was Helper only and the scale which he is asking for was not meant for Helper, but was for skilled persons. Semi-skilled persons and the Un-skilled persons were in the pay scale of Rs.950-1400 and Rs.750-940. The case set up by the petitioner is that at the time of appointment, minimum qualification was ITI with matric and such like persons have been fixed in the scale of Rs.1200-2040. The petitioner, as per the counsel, accordingly cannot be denied this scale. From the averments as made in the petition and the documents placed on record, it is apparent that the case of the petitioner is covered by the decision in Attar Singh's case (supra), copy of which is annexed with the petition as Annexure P-3. Mr.Rathee, however, is justified in making a grievance that petitioner has approached this court with considerable delay and cannot be granted the same relief at this stage. Since the issue is covered and the petitioner is asking for the same relief from the year 2004 onwards, it will be fair to grant relief to the petitioner by restricting it for a period of 38 months from the date of filing the petition. Accordingly, while allowing the writ petition in terms of the order passed in Attar Singh's case (supra), it Civil Writ Petition No.13092 of 2008 : 5 : is directed that the arrears due to the petitioner shall be restricted to 38 months from the date of filing of this petition. However, the petitioner shall be entitled to notional fixation of his pay from the date it is due to him. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of in the above terms. September 14, 2009 ( RANJIT SINGH ) ramesh JUDGE