Amended CWP No.15884 of 1993 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH DATE OF DECISION: 20 .5.2010 I.K.Chandna … Petitioner Versus State of Haryana and another …Respondents CORUM HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE PERMOD KOHLI Present: Mr.Deepak Balyan, Advocate for the petitioner Mr.RS Kundu, Addl.A.G., Haryana PERMOD KOHLI, J. (Oral) The petitioner was initially appointed as Lecturer in K.M.College, Narwana on 15.7.1966. This College was a private college. The petitioner was designated as Senior Lecturer in the grade of Rs.400-800 on 18.2.1971. This private College was taken over by the State Government on 1.8.1979 and the services of the incumbents including the petitioner were also taken over by the State Government, subject to the conditions incorporated in the order dated 20.6.1979 (Annexure R-II). The relevant provisions of absorption in the government service are as under:- “(2)Only such members of the staff of the College as are considered suitable for absorption in Government service by the Haryana Public Service Commission/Haryana Subordinate Service Selection Board shall be taken who shall be treated as NEW ENTRANTS. Only Govt. scales of pay of respective categories shall be allowed to them and there shall be no personal grade for any one. Their pay in the Government scales will be fixed on the basis of length of service in equivalent/identical or higher time scales. There 1 Amended CWP No.15884 of 1993 shall be no guarantee in regard to protecting their existing salaries. XXX XXX XXX XXX (9)The staff, subject to their suitability may be appointed temporarily for a period of six months. Their absorption on regular basis shall, however, be subject to the condition laid down in sub para 2(2) above.” The petitioner was accordingly absorbed in the government service on the basis of the aforesaid government order. It is also admitted case of the petitioner that he was placed at the bottom of the seniority list of the Sr. Lecturers vide order dated 19.5.1989 (Annexure P-3). The petitioner has relied upon a judgment dated 5.11.1993 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No.3947 of 1990 (Dr.S.K.Khanna and others) alongwith other connected appeals, relating to promotion and seniority of the Lecturers/Sr.Lecturers. According to the petitioner, since he was promoted as Sr. Lecturer prior to 1973, hence he should be placed in the seniority list of Sr. Lecturers maintained by the State Government. However, the petitioner’s seniority has been fixed vide order dated 24.1.1994 (Annexure P-6) in the cadre of Lecturers by reversion from the post of Sr. Lecturer. It is this order which is under challenge in this writ petition. From the impugned order dated 24.1.1994 (Annexure P-6), it appears that the petitioner was reverted from the post of Sr. Lecturer and placed at Sr.No.3 with old seniority in the cadre of Lecturers at 747 and new seniority number as 90-C. It is contended on behalf of the petitioner that since the petitioner was promoted as Sr. Lecturer before 1.1.1973 under the orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Dr.S.K.Khanna vs. State of Haryana, 1994 (1) SCC 601, he be treated as Sr. Lecturer and accordingly placed in the cadre of Sr. Lecturers. His contention is that the impugned 2 Amended CWP No.15884 of 1993 order (Annexure P-6) is illegal and liable to be set aside. From the perusal of the judgment dated 5.11.1993 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Dr.S.K.Khanna (supra), it appears that it was a dispute of seniority amongst the government employees in government colleges and in that while deciding the dispute the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that w.e.f. 1.1.1973, the post of Sr.Lecturer has been done away with and only such of the persons who were promoted as Sr. Lecturers prior to 1.1.1973 will be protected in the said rank. It is contended on behalf of the petitioner that since the petitioner was also promoted as Sr. Lecturer prior to 1.1.1973, hence he is entitled to be placed in the category of Sr. Lecturers. It is admitted case of the parties that private College where the petitioner was serving was taken over by the Government w.e.f. 1.8.1979 on the conditions stipulated in the taking over order (Annexure R-II). A conjoint reading of condition nos.2 and 9 makes it clear that all the employees of the erstwhile Colleges taken over by the government were to be treated as new entrants in the government service and have to be placed in the equivalent posts in the government service. At the relevant time, there was no post of Sr. Lecturer having been abolished. Apart from that the petitioner has to be treated as new entrant. For a new entrant, the only post available was Lecturer. The Sr. Lecturer is promotional post and the petitioner could not have been appointed as Sr. Lecturer. The petitioner has not challenged the conditions stipulated in Annexure RII in this writ petition. The judgment of the Supreme Court relied upon by the petitioner has no application to the present case as it pertains to the dispute of government employees working in government college. The petitioner’s promotion was not in a government College, but in private College. He is to be governed by the conditions of absorption which 3 Amended CWP No.15884 of 1993 he accepted without any reservation. In view of the above, I find no merit in this petition which is accordingly dismissed. (Permod Kohli) Judge 20.5.2010 MFK 4