IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH SHIMLA CWP(T) No. 6825 of 2008 Date of Decision : August 16, 2010 Smt. Sarla Devi Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and others Respondents Coram: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Karol, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 No. For the petitioner : Mr. Yudhbir Singh, Advocate vice Mr. K. D. Shreedhar, Advocate, for the petitioner. For the respondents : Mr. Ram Murti Bisht, Deputy Advocate General for the respondents/State. Sanjay Karol, J. (Oral) The petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:- “(i) That the respondents may be directed to award special certificate of J.B.T. to the applicant on completion of five years service with all consequential benefits. (ii) That the respondents may be directed to count the service rendered by the applicant as a Volunteer Teacher from 22.12.86 to 20.8.97 for the purpose of pay fixation and seniority. They may also be directed to give annual increments to the applicant for the said period and fix her pay accordingly. Whether reports of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2 (iii) That the respondents may be directed to produce the entire record pertaining to the case of the applicant and the respondents may be burdened with the cost of this application throughout.” 2. There is no dispute that the petitioner was appointed in terms of letter dated 22.12.1986 (Annexure A-1) on a fixed amount of Rs. 250/- per month for a period of two years purely as a Voluntary Teacher. The said appointment was pursuant to the scheme floated by the respondents known as “Volunteer Teachers Scheme 1986”. For those persons who were appointed as teachers under the said scheme, the respondents/State took a decision which was conveyed vide letter dated 27.11.1995. It reads as under: “To The Director of Primary Education, Himachal Pradesh, Shimla-1. Dated Shimla-2, 27th November, 1995 Subject:- Granting of Special JBT Certificates to the Vol. Teachers who have completed 10 years continuous service in Government Primary School and those who have worked in Literacy campaign for two years. Sir, I am directed to say that the question regarding granting of special JBT certificate to the Volunteer Teachers who have completed 10 years continuous service in Government Primary Schools in the State was under consideration of the Government for some time past. 2. It has now been decided that the Volunteer Teachers who have completed 10 years of continuous service in Government Primary Schools be given special Junior Basic 3 Training Certificate. The Volunteer Teachers who have worked in the Literacy campaign for two years be given one year relaxation in grant of special Junior Basic Training Certificate i.e. in their case 10 years would be reduced to Nine years. 3. It has also been decided that refresher in service course of about three months duration would be organized for the Volunteer Teachers holding special JBT certificates. You are, therefore, requested to implement that above orders accordingly. Yours faithfully, Sd/- Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Edu) to the Government of Himachal Pradesh.” 3. There is no dispute that benefit of the 1986 scheme and the letter stands accorded to the petitioner in entirety. 4. However it is the petitioner’s grievance that in the year 1991 respondent came out with yet another scheme. Persons engaged under the said scheme were issued J.B.T. special certificate only after a period of five years. In the case of the petitioner this was done after 10/9 years. Even though it is not so specifically pleaded but it is orally urged that this has led to discrimination. The contention needs to be rejected. 5. The respondents in their reply have categorically stated as under:- “1. That the applicant is not entitled to maintain the present original application, because neither any discrimination nor injustice has been done to the applicant, with the observation that the applicant has been engaged as Volunteer Teacher under the Volunteer Teachers Scheme 1986 by respondent No. 4 3 vide letter dated 22.12.1986, copy of which is annexed by the applicant as annexure A/1. The applicant subsequently joined her duties accordingly. The Government of Himachal Pradesh sympathetically considered that Volunteer Teachers who had been engaged as Volunteer teacher under the Volunteer Teacher Scheme 1986 and had completed 10 years of regular service will be awarded JBT Special Certificate and also decided that refresher inservice course of about 3 months duration would be organized for the Volunteer Teachers holding Special JBT certificate vide Government letter No. EDN-C-B(2)5/95 dated 27th November, 1995, by way of amending the Chapter 145 of the Education Code, copy of which is annexed as Annexure R/I. 2. That in light of annexure R/I the Special JBT certificate was awarded to the applicant on 12.8.1997 after completion of the 10 years of regular service by the respondent No. 3, copy of which is annexed by the applicant as Annexure A/2 with the present original application. But, lateron vide Annexure A/6 as annexed by the applicant in the present original application, the duration of 10 years has been reduced by the government for awarding the JBT special certificate to the Volunteer Teachers engaged under Volunteer Teachers Scheme 1991, as five years of continuous service by way of making further amendment in chapter 145 of Education Code. Hence, this decision of the Government can never apply to those volunteer Teachers who had been engaged under Volunteer Teachers Scheme, 1986. 5 3. That about 500 Volunteer Teachers including 34 Volunteer Teaches of Una Distt. engaged under the Volunteer Teachers Scheme, 1986 were given the 9 months condensed course in the year 1992 only for one year on seniority basis amongst those Volunteer Teachers in the year 1991. Thereafter, on introduction of new Volunteer Teaches Scheme, 1991, the Government decided to stop the said condensed course with the observation that there is no need of the said course. The Government further decided that the Volunteer Teachers who had been engaged as Volunteer Teacher under the Volunteer Teacher Scheme 1986 and had completed 10 years of regular service will be awarded JBT Special Certificate and also decided that refresher inservice course of about 3 months duration would be organized for the Volunteer Teachers holding Special JBT certificate vide Government Letter No. EDN-C- B(2)5/95 dated 27th November, 1995.” 6. The two schemes promoted by the Government relate to different time span and conditions. Benefit of the 1986 Scheme was taken by the petitioner. He was not governed by the subsequent scheme promoted in the year 1991 as the same was floated by the Government by keeping in view the then prevailing and attending circumstances. The terms and conditions governing the two schemes are different. They are also meant for different persons. 7. Petitioner was drawing a fixed amount of remuneration and was not in the pay scale. Hence his services rendered as Volunteer 6 Teacher can also not be considered for pay fixation and seniority from the date of his having joined as a Volunteer Teacher. 8. It cannot be said that any legally enforceable right of the petitioner stands violated. Hence the present petition without any merit is dismissed. (Sanjay Karol), Judge. August 16, 2010 (PK)