CWP No.15980 of 1991 :1: In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh. Date of decision: 11.05.2009 Seetal Kaur and others ... Petitioners Versus The State of Punjab and another ... Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PERMOD KOHLI Present: Mr.RK Chopra, Senior Advocate, with Ms.Maninder, Advocate, for the petitioners. Mr.Yatinder Sharma, D.A.G., Punjab, for the respondents. PERMOD KOHLI, J. (Oral): I have heard the learned counsel for the parties at length. The petitioners are working as Junior Mistresses in different Government Industrial Schools for Girls in the State of Punjab. The posts of Junior Mistresses have been now re-designated as Instructors. On the recommendations of the First Pay Commission, the scales of the Government Employees were revised with effect from 01.02.1968 and the pay rules, namely, Punjab Civil Services (Revised Scales of Pay) Rules, 1969, were notified. Under the new rules, the Junior Mistresses working in the Industrial Schools for Girls were placed in the pay scale of Rs.160-400/- with effect from the notified date. The pay scale of the Government employees were again revised with effect from 01.01.1978 and the Junior Mistresses who were in the pay scale of Rs.160-400/- were placed in the pay scale of Rs.510-940/- with effect from 1.1.1978. 50 per cent of the posts CWP No.15980 of 1991 :2: were placed in the pay scale of Rs.510-940/- and the remaining 50 per cent posts were placed in the pay scale of Rs.620-1200/-. Selection grade was also provided in the pay scale of Rs.750-1300/-. Again the pay revision took place on the recommendations of the Third Pay Commission and the Junior Mistresses were placed in the pay scale of Rs.1410-2460/- with effect from 01.01.1986 in terms of the notification dated 20.01.1989. Representations were made by some of the Junior Mistresses working in the Government Industrial Schools as well as some other categories of the employees and the matter was referred to the Pay Anomaly Committee. On the recommendations of the Pay Anomaly Committee, the State Government vide notification dated 13.05.1991 revised the pay scales of certain categories. So far as the Junior Mistresses and the Craft Instructors are concerned, 50 per cent of the posts were re-designated as Instructor Grade-I and the remaining 50 per cent posts were re-designated Instructor Grade-II. The Instructors Grade-I were placed in the pay scale of Rs.1800- 3200/- whereas the Instructors Grade-II were placed in the pay scale of Rs.1640-2925/-. These pay scales were ordered to be given with effect from the date of notification dated 13.05.1991(Annexure P-4). This notification came to be challenged in Civil Writ Petition No.1748 of 1995 by the Craft Instructors. A Division Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 28.11.1995 allowed the writ petition with the following directions:- “ In view of the above facts, we allow this writ petition and quash Annexure P-9 and Annexure P- 11 qua the petitioners and direct the respondents to pay the petitioners the pay in the scale of Rs.1800- CWP No.15980 of 1991 :3: 3200/- with effect from 1.1.1986. Sd/-SS Sudhalkar, Judge 28.11.1995 Sd/-HS Brar Judge” The Special Leave Petition preferred by the State before the Hon'ble Supreme Court also came to be dismissed vide order dated 14.03.1997 (Annexure P-7) and the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court was upheld. The State Government thereafter issued Memorandum dated 20.03.1998 (Annexure P-8) whereby the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court ordered to be implemented in respect to the concerned Instructors, petitioners as also the non-petitioners and a direction was issued to pay arrears upto 31.12.1997 to be credited to the GP Fund accounts of the concerned employees. Thereafter, the Additional Director (H.E.), for Director Technical Education and Industrial Training Department, Punjab, Chandigarh, has issued the impugned circular dated 4.6.1998 (Annexure P- 9), whereby the benefit of the pay scale in terms of the Division Bench judgment was made effective from 13.05.1991. The main contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that similar notification having already been quashed by a Division Bench of this Court and the matter having been finally settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the impugned letter dated 04.06.1998 (Annexure P- 9), is totally arbitrary and un-warranted. On the other hand, Mr.Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate General, Punjab, appearing for the respondents has tried to justify the CWP No.15980 of 1991 :4: impugned order on the ground that the Junior Instructors were designated in two categories and they were not in the same category as Craft Instructors and, thus, they are not entitled to the benefit of the judgment. This stand of the State-respondents is contrary to the memo dated 20.03.1998. In the impugned notification the stand of the State is that they form a different class and thus, they are not entitled to the same benefit. As a matter of fact, from the reading of the impugned circular, it appears that there is no valid reason to distinguish between the Junior Instructors in an Industrial School and the Craft Instructors and this is not the basis for issuing the impugned notification. It appears that the impugned letter has been issued in an arbitrary and irrational manner by depriving the petitioner of the benefit which was given to all the petitioners and non-petitioners of the same category vide government notification dated 20.03.1998 (Annexure P-8). It is contended by Mr. Chopra, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners that the petitioners constituted one Class. The posts are inter-transferable and that the petitioners have the common seniority. Similar matters came to be considered by this Court in Civil Writ Petition No.2208 of 1989 (Lekh Raj Khera and others Vs. State of Punjab and another) decided on 24.03.2009 in which it has been held that once the State has decided to accept the recommendations of the Pay Commission then recommendations cannot be applied differently to the same set of government employees. Keeping in view the ratio of the aforesaid judgment, the impugned letter is not sustainable in law. For the reasons recorded above, the present petition succeeds and the same is allowed. Impugned Memo. dated 04.06.1998 (Annexure P- CWP No.15980 of 1991 :5: 9) is hereby quashed and the respondents are directed to implement the letter dated 20.03.1998 (Annexure P-8) uniformly to the Junior Instructors working in the Industrial Schools as in the case of Craft Instructors. Let the benefit emanating from the order dated 20.03.1998 be calculated and arrears of pay be credited to the GPF account of the petitioners in the same manner as ordered by the aforesaid government order. 11.05.2009 (PERMOD KOHLI) BLS JUDGE Note: Whether to be referred to the Reporter? No