C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 Date of Decision. 05.12.2011 Dharm Paul and others .....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents 2. C.W.P. No.12604 of 1993 Smt. Ranjit Kaur JBT Teacher, Govt. Primary School, Phase-II, Mohali .....Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents Present: Mr. Rajesh Kumar Garg, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. S.S. Sahu, AAG, Punjab for the respondents. 3. C.W.P. No.4167 of 1991 Ved Parkash, S.S. Master .....Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents 4. C.W.P. No.9556 of 1990 Davinder Kumari and others .....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents 5. C.W.P. No.1756 of 1992 Harkrishan Lal and others .....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 -2- 6. C.W.P. No.2637 of 1994 Santokh Singh son of S. Fauja Singh and others .....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and another .....Respondents Present: Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Advocate for Mr. Satya Pal Jain, Senior Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. S.S. Sahu, AAG, Punjab for the respondents. 7. C.W.P. No.8248 of 1991 Karnail Singh and others .....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents Present: None for the petitioners. Mr. S.S. Sahu, AAG, Punjab for the respondents. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? No -.- K. KANNAN J.(ORAL) 1. All these seven writ petitions address the same issue of entitlement to higher pay scales from the date when a higher qualification acquired. All the petitioners were teachers and they were all relying on the Circular issued on 23.07.1957 providing for JST Grade as admissible to Category B of Group II in the Punjab Government. The contention was that the petitioners had passed Intermediate English, which was a higher qualification as contemplated by the proceedings of C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 -3- the State dated 23.07.1957 and the denial of their entitlement was against express instructions made. Teachers in the Education Department had been put in broad categories A and B. While Category A referred to persons with qualification of degree, Category B was with reference to matriculation with basic training including JSTs. JSTs were in Group II and in Group III were Shastris, Gianis, Parbhakars, Munshis etc. Group IV in category B was untrained teachers with qualifications like B.Com, B.Sc etc. The category B Group II alone is reproduced hereunder:- "Category B Group. II JSTs (inlcuding Assistant Mistress with BA/Inter/Matric plus JAV training)." 2. The point of relevance in these cases is the reference that has been to a person with "inter" qualification. All these are cases where the persons claimed that they have passed Intermediate English only. The contention on behalf of the State is that Inter pass must mean Intermediate in all subjects and a mere pass in English that allowed them to take BA Part II or III will not be taken as fulfillment of the Circular. 3. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner points out that there have been some cases where even for a mere pass in Inter English, the Government has granted the higher scales. The petitioner in C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 points out to a case of one Mohan Lal Sharma son of Hari Ram as having passed his Inter in English only, in November, 1962 and the higher scales were given to such a person with effect from the date of passing on 09.11.1962. Learned counsel for the State says that C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 -4- in respect of some persons, who have obtained such benefit, proceedings have been taken for withdrawal of such benefits in the year 1992 and there have been independently writ petition filed for the same. 4. If the matter has to be considered from the point of view of whether reference to a pass in Inter in the Government Circular of the year 1957 must be taken as including a mere pass in one subject English only, I have to reject such a plea, for a mere pass in one subject cannot be treated as acquisition of higher qualification in the context in which the Circular is made. A Giani or Parbhakar, who could pass Inter English only in order that he is qualified for undertaking examination in Part II or III of BA cannot be stretched beyond a point of making available a certain facility for appearing in graduate courses with a pass only in one subject in Inter. If the State reads its circular in a particular way namely of a pass in Inter as meaning pass in all subjects, I would take that to be a normal situation that can be easily understood without straining logic. To come up with a new meaning that Inter pass must be understood as a pass in any subject in Inter would mean violence to the simple language employed in the Circular. I cannot accommodat the plea as sought for by the petitioner. 5. Some other petitioners complain that amongst them there are some persons, who have taken benefit of higher scales on acquisition of Inter English only and the amounts paid already are sought to be withdrawn. It is hereby clarified that amount that has already been paid, shall not be recovered from any of the petitioners. In no case can the State withdraw any benefit of higher scale from the date when any C.W.P. No.15771 of 1992 -5- one of them has qualified for B.A., B.Com or B.Sc, for that would fall within Group IV, Category B. 6. All the writ petitions would require to be dismissed and dismissed accordingly. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE December 05, 2011 Pankaj*