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PETITIONER: THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: ENGINEERING COLLEGE TEACHERS’ASSOCIATION & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       22/07/1996

BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. G.B. PATTANAIK (J)

CITATION:  JT 1996 (7)   189        1996 SCALE  (5)649

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                          O R D E R      Delay condoned.      Leave granted.      We have heard learned counsel on both sides.        This appeal by special leave arises from the order of the Administrative  Tribunal, Maharashtra  made on April 17, 1995 in  T.A. No.670/91. The admitted facts are that all the respondents  were  appointed  prior  to  1979  as  Assistant Lecturers     and      were      possessed      of      Post Graduation/Doctorate/Higher educational  qualifications. The Government of  India had  taken decision on October 16, 1973 to appoint  such lecturers  without reference  to the Public Service Commission  provided they  had put  in  4  years  of service as  Assistant Lecturers  and  also  possessed  Post- Graduation qualification.  The Government  of Maharashtra in acceptance of  that recommendation had also adopted the same resolution dated March 23, 1990.      The Government of India Resolution reads as under:      "A  person  already  appointed  and      suitability   of    the   candidate      Associate  Lecturer   or  recruited      hereinafter  as   such   would   be      eligible  for   being  upgraded  as      Lecturer  after   four   years   of      service   as   Associate   Lecturer      provided he  fulfils the prescribed      educational qualifications  and  he      is adjudged  by the Staff Selection      Committee as  fit to  held the post      of Lecturer." The Government  of Maharashtra  Resolution dated  March  23, 1990 indicates as under:           "In   order    to    encourage      research, in  continuation of post-      graduation   studies,   candidates,      who,   at   the   time   of   their

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    recruitment  as   Lecturers  posses      Master’s  and  Doctoral  degree  in      engineering/technology   shall   be      granted 2  and 4 advance increments      in Sciences and Humanities shall be      granted 1  and 3 advance increments      respectively  in   the   scale   of      Rs.2200-4000 along with the benefit      of corresponding  years of  service      for the  purpose of  promotion. The      existing  Lecturers   who  do   not      possess  these  qualifications,  or      who might  be recruited  in  future      without these  qualifications  will      be eligible  for a  similar benefit      in  service   for  the  purpose  of      promotion as  and when they acquire      these qualifications, but they will      not   be   eligible   for   advance      increments. Existing  Lecturers who      possess these  qualifications  will      also be eligible for the benefit in      service   for    the   purpose   of      promotion.      CAREER ADVANCEMENT:      a) Every Lecturer will be placed in      a senior  scale of  Rs.3000-5000 if      he has:-           completed 8  years of  service           after regular appointment with           relaxation   in   service   as           provided in para 7(c) above:-           Participated in  two refresher           courses  or  summer  institute           each  of   approximately  four           weeks  duration  or  in  other           comparable          continuous           education programmes  approved           by the  All India  Council for           Technical Education and           Consistently      satisfactory           performance appraisal reports.           All lecturers  in the existing      scale  of   Rs.700-1600  who   have      completed 8 years of service on 1st      January  1986,   will   be   placed      through      a      process      of      screening/selection in the scale of      Rs.3000-5000.   The    benefit   of      service  provided   in  para   7(c)      above, will  be available  for  the      initial placement also.      b) Every  Lecturer  in  the  Senior      Scale will be placed in a Selection      Scale of Rs.3700-5700 on completion      of 8  years service  in the  Senior      Scale with relaxation in service as      provided  in   para   7(c)   above.      Placement in  the  Selection  Grade      will  be   through  a   process  of      Selection by  a Selection Committee      set   up    by    the    appointing      authorities. Only  those  who  have      attended two  refresher courses  or      summer  institutes   or  in   other

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    comparable   continuing   education      after  placement   in  the   senior      scale, and  whose  performance  has      been assessed as consistently good,      will be  eligible for  placement in      the Selection Grade.      c)  Existing  lecturers,  who  have      completed or will complete, a total      period of  sixteen years of service      on 1st  January, 1986 or thereafter      will be  eligible for  placement in      the Selection Grade. They will also      be entitled  to the  relaxation  in      the years or service as provided in      para 7(c) above.      d) For  the purpose of placement of      Lecturers in  the Senior  Scale and      Selection Grade,  the corresponding      number of  posts held  by them will      be upgraded. The placement shall be      through      a      process      of      screening/selection.      In  furtherance   thereof,  it   would  appear  that  a committee   of   the   Secretaries   had   recommended   for upgradation. When  a doubt  had  arisen,  the  Desk  Officer appears to  have clarified  that the candidates who had  put in requisite  total service  would be  eligible for grant of senior scale  and selection  grade of  pay. This was done by proceeding dated  August  28,  1992.  When  the  matter  was brought to the notice of the Government for higher education by proceedings  dated June  23, 1994,  it was  clarified  as under:      "Taking  into   consideration   all      these facts, it is proposed to call      for  a  meeting  of  the  screening      selection  committee,   wherein  an      issue of  granting    revised  pay-      scales the  teachers  who  will  be      held eligible  by considering their      regular service  for counting it as      experience    period,    will    be      discussed. A  proposal for the said      meeting  in   respect  of  eligible      teachers who have after taking into      consideration their regular service      upto  1.1.1994   be  submitted   to      Government for the sanction." In furtherance  thereof, a  resolution was passed on January 30, 1995 explaining the position as under:      "The revised pay scales recommended      by   the   A.I.C.T.E.   have   been      sanctioned by Govt. to the teachers      in   Govt.   Aided   and   un-aided      Engineering     Colleges     w.e.f.      1.1.1986.   As   per   G.R.   under      reference as  provided in para-8 of      the said  G.R. the  services of the      lecturers after regular appointment      are to be counted as Experience for      the  purpose   of  granting  senior      scales   and    selection    grades      prescribed  in   the  revised  pay-      scales. It  is  clarified  in  this      context that while granting revised      pay-scales  to   the  lecturers  in

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    Govt.    Aided     and     un-aided      Engineering  Colleges,   only   the      services  of   lecturers  who  were      appointed or  promoted,  after  the      recommendation of  the Selection or      Promotion  Committee  respectively,      approved  by   the  University  are      required  to   be   considered   as      regular  services   while  counting      experience in  service. The service      of   lecturers    as   Non-gazetted      service,(Class-III) and  non-P.S.C.      service, should  not be reckoned as      an experience and accepted as it is      lower Division Class-III service or      non-gazetted   cadre  service.  The      pay-scales  of  these  posts  being      junior,    the     responsibilities      attached to  then  are  also  of  a      lower level.  Hence while  granting      senior scales or Selection grade to      lects, lower  level service period,      will not accepted as an experience.      By  order   and  in   the  name  of      Governor of Maharashtra." A reading  of these  resolutions  and  clarifications  would clearly  indicate   that  due   to  decision  taken  by  the Government,  the   Assistant  Lecturers   Class-III   became eligible to  be regularised  as Lecturers  in  Class-II  and accordingly they were regularised . The question is: whether the  period   of  service   put  in  as  Assistant/Associate Lecturers would  be counted  as lecturers for the purpose of selection/selection grade  scales?   It  would  appear  that since there  are no  promotional avenues  from the  Lecturer cadre to  higher posts,  the  Government  have  evolved  the policy of  granting senior scales and selection grade scales to  the  Lecturers  after  required  length  of  service  as qualification was  put in  by them for fitment in the senior scale and  selection grade scale of pay. Rules indicate that a Lecturer  who has  put in  8  years  of  service  will  be eligible for  senior scale and a Lecturer who has rendered 8 years of  service in  the senior  scale after  putting in 16 years of  total service  as a  Lecturer, namely,  8 years as Lecturer and  8 years  as  senior  scale  Lecturer,  becomes eligible for  selection grade . The question arises: whether the respondents could be fitted into the senior scale of pay or the  Selection Grade? It is not in dispute that they have spent more  number of  year s  as Assistant  lecturers.  The Tribunal has given direction as under:      "In  the   result,  therefore,  the      petitioners succeed.   It is hereby      declared that  while extending  the      facility as  senior scale/selection      grade,  the   teaching   experience      gained by  the petitioners from the      date they  acquired  qualifications      required for  the post  of lecturer      prior  to   1.4.1979  by      their      continuous service either as Asstt.      lecturer prier to 1.4.1979 ; Asstt.      lecturer or as upgraded Lecturer or      as upgraded  Lecturer even prior to      the upgraded  post, shall be  taken      into  consideration.   With   these      directions,  the   petitions  stand

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    disposed     of      along     with      Miscellaneous Applications  for the      proposed    amendment.    In    the      circumstances, there  shall  be  no      order as  to costs. it is   further      directed  that  the  cases  of  the      petitioners shall   be processed in      accordance    with     the    above      directions and  in accordance  with      the latter  dated 20.8.92  and  the      decision thereon  shall be taken in      the  matter   of  extending  senior      scale or  selection  grade  to  the      petitioner within  six months  from      the  date  of  this  order.  It  is      Further   made   clear   that   the      extension of senior scale Selection      grade shall not have any either the      placement of the petitioners in the      seniority  list  of  the  lecturers      which shall  be  regulated  in  the      absence of any contrary rule either      existence or  that may be framed in      future, on the basis of the date of      actual  entry   in  the   cadre  of      lecturer. In  case of  the  present      petitioners as  already pointed put      the date  of entry  in the cadre of      lecturer shall be 1.4.1979."      The Tribunal  has proceeded  on the  premise that since they had  put in  required length  of  service  they  became eligible for  senior/selection grade  scales.  It  would  be clear that  the Tribunal  has not  properly considered  ’the resolutions  passed   by  the   Government.  The  Government intended to  grant the  senior scale  and selection grade to the Lecturers  who had  put in required number of service in the respective cadres as a qualification for eligibility. As stated earlier,  the Assistant/Associate  Lecturers  are  in Class-III whereas  Lecturers are in Class-II. Therefore, the service rendered  in Class-III cannot be computed as Service rendered in  Class-II service. Moreover, required experience of eight years as Lecturer and another eight years as senior Lecturers is  pre-condition for  grant of  senior scale  and selection grade  scale. It  is not in dispute that scales of pay of  Assistant Lecturers  are entirely different from the scales of  pay of  Lecturer As  and senior  scale Lecturers. Therefore,  the   entire  service   as   Assistant/Associate Lecturers cannot  be and  could not  be counted as Lecturers and senior  Lecturers for grant of respective scales. If the contention of respondents merits acceptance, the respondents would be the Assistant Associate Lecturers who had put in 16 years of service after securing post-graduation or doctorate without service  as Lecturer. Consequently, a direct recruit lecturer has  to wait  for 16  years to  get into  selection grade while Assistant Associate Lecturer would scale a march over the  former. The  consequence would  be startling.  So, such service  as Assistant/Associate  lecturer  except  four years for  fitment as Lecturer cannot be counted towards the service rendered  as a  lecturer/senior scale  Lecturer.  It would therefore,  be obvious  that any  Lecturer  to  become eligible for  fitment in  the senior scale of pay has to put in   8 years  of service  as a lecturer after regularisation and thereafter  after putting  in  8  years  of  service  as Lecturer in  the senior scale or pay; then only he gets into the selection  grade scale.  Under these  circumstances, the

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view of The Tribunal is wholly illegal.      The appeal  is accordingly  allowed. The  Government is directed to  place them  appropriately as  indicated in  the order. No costs.