Allahabad High Court
Mrs. Matrayee vs State Of U.P. Through Prin. Secy. & Civil ... on 5 August, 2019
Author: Dinesh Kumar Singh
Bench: Dinesh Kumar Singh
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH Reserved Case :- SERVICE BENCH No. - 1772 of 2014 Petitioner :- Mrs. Matrayee Respondent :- State Of U.P. Through Prin. Secy. & Civil Secretariat Lko. & Counsel for Petitioner :- Amitabh Mishra,Pranav Pandey,Rajendra Prasad Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,H.K.Bhatt,Manish Kumar,R.B.S.Rathour Hon'ble Dinesh Kumar Singh,J.
1. The petitioner was appointed on 12.10.2009 on the post of Training and Placement Officer (for short "T.P.O.") in Feroze Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Raebareli (for short 'Institute') in pay-scale of Rs.8000-13500 + 53% D.A.+ H.R.A. in basic pay of Rs.8000/-. Appointing authority of the Petitioner is the Director of the Institute. The petitioner was confirmed in the Institute with effect from 24.10.2010 i.e. after a year of completion of probation period. The Institute is affiliated to U.P. Technical University, Lucknow and is under control of Department of Technical Education of the State Government.
2. It appears that the petitioner represented for granting her Academic Grade Pay (for short "A.G.P.") of Rs.8000/- instead of A.G.P. of Rs.7000/- for which she was considered by the Screening Committee. The Director of the Institute said that the petitioner's performance has been outstanding and she had adopted various practices for preparing the students to employability and she had brought Companies to the Campus for campus selection/recruitment. The Director of the Institute recommended that the petitioner should be considered for grant of A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- in the next Screening Committee. It further appears that in view of the aforesaid recommendation of Director of the Institute, the Screening Committee recommended the petitioner to grant her A.G.P. from Rs.7000/- to Rs.8000/- vide its recommendation dated 16.09.2015 and opined that the candidate was working for placement of the students and there was no norms available for promotion of T.P.O. The petitioner's initial placement was in pay-scale of Lecturer/Assistant Professor and to grant A.G.P. of Rs.7000/-, the minimum 6 years service was required. Thus, the petitioner, after completion of six years of service, was granted A.G.P of Rs.7000/- as per the extant Rules.
3. All India Council for Technical Education had framed regulations named as 'All India Council for Technical Education (Career Advancement Scheme for the Teachers and other Academic Staff in Technical Institutions) (Degree) Regulations, 2012 (for short "Regulations, 2012"). Regulations 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7 and 3.8 of the Regulations, 2012 provide as under:-
"3.3 Assistant Professor, possession Ph.D Degree in the relevant discipline shall be eligible, for moving to the next high grade of Rs.7000 (stage 2) after completion of four years service as Assistant Professor.
3.4 Assistant Professor possession M. Phil Degree or a Post-Graduate Degree in professional courses, approved by the relevant statutory body, shall be eligible for the next higher grade of Rs.7000 (stage 2) after completion of five years service as Assistant Professor.
3.5 Assistant Professor who does not have Ph. D or M. Phil or a Master's Degree in the relevant professional course, shall be eligible for the next higher grade of Rs.7000 (stage 2) only after completion of six years service as Assistant Professor.
3.7 Assistant Professor who has completed five years of service in the grade of Rs.7000 (stage 2) shall be eligible, subject to meeting the API based PBAS requirements laid down by these Regulations, to move up to next higher grade of Rs.8000 (stage 3).
3.8 Assistant Professor completing three years of teaching in the grade of Rs.8000 (stage 3) shall be eligible, subject to the qualifying conditions and the API based PBAS requirements prescribed by these Regulations, to move to the Pay Band of Rs.37400-67000 with next higher grade of Rs.9000 (stage 4) and to be designated as Associate Professor. However those joining the Service after 5th March 2010 shall have also earned Ph. D in addition to above mentioned requirements to move to the stage 4."
4. It is relevant to mention here that the petitioner possesses qualification of Master of Business Administration, which she passed out in the year 2008 and she was given appointment on the post of T.P.O. in the pay-scale of Assistant Professor with A.G.P. of Rs.6000/-. Thus, under the Regulations, 2012, the petitioner is entitled to get A.G.P. of Rs.7000/- on completion of five years. The petitioner is claiming A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-. The petitioner, however, has been granted A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- with effect from 01.05.2018. It is provided that the A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- can be provided to an Assistant Professor only after completion of ten years of service i.e. five years in grade-pay of Rs.6000-7000 and five years in A.G.P. of Rs.7000-8000. In the case of the petitioner, however, this requirement appears to have been relaxed, considering the recommendation of the Director of the Institute, her performance and considering her services in public limited companies i.e. H.D.F.C. and Vipro Limited. The services rendered by the petitioner in these two companies have been taken into account and recommendation was put up before the S Screening Committee and, thereafter, it has been decided that the petitioner would meet the requirements of ten years service after counting five years service of public limited companies from May, 2004 to September, 2009.
5. Even if M.B.A. Degree is to be treated as Post Graduate Degree, the petitioner was required to have five years service on the post equivalent to Assistant Professor on which she was appointed inasmuch as the T.P.O. carries the same pay-scale as that of the Assistant Professor with A.G.P. of Rs.6000/-. Thus, the petitioner should have rendered five years service for granting her A.G.P. of Rs.7000/- and, thereafter five years service for granting her A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-. The Director of the Institute as well as Screening Committee have been considerate to wards the petitioner, looking at her performance and contribution in bringing the companies to the Campus for campus placement and, thereafter a lenient view was taken to grant her A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-, even considering the services rendered by her in private sectors i.e. H.D.F.C. and Vipro Limited.
6. The petitioner's claim for granting A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- with effect from the date of recommendation by the Screening Committee appears to have no basis. When Regulations, 2012 itself provide that it would require ten years of service for giving A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-, as mentioned above, mere on the basis of recommendation, which does not specify the date from which the petitioner should be given A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-. She cannot claim for grant of A.G.P. fo Rs.8000/- to her from the date of recommendation of the Screening Committee. The Screening Committee has taken a considerable view in favour of the petitioner by taking into account her services rendered in the private limited companies for giving her A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- with effect from 1st May, 2018. If services rendered in two private companies are not counted, the petitioner would not have completed 10 years of service as mandated under the Regulations, 2012. Any recommendation, which is against the statutory provision, cannot be given effect to. The Screening Committee has recommended that the petitioner should be given A.G.P. of Rs.8000/-, but same cannot be given from a date when she did not have rendered the eligible service. Thus, the claim of the petitioner for granting her A.G.P. of Rs. 8000/- with effect from the date of recommendation of the Screening Committee has no force and legal sanctity. The petitioner cannot be given the A.G.P. of Rs.8000/- in violation of provisions of the Regulations, 2012 and, thus, the claim of the petitioner is unsustainable.
7. Hence, the writ petition is dismissed being devoid of merit and substance.
Order Date: August, 2019 MVS Chauhan/-