' S. ABDUL JABBAR KHAN (CHAIRMAN).-Samsam Ullah Aslam, Teacher, Government Zubari Islamia High School, Garhi Shahu, Lahore, has filed this appeal under section 4 of the Punjab Service Tribunals Act, 1974, in which he has impleaded Secretary Education, Government of the Punjab Lahore, Director of Education, Lahore Division, Lahore and Director Public Instructions, Punjab, Lahore, as respondents.
2. By virtue of this appeal he has prayed that the impugned order by which he is denied National Pay Scale No, 14, which according to law he was entitled be set aside and he may be restored his pay scale accordingly.
3. Brief facts of the case are that the appellant was appointed as Senior Technical Teacher in the Government Zubari Islamia High School Garhi Shahu, Lahore, vide order, dated 9th April, 1970, passed by the Manager of the said School. On 22nd May, 1970 another letter was issued by the said Manager of the said Institution whereby it was communicated that he would work as Senior English Teacher General-Cum-Senior English Teacher Technical, whereas the other conditions will remain the same. On 1st October, 1972 on the promulgation of Martial Law Regulation No, 118 the said Institution was nationalized. Despite the terms and conditions of his service which he fully fulfilled he was disallowed National Pay Scale No, 14 and instead of was given N. P. S. No,
8. The, appellant kept on agitating his claim by addressing several petitions through proper channel claiming his entitlement to Pay Scale No, 14, but his grievances were not redressed, However, on 20th February, 1975 the appellant submitted another representation which was duly recommended by the Headmaster of the School but no action was taken on the same. His case was also recommended by the District Education Officer, Lahore to the Director of Education, Lahore Division, Lahore, but his case was ultimately rejected on the plea that as no technical workshop existed in the said School prior to nationalization, therefore, the appellant was not entitled to National Pay Scale-No,
14. This impugned order was passed on 4th July.
1979. Hence this appeal.
4. We have heard the learned counsel for the appellant as well as the learned District Attorney assisted by the representative of the department and have perused the record of this case carefully with their assistance. The learned counsel for the appellant Mr. Rafiq Bajwa has submitted that the appellant was in law entitled to be placed in National Pay Scale No, 14 which could not be refused to the appellant on the ground that no workshop existed in Government Zubari Islamia High School, Garhi Shahu, Lahore, at the time when he was appointed on 9th April, 1970. According to the learned counsel the appellant possessed necessary qualification for the technical post and as such was entitled to be given regular pay scale of the post on the completion of two years service and the same could not be denied to him irrespective of the fact whether or not any workshop existed in the said institution. It has been vehemently argued that terms and conditions of his service read with the relevant law and the decisions taken by the Government in respect of the fixation of pay scale, the appellant was entitled to National Pay Scale No, 14 and denial of the same to him would be wholly illegal and without jurisdiction.
5. The learned counsel further urged that the appellant had been working as Senior English Teacher since 1972 and even on this ground he was fully entitled to the said National- Pay Scale No, 14 and the nonexistence of the workshop could not be made the basis for refusing the above pay scale to the appellant. According to the learned counsel, the appellant could have been posted to any such institution where the workshop existed.
6. The learned counsel further pointed out that the impugned order was discriminatory in nature as in all the schools, so nationalized, the employees had been given the pay scales to which they were entitled under the law in view of their qualifications. He has based the said argument on the strength of the Notification, dated 26th September, 1974, para. 4, wherein it has been laid down that any person who was in the service of a nationalized school on or before the 14th of March, 1972 and continued in such service till 31st of August, 1972, being below the age of 58 years on the Tatter date,, he would be deemed to have been to the post, other than the post of Headmaster. In this letter he has cited the example of Syed Taffazal Hussain Shah, who was only B. A. And was given National Pay Scale No, 14, for the only reason that he was working against the post of a Senior English Teacher. Similarly, he has quoted another precedent in case of a teacher, namely, Nazir Ahmad who was working in Islamia High School, Lahore Cantonment, but after the nationalization he was appointed as Technical Teacher in National Pay Scale No, 14, although there was no technical post available and was later on transferred to lslamia High School, Multan Road, Lahore, where such technical post was in existence. He has also relied upon the case of Muhammad Arshad who was working as S. E. T. In Azad Public High School, Samanabad, Lahore, and was given National Pay Scale No, 14 after nationalization, although his qualification was only F. A. At the relevant time, whereas according to the rules minimum qualification for National Pay Scale No, 14 was B. A., B. Ed.
7. On the other hand, the learned District Attorney has controverted the claim of the appellant by submitting that the appellant's order so placed by him on the record was not genuine and the same had been manipulated by him afterwards in order to set up a claim on the strength of such order. It has been conceded by the representative of the Department that if this tribunal has reasons to accept the said appointment order as genuine, then or course, the appellant had a reasonably good claim.
8. We have given our anxious thoughts to the arguments so advanced by the parties and find that Annexure 'A' is an order, by which the appellant was appointed as Senior Technical Teacher in the said School from 11th April, 1970 on a monthly salary of Rs, 150 and was required to complete his two years' service. Similarly, Annexure 'B' is an order dated 22nd May, 1970 which the Manager passed in continuation of the earlier order, dated 11th April, 1970 and modified the earlier appointment letter.
By virtue of this order, the appellant was posted as Senior English Teacher General-Cum-Senior English Teacher Technical with other conditions remaining the same. We have also seen the recommendation of the Headmaster in which he has referred original appointment letter and has observed that the appellant may be considered for the post of S. E. T. (Technical) or S. E. T. General.
Similarly, vide a letter, dated 23rd August, 1977, from Headmaster, Government Zubari Islamia High School, Garhi Shahu, Lahore, addressed to the District Education Officer, Lahore, the same Headmaster has clearly stated that the original appointment order of the appellant was being sent per bearer which was to be returned after perusal. The said Headmaster has further observed in the said letter that the appellant was appointed by the ex-Management against the post of S. E. T.
And was working as such since then but the department had adjusted him against the post of J. E.
T. Ignoring the fact that he was entitled to the scale of S. E. T. The said Headmaster in his letter has held that all the untrained Teachers were entitled to the minimum of the pay scale of the post against which they had been appointed. In the concluding paragraph it was further observed that under the provision of these letters the appellant was appointed against the post of S. E. T. And was working as such, may kindly be adjusted against the post of S. E. T. Which was lying vacant since 1st October, 1972 and allow him the minimum of the scale as the same had been done in the case of Taffazal Hussain Shah Teacher, Government Ichhra Model High School, Ichhra, Lahore. We also took notice of a letter sent by District Education Officer, Lahore, in the name of the Director of Education, Lahore Division, Lahore dated 13th September, 1977 in which the case of the appellant was strongly recommended for adjustment against the post of S. E. T. As he was appointed as Senior Technical Teacher by the ex-Management before the nationalization as the said post was equivalent to the S. E. T. In this letter the District Education Officer, Lahore, has referred the case of Mr. Abdul Hamid of Arif' High School, Lahore as well as relied for recommendation on the contents of Finance Department letter issued under No, F. D. P. R. 10-71/72, dated 25th November, 1975 which also supported the claim of the appellant. The case of Taffazal Hussain Shah has also been quoted as a precedent to support his recommendation.
9. In this manner we are of the considered opinion that the claim of the learned District Attorney is not well-founded wherein he has stated that the appointments letters were not genuine on which the appellant has based his claim. The reference to these letters find mention all along in the letters of the Headmater and District Education Officer so referred to by us in the earlier part or our judgment and it cannot be said that these appointments letters were at any time considered non- genuine. If the District Attorney was able to prove before us by leading some evidence to the contrary, we might have examined the said aspect of the case. His arguments are based on conjectures by showing us pay tolls. Wherein we do not find any positive evidence by which they could convince us that these orders were non-genuine or were result of some manipulation. The original appointment orders so referred to by the Headmaster as well as the District Education Officer were sent by them to the higher authorities to peruse the same, had been lost or misplaced but the photostat copies of the same have been produced by the appellant and we have no reason to disbelieve the same.
10. In view of above analysis of the whole case it has been established on the record that the appellant was appointed as Senior English Teacher and was working as such on the date when these schools were so nationalized. According to the settled policy of the Government as enunciated in M. L. R. 118, the appellant would be entitled to the same pay scale even though the technical workshop did not exist. The absence of the technical workshop would in no way militate against the claim of the appellant as his claim as S. E. T. Would remain all the time in the field. We are, therefore, of the considered opinion that the workshop did not exist at the time of the nationalization, this plea of the respondents, is not convincing. The criteria in the case would be whether the appellant was working as Senior English Teacher or not when the said School was nationalized. This fact has been fully verified by the Headmaster as well as the District Education Officer who strongly recommended the case of the appellant for being absorbed in scale No, 14, a scale which was available to all the Senior English Teachers under the rules as well the Martial Law Regulation.
11. The result is we accepted the appeal, set aside the impugned order and direct that the appellant would be absorbed in National Pay Scale No, 14 to which he was fully entitled under the Martial Law Regulation as well as the letter of the Finance Department so relied upon by the District Education Officer while recommending his case to the Director of Education.
' There will be no orders as to costs.