ABDUL HAMID CHAUDHRY (MEMBER).--Messrs Ch. Nazir Hussain, Muhammad Younis, Mian Muhammad Iqbal, Ch. Rashid Ahmad and Kh. Muhammad Yaqoob, Senior English Teachers, have made this appeal under section 4 of the Punjab Service Tribunals Act, 1974, wherein they have impleaded the Government of the Punjab through Secretary Education, Lahore, Secretary to Government of the Punjab, Finance Department, Lahore and the Accountant-General, Punjab, Lahore as respondents.
2. By virtue of this appeal the appellants have prayed that the impugned notification, dated 4-3- 1978 and the orders passed by the Accountant-General, Punjab, Lahore for the stoppage of increments of the appellants be declared as illegal and set aside and the appeal be accepted.
3. Brief facts of the case are that the appellants are Senior English Teachers and their service particulars are as under:-- Sr.No.Name of the appellant. Qualifications Date of appointments
(1) Ch. Nazir Hussain. B. A. M. Ed. 8-9-1969 (2)Muhammad Younis M.A. (Edu.) 7-9-1971 (3)Mian Muhammad Iqbal M.A.(English) 20-9-1971 (4)Ch. Rashid Ahmad. M.A. (Edu.) 6-11-1971 (5)Khawaja Muhammad YaqoobB. Ed. M.A. (Pol. Sci)20-10-1971 At the time of their appointment, the appellants joined their services in schools which were run by the Private Anjumans. Subsequently, these schools were nationalized under M.L.R. 118 and by virtue of this nationalization the appellants became Government servants. When these schools were nationalized under M.L.R. 118 the pays of the appellants were fixed and they were allowed the admissible pays w.e.f. 1-10-1972 as a result of nationalization. However, in the year 1978, a Notification No. FD-PR-10/17/72, dated 4-3-1978 (Annexure A/1) was issued by the Finance Department and the Accountant-General, Punjab, Lahore, keeping in view this Notification has refixed the pays of the appellants by altering the pay allowed on 1-10-1972 and subsequent increments. The grievance of the appellants is that this could not be done after lapse of years as the pay allowed to them at the time of nationalization cannot be altered later on as it was their vested right to get the pay which was allowed at the time of the nationalization. Hence it has been prayed that the orders passed by the Accountant-General, Punjab, Lahore be quashed. The appellants filed representations before the authorities i.e. Education and Finance Departments but the same have borne no fruit. Hence this appeal.
4. We have heard the parties i.e., Ch. Mushtaq Masood, Advocate for the appellants and Mr. A.G.
Humayun, District Attorney assisted by the representative of the respondents on behalf of the respondents.
5. The learned counsel for the appellant has referred to the Service Books of the appellants and has submitted that the following pay in each case was fixed on 1-10-1972, when the services of the appellants were nationalized under M. L. R. 118 on joining of the appellants in the Education Department:--- Sr. No.Name of the appellant.Pay on 1-10-1972.
(1)Ch. Nazir Hussain.Rs.375 (2)Muhammad YounisRs.375 (3)Mian Muhammad IqbalRs.375 (4)Ch.Rashid Ahmad. Rs.375 (5)Kh. Muhammad Yaqoob. Rs.325 It has been pointed out by the learned counsel for the appellants that the pay fixed and allowed to the appellants on 1-10-1972 cannot be now withdrawn in the years 1983 and 1984 on the plea that the pay was wrongly fixed and advance increments should have not been allowed to the appellants. The learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that on the principle of locus poenitentise the pays fixed on 1-10-1972 cannot now be withdrawn after a lapse of 11/12 years.
6. On the other hand the learned District Attorney has relied on the parawise comments submitted by the Finance Department and has submitted that the appellants were previously working in the privately managed schools. These institutions were nationalized under M.L.R. 118 and brought under the control of the Government w.e.f. 1-10-1972. Prior to the crucial date of nationalization i.e. 1-10- 1972, the Punjab Government had no control over the privately managed schools. Any teacher who acquired higher qualifications prior to 1-10-1972 was to be allowed advance increments by the private management controlling such institutions. The Government of the Punjab is responsible for allowing advance increments for higher qualifications acquired after nationalization of the services of such institutions/ teachers. It has also been submitted that the Finance Department had restricted the number of admissibility of increment to three in 1976. It was applicable only to the teachers who came under the administrative control of the Government. The appellants had acquired qualifications either in 1969 or 1971, when they were being controlled by the private managements and were not in Government service. As such the grant of advance increments for acquiring higher qualifications before 1-10-1972 was the responsibility of the concerned private managements. Thus, the appellants could not be allowed advance increments under the circumstances. Hence, the Audit Office is fully competent to stop the demand of the same being devoid of lawful authority. Hence, no injustice has been done with the appellants and their pay has been re-fixed as per instructions of the Finance Department.
7. We have given our anxious thought to the arguments of the parties and have called for the record from the Education Department to verify the pay which was made admissible to the appellants on 1-10-1972, on joining of the appellants in Government service after nationalization w.e.f. 1-10-1972, as scrutinized by the Pay Fixation Committee of the Education Department. The copies of the pay fixation statements in the cases of the appellants signed by the Assistant Director
(R) for the Director of Public Instructions, Punjab, Lahore have been put on record as Annexures C/1 to C/IV. The following pay was fixed in their cases:-- Sr.No.Name of the appellant. Qualifications Date of appointments
(1) Ch. Nazir Hussain. B. A. M. Ed. 8-9-1969 (2)Muhammad Younis M.A. (Edu.) 7-9-1971 (3)Mian Muhammad Iqbal M.A.(English) 20-9-1971 (4)Ch. Rashid Ahmad. M.A. (Edu.) 6-11-1971 (5)Khawaja Muhammad YaqoobB. Ed. M.A. (P.1. Sci)20-10-1971 There is no denying the fact that the appellants are entitled to the above pay as fixed by the Education Department at the time of nationalization of the services of the appellants w.e.f. 1-10- 1972. Their pay could not be now reduced as given to them on 1-10-1972 at this belated stage. We are, therefore, of the considered opinion that the appellants are entitled to the above pay fixed by the Education Department on nationalization of their services and they are to be paid accordingly.
The service books of the appellants also reveal that the above pay as mentioned on 1-10-1972, 1-6- 1973, 1-7-1973 and 1-12-1973 was also fixed accordingly as per certificates of the District Account Officer, Sialkot, dated 14-5-1984 in case of Nazir Hussain, certificate: dated 24-6-1981 in case of Muhammad Younis, certificates dated 5-7-1976 in case of Mian Muhammad Iqbal, certificates dated 6-5-1976 in case of Ch. Rashid Ahmad and certificates, dated 23-6-1976 in case of Kh Muhammad Yaqoob.
8. The result of the above analysis of the case is that the appeal of the appellants is accepted to the extent that the appellants be paid according to the pay fixed by the Education Department on nationalization of their services from 1-10-1972, onward as mentioned in para. 7 of this judgment.
There is no order as to costs.
M.Y.H./97/LB/S