Mausumi Maity vs The State of West Bengal, Service upon the Secretary, Department of School Education and Others

Soumitra Sen, J.—The petitioner in this application claims higher scale of pay commensurate to her educational qualification. II. is submitted that the petitioner is a Post-Graduate in Physical Education and, therefore, she is entitled to pay commensurate to a Post Graduate candidate. The petitioner was appointed on 16th April, 2001 as per recommendation of the Regional School Service commission, Western Region. From the letter of appointment and also the approval granted by the School Service Commission it appears that the petitioner was considered at the material point of time as a Pass Graduate (B.P.F.D.) The scale of pay was fixed according to such educational qualification. It is the case of the petitioner that before her appointment, she had already obtained the Post-Graduate degree of Physical Education and therefore. she is entitled to higher scale of pay.

The petitioner''s case is not similar to those candidates who improved their educational qualification during the course of employment. The petitioner, even at the time of appointment, according to her, was a Post-Graduate. Therefore, those circulars issued by the Government from time to time, whereby the teachers who have improved their educational qualification during the course of employment were given higher scale of pay, will not come to her aid. The petitioner had not challenged the scale of pay given to her at the time of. her appointment. Therefore, at this stage, the petitioner cannot claim higher scale of pay based upon educational qualification which was existing al the time of her appointment.

u/s 14 of the West Bengal Schools (Control of Expenditure) Act, 2005, (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) which came into operation on 27thDecember, 2005, every teacher of a school shall, if appointed in the post of under-graduate teacher category is entitled to draw pay in the scale in which he is appointed and will not he entitled to claim any additional increment or higher scale of pay for acquiring any qualification other than the qualifications for such post.

Therefore, the post in which the petitioner was appointed, if does not require a post-Graduate qualification, then the petitioner will not he entitled to scale of pay commensurate to Post-Graduate qualification. Therefore, in effect, by reason of coming into operation of the said Act, the earlier Government circulars have been rendered nugatory.

In any view of the matter, as 1 have already indicated, the petitioner''s case does not fall within the category of those teachers who have improved their qualification during the course of employment and the petitioner not. having challenged the scale of pay at the time of her appointment, in any opinion, no relief can be granted to the petitioner in this petition and the same is accordingly dismissed without any order as to costs.

Xerox certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied lo the applicants.