Rajanish Kumar Mishra vs State Of Bihar

The writ petition is filed by the ‘Niyojit’ teachers against the alleged discrimination meted out to them by denying grade pay for a period of two years from the initial appointment, as is the consequence of Annexure-3 dated 11.08.2015. The discrimination is alleged on the ground that the petitioners who are also trained teachers, merely for reason of their appointment as Niyojit teachers are denied the grade pay which has been conferred on trained teachers who were regular employees of the Government. While the trained teachers in regular employment of the Government were fixed in a pay scale and granted grade pay, insofar as the untrained teachers and the Niyojit teachers, the grade pay was declined for the initial two years. Insofar as the untrained teachers are concerned they were entitled to get grade pay immediately on their acquiring training qualification. However, with respect to the trained (Niyojit) teachers, grade pay was denied absolutely for the initial two periods. The petitioners alleged discrimination.

In fact, the very question of discrimination was alleged as between Niyojit teachers appointed at the Panchayat, Nagar Panchayat and Municipal levels, and Government teachers appointed by State of Bihar. The claim of ‘equal pay for equal work’ was declined by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of Bihar v. Bihar Secondary Teachers Struggle Committee, (2019) 18 SCC 301. Hence, the claim does not survive, even as against the alleged denial of grade pay, especially since the Government teachers and the Niyojit teachers cannot be considered as equally placed in the service of the Government. The Niyojit teachers were appointed on an honorarium and it is by Annexure-3 that they were conceded a scale of pay. While the trained Government teachers were granted a grade pay by Annexure-3, the Niyojit teachers were expected to wait for two years, even if trained, which would not result in any claim of discrimination, especially going by the authoritative pronouncement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

We find no reason to entertain the writ petition and the same stands dismissed.