MADURAI: An order of a single judge revising the pay scale for a double part-time instructor has been upheld by a division bench of the Madras High Court here. In October 1992, the School Education Department had issued an order stating that the services of double part-time instructors would be regularised in the scale of pay of `1,400-2,600 as per a GO (Ms No 172) for Vocational Instructors issued in April 1990.
As a result of this GO, double part-time instructors became full time instructors and their basic pay was fixed without special clarification or reference to the qualification of the vocational instructors. A double part-time instructor, K Vasimalai of Theni who had joined service in August 1988, challenged the Government Order in the court. He contended that even before the GO was issued, the School Education Department had issued a GO (Ms.No.840).
A single judge had categorically held that there could be no justification to deny the scale of pay applicable to the Vocational Instructors to him.
Hence the judge said Vasimalai was entitled to re-fixation of the scale of pay and set aside the GO issued in July 1990. Aggrieved by this, the State Government filed an appeal praying that the matter be referred to a larger bench as the single judge’s order ran in conflict with other judgments passed by the court on similar subjects.
The counsel for School Education Department said a division bench had earlier passed a non-speaking order in a writ appeal in a case of a similar nature and the SC had dismissed a Special Leave Petition against the same.
According to him, the dismissal of the Special Leave Petition is not a precedent. Moreover, the division bench had not laid down any law and hence the single judge’s order must be quashed, Justices M Jaichandren and R Mahadevan cited SC verdicts and held that there is no need to refer the matter to a larger bench and dismissed the writ appeal.