THE CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION AND ORS.versusMRS. RAJNI V ALI AND ORS.

A           THE CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION AND ORS.
                                     v.
                         MRS. RAJNI VALI AND ORS.

                                JANlJARY 12, 2COO
B
            [S. RAJENDRA BABU AND D.P. MOHAPATRA, JJ.)

          Constitution of India, 1950-Articles 14, 21, 39(d), 41 and 45--Right
    to Educatiort-Duty of State-Financing of privately managed recognised
C   aided schools-Constitutional mandate that the State shall ensure proper
    education to the students on whom the future of the society depends.

           Service Law--J'Equal pay for equal work"-Teachers of educational
    institutions getting Grant-in-aid-State Administration cannot shirk its
    responsibility of ensuring proper education in schools and colleges on the plea
D   of lack of resources-It is for the authorities running the Administration to
    find out the ways and means of securing funds for the purpose-Directions
    issued by High Court for parity in payscales--Upheld.

          Respondents 1 to 12, lecturers teaching different subjects in the 11th
    and 12th classes ll'f a private educational institution filed a writ petition
E   against the apirellants viz. Chandigarh Administr-<1tion, Director of Public
    Instruction (Schoo!) and the Managing Committee of the school for a
    direction that they shculd be paid the sume saldl"Y and dearness llllO'l•·ance
    as their counter- parts working in other private recognised aided schools
    in Chandigarh and that the expenses so incurred be apportioned by llie
F   Union Territory Administration and the School Management in the ratio
    cf 95% and 5% as is done between the State Governments and Management
    of Institution Aided Schools.

          This claim for parity of salary was contestet! on the ground that
    permission to open the 11th and Uth classes in the instant school vms
G   subject to the condition that no grant-in-aid would be provided for the
    additional staff. The High Court, however, allowed the writ petition and
    directed that the writ petitioners be paid the same salary as their counter
    parts in the privately managed government aided schools in Chandigarh·
    and the expenses so incurred be apportioned by the Chandigarh Ad-
H   ministration and the Management in the ratio of95% and 5% respectively.
                                          158
                   CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION v. RATNI                         159

          Aggrieved, the Appellants appealed to this Court.                          A
          Dismissing the appeal, the Court

          HELD : 1. Imparting primary and secondary education to students
    is the bounden duty of the State Administration. It is a constitutional
    mandate that the State shall ensure proper education to the students on          B
    whom the future of the society depends. In line with this principle, the State
    has enacted Statutes and framed Rules and Regulations to control/regu·
    late establishment and running of private schools at different levels. The
    State Government provides grant-in-aid to private schools with a view to
    ensure smooth running of the institutions and to ensure that the standard        C
    of teaching does not suffer on account of paucity of funds. It needs no
    emp!iasis that appointment of qualified and efficient teachers is a sine qua
    non for maintaining high standard of teaching in any educational institu·
    tion. Keeping in mind these and other relevant factors this Court in a
    number of cases has intervened for setting right any discriminatory treat·
    ment meted out to teaching and non· teaching staff ofa particular institu-       D
    tion or a class of institutions. [163-A·D]

          2. The undisputed factual position that emerges from the material
    on record is that the school was established after receiving permissfon
    from the competent authority of the U.T. Administration, the institution
                                                                                     E
    W'dS recognised by the Administration, upgraded to a Higher Secondary
    School and 11th and 12th classes started with the permission of the
    competent authority. The institution \'I-as receiving grant-in-aid since
    December 1967 from the Administration. Respondents 1 to 12, lecturers
    teaching different subjects were appointed by the Management under the
    Recruitment Rules. It is not the case of the Appellants that the Higher          F
    Secondary classes constitute a separate and independent institution, that
    the posts held by respondents 1 to 12 are not necessary for running the
    Higher Secondary Classes and are surplusage in the institution; but the
    respondents were appointed after November 30, 1967 and are not entitled
    to the benefit of salary under the Grant-in-aid Scheme. [162-E·H]
                                                                                     G
          3. Tested on the touchstone of the principles laid down in the earlier
    decisions, the position is manifest that there is no justification for denying
    the claim of the respondents for parity of pay scale. [164-E]

          4. The High Court has, rightly rejected the case of the appellants. H


\
     160                    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2000] 1 S.C.R.
A The directions issued by it for parity in pay scale are unassailable. [164-F]
           5. The State Administration cannot shirk its responsibility of ensur·
     ing proper education in schools and colleges 011 the plea of lack of
     resources. It is for the Authorities running the Administration to find out
     the ways and means of securing funds for the purpose. The contention that
B    the Chandigarl~ Administration cannot bear the additional financial bur-
     den has, therefore, to be rejected. [164-G-H; 165-A]

           6. However, it is clarified that the proportion in which the additional
     burden will be shared by the Chandigarh Administration and the Manage·
C    ment of the school will be in accordance with the Grant-in-aid Scheme
     applicable to the schools from time to time. [165-A·B]

        Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh & Ors. Etc. v. State of Haryana & Ors.
  Etc., AIR (1988) SC 1663; Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh & Or:,. v. State of
  Haryana & Ors., AIR (1990) SC 968; State of Maharashtra v. Mannubhai
D Pragati Vashi & Ors., JT (1995) 6 SC 119 and State of Haryana & Anr. v.
  Ram Chander & Anr., [1997) 5 SCC 253, relied on.

             CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 12921 of
     1996.
E         Frum the Judgment and Order dated 1.12.95 of the Punjab &
     Haryana High Court in C.W.P. No. 14612 of 1993.

             Ms. Karnini Jaiswal, (K..B. Rohtagi) (N.P.) for thi: appi:Ilants.

F         K.P. Bhandari, V.C. Mahajan, P. Bhandari, (Himinder Lal)
     (Caveator) and Ms. Varuna Bhandari Gugnani for Respond1;nts Nos. 1-12.

             Ex-Parte for Respondent Nos. 13-14.

             The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G           MOHAPATRA, J. Dev Samaj Girl Senior Secondary School, Chan-
      digarh is a private educational institution duly recognized and receiving
      grant-in-aid from the Union Territory of Chandigarh Administration since
      1.12.1967. Initially the school was imparting education upto class 10. In the        ;--
      year 1988, it was decided to start 10 + 1 and 10 +2 classes in the school and
 H    upgrade it to senior secondary level. The Director of Public Instructions,


                                                                                       I
    CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION v. RAJNI (MOHAPATRA,J.]                 161

t:nion Territory, Chandigarh granted permission to the management for A
starting 11th and 12th classes in Humanities and Commerce, with a condi-
tion that no grant-in-aid will be provided for any additional staff. The
classes were started on the recommendation of the Director of Public
Instruction. The institution was granted affiliation by the Board of Secon-
dary Education, New Delhi, with effect from 1.5.1998. The corresponding
                                                                             B
classes in Dev Samaj Degree College, Chandigarh, were closed on the
decision of the Chandigarh Administration that education in such classes
would be given in schools. The respondents 1 to 12 arc lecturers who are
teaching different subjects in 11th and 12th classes of the school. When
their request for grant of salary at par with their counter parts working in
privately managed recognised aided schools in Chandigarh was not heeded C
to by the Chandigarh Administration, they filed a writ petition in the High
Court of Punjab and Haryana seeking inter alia a writ of mandamus
directing the respondents i.e. the Chandigarh Administration, its Finance
Secretary, its Director of Public Instructions (School) and the Managing
Committee of the Schoo~ to pay the same salary and dearness allowance D
to the petitioners which is being paid to their counter parts working in
private recognised aided schools in Chandigarh, especially when the other
members of the staff/teachers teaching upto 10th class are receiving the
scales sanctioned for the posts against which they are working. The respon-
dents also prayed that the expenses so incurred should be apportioned by
the Chandigarh Administration and the Management· of the institution in E
the ratio of 95% and 5% as is being done between the State Government
and Management of the Institution Aided Schools.

      The claim of the respondents was refuted by the appellants mainly
on the ground that permission to open the 11th and 12th classes in the
                                                                             F
school was subject to the condition that no grant-in-aid will be provided
for additional staff and therefore the claim of the respondents for parity
of salary with their counter parts in other aided institutions cannot be
accepted.

      The High Court, on consideration of the case of the partit:s and the G
contentions raised on their behalf allowed the writ petition and directed
the respondents who are appellants herein to pay the same salary to the
petitioners/respondents 1 to 13 herein, which is being paid to their counter
parts in the privately managed government aided schools in Chandigarh
and the expenses so incurred be apportioned by the Chandigarh Ad- H
    162                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  (2000] 1 S.C.R.
A ministration and the Management in the ratio of 95% and 5% respectively.
    The judgment of the High Court is under challenge in this appeal filed by
    Chandigarh Administration through Secretary, Education, its Finance
    Secretary and the Director of Public Instructions, (School).


B       From the discussion in the impugned judgment it appears that the
  writ petitioners pressed their claim mainly on the principle of tqual pay
  for equal work. They also made a gritvance about discriminatory trtatment
  meted out to them by the Chandigarh Administration and tht Manage-
  ment. Tht appellants on the other hand refuted the claim, as noted earlier,
  on the ground of conditional grant of permission to open the higher
C secondary classes and paucity of funds to met! the additional burden in
  case the prayer in their writ pttition is allowed. Substantially, the same
  position was repeated during the hearing of the case in this court. The
  learned counsel for the appellants further submitted that under the rules
  governing grant in aid, the staff position of the aided institutions as on 30th
D of November, 1967, has been frozen; sinct all the respondents were ap-
  pointed subsequent to that date, they are not entitled to salary at par with
  teachers of other aided schools, who were in service by the cut off date.


         The undisputed factual position which emerged from the materials
E on record is that the school was established after receiving permission from
  the competent authority of the Chandigarh Administration; the institution
  is duly recognized by the Administration; the institution was upgraded to
  a Higher Secondary School and 11th and 12th classes were started with the
  permission of the Competent Authority; that the subjects of Humanities
p stream and Commerce stn:am were also decided by the Competent
  Authority; the institution has been n:ceiving grant-in- aid from the State
  Government (Chandigarh Administration) since December, 1967; respon-
  dents 1 to 12 are Lecturers teaching in different subjects in other Classes
  11th and 12th and the respondents were appointed by the Management
  under the Recruitment Rules. It is not the case of the appellants that the
G Higher Secondary Classes constitute a separate and independent institu-
   tion. It is also not their case that the posts held by the respondents 1 to 12
   are not necessary for running the Higher Secondary Classes and they are
   surplusage in the institution. As noted earlier, their objection is that, since
   the said respondents were appointed after 30th November, 1967, they are
H not entitled to the benefit of salary under the Grant-in-aid Scheme.
     CHAilfDIGARH ADMINISTRATION v. RAJNI [MOHAPATRA, J.]                 163

       The position has to be accepted as well-settled that imparting A
primary and secondary education to students is the bounden duty of the
State Administration. It is a Constitutional mandate that the State shall
ensure proper education to the students on whom the future of the society
depends. In line with this principle, the State has enacted Statutes and
framed Rules and Regulations to control/regulate establishment and run-
ning of private schools at different levels. The State Government provides
                                                                              B.
grant-in-aid to private schools with a view to ensure smooth running of the
institution and to ensure that the standard of teaching does not suffer on
account of paucity of funds. It needs no emphasis that appointment of
qualified and efficient teachers is a sine qua non for maintaining high
standard of teaching in any educational institution. Keeping in mind these       c
and other relevant factors this Court in a number of cases has intervened
for setting right any discriminatory treatment meted out to teaching and
non-teaching staff of a particular institution or a class of institutions. To
notice a few such decisions on the point, we may refer to the case of
Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh & Ors. Etc. v. State of Haryana & Ors. Etc., D
AIR (1988) SC 1663, in which this Court issued a direction that the State
Government will also take up with the Management of the aided schools
the question of bringing about parity between the teachers of aided scli.ools
and the teachers of Government schools for the period following that to
which the thirty five instalments relate, so that a claim for payment may be
evolved after having regard to the different allowances claimed by the           E
petitioners. In the case of Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh & Ors. v. State
of Haryana & Ors., AIR (1990) SC %8, a Bench of three learned Judges
of this Court clarifying the judgment in Haryana State Adhyapak Sangh &
Ors. v. State of Haryana & Ors. Etc., (supra), issued a direction, inter a/ia,
that the parity in the pay scales and dearness allowance of teachers
                                                                                 F
employed in aided schools and those employed in Government schools
shall be maintained and with that end in future the pay scales of teachers
employed in Government schools shall be revised and brought at par with
the aided schools and dearness allowance payable to the teachers
employed in Government schools with effect from January 1st, 1986.
                                                                                 G
       In the case of State of Maharashtra v. Mannubhai Pragati Vashi &
Ors., JT (1995) 6 SC 119, this Court held that the decision of the Govern-
ment of Maharashtra not to extend the Grant-in-aid Scheme to private law
colleges was discriminatory and this Court directed the State of
Maharashtra to extend the Grant-in-aid Scheme to all recognized private          H
    164                   SUPREME CO CRT REPORTS                   12000] 1 S.C.R.
A law colleges on the same criteria as such grants are given to other Faculties,
    namely, Arts, Science, Commerce, Enginet:ring and Medicine from the
    academic year 1995.

           In the case of State of Haryana and Anr. v. Ram Chander & Anr.,
B   [1997] 5 sec 253, this Court considered th1.: casc of language teachers in
    the Haryana Government Vocational Education Institute, who taught
    Hindi and English to 11th and 12th standard students in the Institute, that
    they should be given parity in pay scale with the teachcrs who taught 11th
    and 12th standard studi:nts in Higher Secondary Schools who were dcsig-
    natcd Lecturers. This Court upheld the judgment of the High Court
C   granting parity of scale of pay to the aggrieved teachers on the finding, inter
    alia, that whether the teachers teaching Hindi and English languages to
    11th and 12th standard students in a technical institution or in a Higher
    Secondary School makes no difference in the nature of duties and functions
    performed by these two sets of papers when they teach the same syllabus
D   of Hindi and English to 11th and 12th standard students who appear at the
    same type of examination and write the same papers as were written by
    11th and 12th standard students who are taught Hindi and English in
    Higher Secondary Schools.

          Tested on the touchstone of the principles laid down in the
E   aforementiom:d decisions, the position is manifest that there is no justifica-
    tion for denying the claim of the respondents for parity of pay scale and
    to accept the contention of the appellants will amount to confirming the
    discriminatory treatment against the respondents. Therefore, the High
    Court rightly rejected the case of the appellants. Tht: directions issued in
F   the impugned Judgment to pay the respondents 1 to 12 the same salary as
    is being paid to their counter parts in the privately managed Government
    aided schools in Chandigarh in tht: circumstances is unassailable.

         Coming to the contention of the appellants that the Chandigarh
  Administration will find it difficult to bear the additional financial burden
G if the claim of the respondents 1 to U is accepted, we need only say that
  such a contention raised in different cases of similar nature has been
  rejected by this Court. The State Administration cannot shirk its respon-
  sibility of ensuring proper education in schools and colleges on the pica of
  lack of resources. It is for the Authorities running the Administration to
H find out the ways and means of securing funds for the purpose. We do not
    CHANDlGARH ADMINISTRATION v. RAJNI [MOHAPATRA,J.j                     165

deem it m:ct:ssary to consider this question in further detail. The contention   A
raised by the appellants in this regard is rejected. It is, however, clarified
that the proportion in which the additional burden will be shared by the
Chandigarh Administration and the Management of the school will be in
accordance with the Grant-in-aid Scheme applicable to the school from
tinit: to tinie. The judgment of the High Court that the sharing of tht:
financial burden will be in the ratio of 95% to 5% is modified accordingly.
                                                                                 B

     With the above modification, the appeal is dismissed, but in the
circumstances of this case, without any order for costs.

P.K.S.                                                     Appeal dismissed.