In this post we will discuss about appointment of pgt teachers and the requirements to be as considered as a PGT teacher.
Judgment Digest: Sanjay Dabas v. State of Haryana and Others
This report looks into a judgment of The Punjab and Haryana High Court on the order of a District Judge who, acting in his capacity as the authority under the Haryana Education Tribunal, considered the appeal of a Physical Education teacher who claimed to be employed as a PGT.
PGT refers to a Post-Graduate Teacher. They are the highest class of teachers at the school level due to their additional post-graduate qualifications in their subject. They usually take classes at the senior level. Accordingly, their pay is also found in the highest bracket under the applicable guidelines. On the other hand, a TGT is a Trained Graduate Teacher, who takes classes at the middle level, and is paid according to the middle bracket. The petitioner here insisted on circumstantial evidence that he was a PGT. This case will also emphasise the essential requirement of employment and the prevalence of an express statement over the implied act of the employer when there is a question of one’s designation.
The order can be accessed at https://indiankanoon.org/doc/149461207/[1]
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Facts of the Case
The petitioner had been initially appointed to the post of Physical Education teacher in terms of the appointment letter issued on 24th June 2005 in the pay grade of 5500-175-8300-EB-175- 9000/ P.M. Through an order dated 2nd May 2016, he was directed to take the sports period of the classes assigned to him. His grievance was with regard to the distribution of the time table because he had been assigned to Junior classes for the academic year 2016-17. He had asserted that as a PGT teacher, the PGT Scale should apply to him since the date of his employment. Accordingly, he had appealed in the Education Tribunal to quash the memo dated 2nd May 2016 and had insisted throughout that he worked as a PGT and not a TGT. This appeal was rejected by the judge with costs. Aggrieved by this decision, he filed the present writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana Court seeking to set aside the impugned order.
Issues of the case
- Whether the petitioner was a PGT, to whom the PGT scale applied and who should only be assigned the senior classes?
Case Laws Cited
None
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Findings of the Court
The bench outright rejected the claim of the petitioner that he was a PGT. They observed that the appointment letter had been issued for a Physical Education Teacher and did not indicate in any manner that it was for a PGT or on a PGT scale. It was not disputed that he had been appointed as a Physical Education Teacher. There was no submission suggesting that any letter of appointment with regard to a PGT post was ever issued in his name, nor was he authorised to work in this capacity at any point of time.
Another argument was in an order dated 28th October 2011, pertaining to a mutual exchange of government quarters, he was mentioned to be a PGT. he had also been appointed as an Examiner and had attended workshops meant for the Post Graduate staff. However, the court rejected this claim, concluding that because he was so referred or because he attended the workshops is not enough to show his appointment as such. “Merely because in some of the communications, he has been mentioned as PGT, cannot be construed as a circumstance to conclude that he was appointed as PGT at any point of time”. To be employed as a PGT and to receive the appropriate scale, it must be shown that there is a valid appointment letter, or that such status has been conferred upon the person.
The petitioner also contended discrimination on the grounds that Tirshem Kumar and Vikas Gupta were being given the PGT Scale. However, both these teachers had been appointed as PGT’s in terms of appointment letters issued on 3rd April 2007. Such an important fact was missing from the case of the petitioner.
The petitioner’s representation for getting the PGT Scale was declined through a letter dated 28th October 2011. He had no vested right to assert that he could only be assigned the senior classes. It is in fact the employer’s right to decide which duties will be assigned to any employee and how their services will be put to the best use of the Institute they are employed at.
The court also observed that nothing in the material put on record in this appeal proved any malafide conduct, arbitrariness or discrimination on part of the respondents. The decision was “well-reasoned” and was free of any illegality or irregularity. The appeal was, thus, dismissed.
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Conclusion
The court found nothing to justify the claim of the petitioner that he was a Post Graduate Teacher. Merely on the basis of some instances where he was referred to as a PGT, or because he became involved in activities meant for the PG teachers, it does not go to imply that he works in such capacity. The only justifiable grounds are a valid appointment letter, or conferment of the title of a PGT by relevant authority- none of which could be shown by the petitioner.
The relevance of Educational Tribunals begins with the 2002 TMA Pai judgment when the 11–judge bench of the Supreme Court issued directions to set up such forums. Talks of the Educational Tribunal Bill heightened around 2010 when it was drafted, but a decade later, it still awaits to become an active legislation. Regardless, some states have indeed set up the Education Tribunal under State Acts, one of these being Punjab. In Haryana, the district judges have been given the responsibility to hear petitions of this nature. The need for Tribunals of this nature is to grant speedier remedy to teachers, school management, students, authorities and other stakeholders in case of dispute related to the education sector. It has also been seen that teachers of private unaided schools are often unable to seek relief by invoking the jurisdiction of the courts. This is because the contracts for service between the teachers and the school restrict the nature of their relationship to be purely contractual and private. As a result, many are exploited without respite. Legislation and a legal mechanism is the need of the hour for the country which strives for better standards in education.
References
As given in footnotes
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This post is written by Jigyasa Kharbanda
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[1] CWP-10393-2020
