- (1.) This batch of Writ Petitions brought under Art. 32 of the Constitution arises on account of the respondent University's refusal to grant Research Assistants/ Associates the scale of Rs. 700-1600 recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with effect from 1st January, 1973, even though the University, namely, the Sukhadia University, Rajasthan, (earlier known as University of Udaipur) has implemented the UGC recommendations and granted the UGC scales in the case of other members of the teaching staff. It may be noticed that the UGC in its report (1975-76) recommended upward revision of pay scales of University and College teachers, which recommendation came to be approved by the Government of India. According to the said recommendation three pays scales were approved for University and College teachers, these being Rs. 700-1600 for Lecturers and Assistant Professors, Rs. 1200-1900 for Readers and Rs. 1500-2500 for Professors replacing the then prevailing pay scales of Rs. 400-950, Rs.700-1250 and Rs. 1100-1600, respectively, with effect from 1-1-73. Research Assistants who claim to belong to the teaching faculty claimed the lowest pay scale of Rs. 700-1600 which the University had refused to grant notwithstanding a host of representations. They further contended that the benefit of the revised UGC scale of Rs. 700-1600 was also extended to Junior Lecturers who were then in the scale of Rs. 300-600. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) had also clarified in its communication dated June 26/July 1, 1977, that it makes no distinction between academic, research and extension work in Agricultural Universities and had extended the benefit of the revised UGC scales to Extension/ Research Assistants also if they possessed the qualifications of Lecturer and were recognised as teachers under the University Statutes. The Vice-Chancellor of the respondent University had also written a letter dated 14-15th December , 1976 to the Education Commissioner of the State Government to extend the benefit of the revised UGC scales to Junior Lecturers/ Research Assistants/ Extension Assistants as they belonged to the teachers' category. While the claim was approved in the case of Junior Lecturers, it came to be spurned in the case of Research Assistants even though Research Assistants of Agricultural Universities in the States of Haryana (Hissar), Punjab (Ludhiana) and Himachal Pradesh were placed in the scale of Rs. 700-1600. The petitioners also relied on a letter dated 17-12-77 of the Under-secretary (Education), ICAR addressed to the Deputy Secretary to the Government of Rajasthan, Agriculture (Gr. II) Department, Jaipur, wherein it is stated that Research and Extension staff declared Teachers' under the University Statute would be eligible for the UGC revised pay scale. The petitioners further point out that the post of Research Assistant in the University was equivalent to that of Junior Lecturer, being in the same scale of Rs. 300-600 and when by Notification dated 2-7-74, Statute 47(1) came to be amended and the expression 'Junior Lecturer' in clause (v) thereof came to be substituted by the expression 'Lecturer', persons holding equivalent posts in the same pay scale were given the same nomenclature by the Registrar's subsequent notification dated 7-9-77. This was so because, contend the petitioners, they fell within the definition of 'Teacher' in section 2(j) of the Udaipur University Act, 1962 which runs as under : "(j) 'Teacher' means a person appointed or recognised by the University for the purpose of instruction or conducting and guiding research or extension programmes and includes a person who may be declared by the statute to be a teacher." The petitioners, therefore, contend that a person who is appointed by the University for conducting and guiding research falls within the scope and ambit of the above definition and hence there is no room for any doubt that a Research Assistant employed for conducting and guiding research has to be regarded as belonging to the teaching faculty and would, therefore, be entitled to be placed in the UGC scale of Rs. 700-1600 with effect from 1-1 -73. Despite this clear position the petitioners contend that the University acted in an arbitrary, unreasonable and unfair manner in denying to the Research Assistants their legitimate due of being placed in the revised UGC scale of Rs. 700-1600 from 1-1-73.
(2.) The petitioners point out that this stand of the University was questioned by one Dr. Nihal Singh in a Writ Petition No. 39 of 1979 under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the Rajasthan High Court. It was heard and disposed of on 22-4-81 by a learned single Judge of the High Court, who, on a consideration of the material placed before him, ruled that Research Assistants fell within the extended meaning of 'Lecturers' in clause (v) of Statute 47 and since that term was inclusive of 'equivalent posts in Research and Extensions', they were entitled to be placed in the scale of Rs. 700-1600, more so because they were 'teachers' as defined in section 2(j) extracted earlier. The learned Judge held that the petitioner before him should be notionally placed in that scale with effect from 2-7-74, the date from which the term 'Lecturer' was substituted for the words 'Junior Lecturer. He was given monetary benefits from 1-9-76 from which date other Lecturers were given this benefit. The State of Rajasthan carried the matter in appeal before a Division Bench of the High Court. The Division Bench by its judgment and order dated 26-10-81 affirmed the view expressed by the learned single Judge but modified the notional date from 2-7-74 to the date of actual appointment of the petitioner. The Special Leave Petition filed against the said decision of the Division Bench was summarily dismissed by this Court on 6-9-82. Thus ended the litigation commenced by Dr. Nihal Singh. It also appears that 56 other Writ Petitions were similarly disposed of by a learned single Judge on- 16-8-82 and appeals taken to the Division Bench were dismissed of on the ratio of Nihal Singh's case.
(3.) The grievance of the petitioners is that even after this cycle of litigation in which it was finally decided that Research Assistants were entitled to be placed in the scale of Rs. 700-1600, the respondents continued to vex them by refusing to apply the ratio of that judgment to their case which had forced them to move this court for redress. In these petitions some others claiming to be similarly placed have sought impleadment by separate interim applications which we hereby allow.;