- (1.) This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner against the respondents on 11.3.1997 with the prayer that by an appropriate writ, order or direction, the order Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997 passed by the District Education Officer (Boys), Jodhpur (respondent No. 3) by which directions were issued to the Manager, Shri Sumer Pushtikar Senior Secondary School, Jodhpur (respondent No. 4) to the effect that amount of Rs. 58,200/-, which was paid to the petitioner wrongly, be got recovered from her and order Annexure-2 dated 28.2.1997 passed by the respondent No. 4 in compliance of the order Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997 by which the petitioner was asked to deposit Rs. 58,200/-, be quashed and set aside.
(2.) The case of the petitioner as put forward by her in this writ petition is as follows :- The petitioner holds a Master's Degree in Arts and Bachelor's Degree in Library Science and she got her name registered in the Employment Exchange, Jodhpur. The respondent No. 4 initiated selections for the post of Librarian Gr. II in the pay scale of Rs. 450-770 by calling names of the eligible candidates from the Employment Exchange, Jodhpur in the year 1979. The Employment Exchange, Jodhpur forwarded the name of the petitioner and other candidates for selection to the post of Librarian Gr. II and after selection, the petitioner was found suitable and she was given appointment on the post of Librarian Gr. II in the pay scale of Rs. 450-770 vide order Annexure-1 dated 20.9.1979. The further case of the petitioner is that her pay was revised to pay scale of Rs. 625-1120 with effect from 1.9.1981 under the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay scales) Rules, 1983 and thereafter, to pay scale of Rs. 1140-2250 with effect from 1.9.1986 under the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay Scales) Rules, 1987 and thereafter, to pay scale of Rs. 1400-2600 with effect from 1.9.1988 under the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay Scales) Rules, 1989. It may be stated here that in pursuance of the order Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997 passed by the District Education Officer (Boys), Jodhpur (respondent No. 3), the respondent No. 4 passed the order Annexure-2 dated 28.2.1997 by which the petitioner was informed that her fixation in the revised pay scale of Rs. 1400-2600 was illegal and consequently her pay has been ordered to be reduced to the pay scale of Rs. 1200-2050 and a direction was given for recovery of the amount paid in excess to her to the tune of Rs. 58,200/- and thus, the petitioner was asked to deposit the said amount of Rs. 58,200/-. Both the aforesaid orders Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997 passed by the respondent No. 3 as well as Annexure-2 dated 28.2.1997 passed by the respondent No. 4 have been challenged by the petitioner in this writ petition on various grounds and the main grounds are as follows :- (i) That before passing the impugned orders Annexure-3 and Annexure-2, no notice or opportunity of hearing was given to the petitioner and thus, they are wholly illegal being passed in violation of the principles of natural justice and on that ground alone, both the impugned orders Annexure-3 and Annexure-2 are liable to be quashed and set aside. (ii) That the petitioner was appointed as Librarian Gr. II by the respondents themselves and since her appointment vide order Annexure-1 dated 20.9.1979, she has been working on the said post and her pay scale has been revised from time to time on the basis that she was initially appointed in the pay scale of Librarian Gr. II and further revision of her pay scale has been made from time to time by the Department and now after a lapse of 17 years from the date of her appointment, if any objection has been taken by the respondents that she was wrongly given the appointment on the post of Librarian Gr. II, such action on the part of the respondents is highly arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Furthermore, there was no fault on the part of the petitioner when she was given appointment on the post of Librarian Gr. II in place of librarian Gr. III. Thus, both the impugned orders Annexure-3 and Annexure-2 ordering recovery from the petitioner cannot be sustained and liable to be quashed and set aside. A reply to the writ petition was filed by the respondent No. 4 admitting the fact that in the appointment order of the petitioner dated 20.9.1979 (Annexure-1), the pay scale of Rs. 450-10-490-20-770 was mentioned and the same was meant for Librarian Gr. II. It has been further submitted by the respondent No. 4 that a letter Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997 was received from the respondent No. 3 Distt. Education Officer (Boys), Jodhpur in which it was stated that the petitioner was wrongly given pay scale of Librarian Gr. II as at that time, only post of Librarian Gr. III was vacant and, therefore, the amount, which has been wrongly paid to the petitioner to the tune of Rs. 58,200/-, be got recovered from her and in compliance of the order Annexure-3 dated 3.2.1997, the impugned order Annexure-2 dated 28.2.1997 was passed. A separate reply was also filed by the respondents Nos. 1 to 3 and it was submitted by them that no doubt through order Annexure-1, the petitioner was appointed in the pay scale of Rs. 450-10-490-20-770 meant for the post of Librarian Gr. II, but that appointment order Annexure-1 was issued wrongly and by bonafide mistake, in place of Librarian Gr. III, the petitioner was appointed on the post of Librarian Gr. II and since a bonafide mistake was committed by the employer (respondent No. 4), the State Government has every right to rectify that mistake and to order for recovery of the amount paid wrongly and thus, no illegality or irregularity has been committed by the respondents in ordering for recovery of the amount paid wrongly to the petitioner. Hence, no interference is called for and this writ petition deserves to be dismissed.
(3.) I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the respondents and gone through the materials available on record.;