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TMI Blog1997 (7) TMI 599X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... superannuation of the non teaching staff of the University will also be 60 years. The learned Solicitor General, appearing for the Osmania University, has submitted that sub-section (1) of the Act has two distinct parts. The first part provides that unless otherwise provided, every salaried officer of the University shall be appointed under a written contract and the second part of sub-section (1) of Section 38 provides that conditions of service relating to such salaried officers of the University shall as far as possible, be uniform except in respect of salaries payable to them. Mr. Solicitor General has contended that the University has a large number of employees both in the teaching and non teaching departments. In each of such departments, there are different cadres having different pay structure. Since the employees belong to different cadres discharging different types of duties and responsibilities, it is inherently not practicable to lay down absolutely uniform service conditions even other than pay structure for such diverse cadres of teaching and non teaching staff of the University. Keeping in view the felt need of some amount of flexibility in the service condition ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onary of Words and Phrases (4th Edition) Vol.4 p. 2068. It has been indicated that a duty to do a thing `if possible' means generally `if reasonably possible' in business sense. Similarly, `as far as possible' has been held to mean `as far as possible consistently with carrying of the manufacture in question'. It is contended by the learned Solicitor General that it was never intended that the terms and conditions of all the employees of the University should be absolutely same. Precisely, for the said reason, flexibility was introduced by providing the expression `as far as possible' in Section 38 (1) of the Act. Mr. Solicitor General has also submitted that since the conditions of the teaching staff of the University had to be regulated on the basis of the recommendations of the University Grants Commission, the service conditions of the teaching staff had been framed differently. But so far as the non teaching staff of the University is concerned, all such non teaching staff have been treated uniformly. He has submitted that the fixation of different age of superannuation for the teaching and non teaching staff is not only legal and within the competence of the authorities of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... also followed the accepted policy of the University to maintain the service conditions of its employees in the non teaching department at par with the government employees of the State Government. In the aforesaid circumstances, the impugned decision of the High Court in directing that the non teaching staff of the University would also retire at the age of 60 years cannot be sustained and such judgment should, therefore, be set aside. Mr. Subba Rao, learned counsel appearing for the private respondents who are the writ petitions before the High Court, has, however, disputed the contentions made by learned Solicitor General. Mr. Subba Rao has submitted that Section 38 of the Act clearly lays down that the conditions of service of all salaried employees of the University should be the same `as far as possible' even after noticing that the nature of duties of a large number of employees of the University in both teaching and non teaching establishments are likely to be different and the employees in both the establishments also belong to different cadres. According to Mr. Subba Rao, Section 38 (1) of the Act indicates that if not otherwise absolutely impracticable or impossible, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Subba Rao has submitted that the raising of the superannuation age of the non teaching staff to 60 years for bringing uniformity in the superannuation age of both teaching and non teaching staff of the University is neither impracticable nor unreasonable or undesirable. Therefore, no interference with the impugned order of the High Court is called for in these appeals. After giving our careful consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case and the submissions made by the learned Solicitor General and also the learned counsel appearing for the respondents, it appears to us that teaching and non teaching staff of the University are distinct and separate categories. The nature of duties to be performed by the teaching and non teaching staff of the University are also different. Therefore, apart from different scales of pay in the hierarchy of the service in both teaching and non teaching departments, it may be held that the nature of service of the two distinct and different departments namely the teaching and non teaching departments, is inherently different. Mr. Solicitor General is justified in his contention that Section 38 (1) of the Act recognizes flexibility and th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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