Karnataka High Court
State Of Karnataka vs Sri A Nanjappa on 12 November, 2013
Bench: Mohan.M.Shantanagoudar, K.N.Phaneendra
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGALORE
DATED THIS THE 12th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2013
PRESENT
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MOHAN .M. SHANTANAGOUDAR
AND
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.N. PHANEENDRA
WRIT PETITION NO.32745 OF 2010 (S-KAT)
BETWEEN:
1. State of Karnataka
By its Secretary
PWD & Irrigation Department
M.S. Building, Bangalore-1.
2. The Superintending Engineer
Public Works Department
Shimoga Circle, Durgigudi
Shimoga-577201.
3. The Accountant General
in Karnataka
Bangalore-560 001. ..Petitioners
(By Sri Pavan Kumar B. Bajentri, AGA.,)
2
AND :
Sri A. Nanjappa
S/o late Appajappa
Hindu
Aged about 59 years
Residing at No.4
Gurukrupa, 7th Cross
2nd Main, Vijayanagar
Tumkur-572102. ..Respondent
(By Sri V.S. Sanjeeva Murthy, Adv.,)
This writ petition is filed under Article 226 & 227 of
the Constitution of India praying to quash the impugned
order dated 21.10.2009 passed by the Karnataka
Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore in Application
No.1155/2000 vide Annexure-A.
This writ petition coming on for hearing, this day,
MOHAN .M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, J., made the
following:-
ORDER
The respondent retired as Group-D servant on 31.8.1999 in the office of the Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department, Shimoga; his pay scale was Rs.780 - Rs.1,040 initially; he was granted Selection Time Scale of pay of Rs.810 - Rs.1,310 and his pay as on 1.1.1990 was fixed at Rs.1,310/- plus Rs.30/- PP. 3 Pursuant to the provisions of the Karnataka Civil Services (Automatic Grant of Special Promotion to Senior Scale of Pay) Rules 1991, the petitioner who was drawing pay of Rs.1,370/- as on 1.6.1991 in the Selection Time Scale of Pay was sanctioned Senior Time Scale of pay of Rs.870 - Rs.1,600 w.e.f. 1.6.1991. Thereafter annual increments were sanctioned. Due to introduction of revised pay Rules of 1994, his pay was notionally fixed at Rs.1,560/- w.e.f 1.7.1993. Thereafter there was re-fixation of his pay from time to time. At the time of retirement as on 31.8.1999, his pay was Rs.4,950/-. The said amount was taken for the purpose of granting pensionary benefits and the relevant records were sent to the Accountant General for sanction. Instead of sanctioning the pensionary benefits on the basis of the last pay drawn, the Accountant General withholding Rs.25,000/- from the DCRG of the respondent, returned the pension papers with an objection that the Selection Time Scale of pay granted to the respondent and the pay scale of 4 the promotional post are identical and therefore the respondent is not eligible for the pay scale of Rs.870 - Rs.1,600/-. The 3rd petitioner requested the 2nd petitioner herein to re-fix the pay of the respondent taking into consideration the senior pay scale of the respondent as Rs.810 - Rs.1,310 and order for recovery of the excess amount paid. Accordingly, the 2nd petitioner recasted the pay of the respondent and took decision to recover the excess payment made out of the DCRG withheld. Aggrieved by the same, the respondent preferred Application No.1155/2000 before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal ( 'KAT' for short) which came to be allowed by the impugned order.
2. The Tribunal after considering the material on record has rightly applied the dictum laid down by this Court in the case of SIDDAPPA & OTHERS -vs- MANAGING DIRECTOR & OTHERS reported in ILR 1999 KAR 3193 5 wherein it was held that classification of employees, depending on whether the Selection Time Scale of Pay granted to them under 1983 Rules is the same or different from the pay scale attached to the promotional post, has no rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved by the Rules and any such classification would fall foul of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
3. The object underlying Karnataka Civil Services (Time Bound Advancement) Rules, 1983 and the Karnataka Civil Services (Automatic Grant of Special Promotion to Senior Scale of Pay) Rules, 1991 is to provide relief against stagnation in service as a consequence of non-availability of promotional avenues to those, who have served in the same post for the prescribed number of years. The Rules provide that the grant of time bound advancement or Automatic Grant of special promotion to senior scale of pay is subject to the condition that the employee concerned has 6 not only served for the prescribed number of years, but also he is eligible for promotion in accordance with the Rules of recruitment and possesses a satisfactory record of service. The Scheme underlying the Rules therefore is that any person who has served in a given post for the prescribed number of years and who is qualified for promotion to the next higher post and has satisfactory record of service can be placed in a scale of pay which is next above the selection time scale granted under 1983 Rules.
4. In the case of Siddappa mentioned supra, this Court has extensively dealtwith the case of an employee who was granted the benefit of time bound advancement under the aforementioned Rules of 1983 and 1991. In the said matter, this Court directed the employer to extend the benefit of senior scale of pay to the petitioners therein in accordance with the rules. Since the facts on hand are almost similar to the facts in the case of Siddappa cited 7 supra, the Tribunal has rightly allowed the prayer of the respondent herein following the dictum laid down in the case of Siddappa. Hence no interference is called for.
Petition fails and the same stands dismissed.
Sd/-
JUDGE Sd/-
JUDGE Gss/-