Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Harpal Singh vs Union Of India Through on 13 August, 2013
Central Administrative Tribunal Principal Bench OA No. 1635/2013 New Delhi this the 13th day of August, 2013 Honble Mr. Justice Syed Rafat Alam, Chairman Honble Dr. Birendra Kumar Sinha, Member (A)
1. Harpal Singh, S/o late Shri Raghubir Singh, R/o 1114, Sector-03, RK Puram, New Delhi-110022
2. Paramjit Singh, S/o Sh. Ranbir Singh, R/o BD-906, Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi-110026
3. Ajay Kranti Sharma, S/o Shri Satya Prakash, R/o C-202, Rail Nagar, Sector-20, Noida
4. Salil Kapoor, S/o Shri Raj Pal Kapoor, R/o C-225, Surya Nagar, Ghaziabad, UP-201011
5. Minakshi Bali, D/o late Sh. JK Bali, R/o G-2348, Netaji Nagar, New Delhi-110023
6. Devendra Singh Waldia, S/o Shri Lal Singh Waldia, R/o Village Dewdar, PO Shillong, Distt. Pithoragarh (UK)
7. Prakash Chandra Joshi, S/o Shri L.D. Joshi, R/o 235, Kurmanchal Colony, PO Kashipur, Distt. US Nagar (Uttarakhand)
8. Shishpal Singh, S/o Late Shri K.S. Rawat, R/o Village & PO-Saikot, Distt. Chamoli (UK)
9. Brahm Prakash Mehta, S/o Shri Bijay Kumar Mehta, R/o Village-Banauli, PO Chasi, Disttt. Bhojpur Ara, Bihar
10. Atul Kumar S/o Sh. Sachidanand Singh, R/o New Bank Colony, Adampur, Bhagalpur, Bihar
11. Neeraj, S/o Dr. Nagendra Singh, R/o Anand Kutir Rajendra Chowk, POTIS: Hajipur, Distt. Vaishali, Bihar-844101
12. Amarjeet Kumar Sinha, S/o late (Dr.)Sushil Prasad Sinha, R/o New PUrandarpur, Near Jakkanpur, P.S. Patna, Bihar
13. Hariom Singh Gurung, S/o late Shri Ram Singh Gurung, R/o Village Satigaon, PO Gurgaon, Distt. Pithoragarh (UK)
14. Ganga Singh Mahar, S/o Shri Keshar Singh Mahar, R/o Village-Khartoli, PO Sera, Distt. Pithoragh (UK)
15. Pradip Mandal, S/o Shri Dayaram Mandal, R/o 11/16, Suryasen Sarani, Suryasen Colony, Block-A, PO Siliguri Town, Distt. Jalpaiguri, PIN-734004 (W.B)
16. Dilip Mandal, S/o Shri Dayaram Mandal, R/o 11/16, Suryasen Sarani, Suryasen Colony, Block-A, PO Siliguri Town, Distt. Jalpaiguri, PIN-734004 (W.B)
17. Jagvir Singh, S/o late Sh. Kishori Lal, R/o Village & PO Daraura, Distt. Buland Shahar (UP)
18. Dipak Ranjan Roy, S/o late Sh. Ganesh Chandra Roy, R/o Village-Paschim Harmati, PO Bhotepatti, Distt. Jalpaiguri-735305 (WB)
19. Bijendra Singh Chauhan, S/o late Shri MS Chauhan, R/o Village Sathkholu, PO Kalinkakhal, Distt. Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand
20. Om Veer Singh, S/o Shri Ram Sanehi Lal, R/o VPO Niwari Kalan, Distt. Etawah (UP)
21. Mohinder Singh, S/o Sh. Jagmal Singh, R/o Village Bihali, PO Mandi Ateli, Distt. Mohinder Garh (Haryana)
22. Satish Chandra Dhoundiyal, S/o Shri Narayan Dutt Dhoundiyal, R/o Village Rikholi, Post Gainsain, Distt. Chamoli, Uttarakhand
23. Nagendra Kumar Khantwal, S/o Shri Prem Lal Khantwal, R/o Village Mahergaon, PO Asankhel, Distt. Pauri Garhwal (UK)
24. Shree Kishan Kumar Singh, S/o Shri Sher Singh, R/o Q.No.IV/7 CFIs Campus, Ramajnthapur, Hyderabad (AP)
25. Vijay Kumar, S/o Shri Sri Ram, R/o H.No.524/18, Rajnagar, Khondsa Road, Gurgaon (Haryana)
26. Yogendra Singh Yadav, S/o Sh. Ram Krishna Yadav, R/o Village Gumuhan, PO Kusamarg, Distt. Hamirpur (HP)
27. Umesh Kumar Singh, S/o late Sh. VB Singh, R/o Village & PO Chhotaki Seria, Distt. Ballia (UP)
28. Rajan Kannan, S/o late Sh. K.Kannan, R/o Thozhuthingal (House) Velompushs, Elevaqmpadam, (PO) Palakkad, Kerala
29. Samy Singh, S/o Sh. Soran Singh, R/o Type-III, Qtr. No.1463-B, CFI Colony, Sec-37-B, Chandigarh
30. Surendra Singh, S/o Late Sh. Ranjeet Singh Rawat, R/o Rawat Bhawan, Near Ciscuil House, Pauri, Pauri Garhwal (UK)
31. Badrish Pandit, S/o Sh. Rama Vallabh Pandit, R/o Type-IV/944, Kamla Nehru Nagar, Ghaziabad (UP)
32. Navin Kumar, R/o Village & PO Ltasang, Halanda-803119
33. Prasant Kumar Patel, R/o Village & PO Ujalpur, PS Lephripara, Distt. Sundergarh (Odisha)
34. Ranadeb Kumar Goswami, R/o Village Subhasgarh, PO Hazinagar, Distt. 24 Pgs (N), West Bengal
35. Manoj Shanker, S/o Late Sh. SS Srivastava, R/o H.No.506/12, Orderly Bazar, Varanasi
36. Pratap Singh Yadav, S/o Sh. R.L. Yadav, R/o H.No.1022, Edgah Road, Gandhi Nagar, Unnao (UP)
37. Bimal Kumar Roy, S/o Sh. Parboti Charan Roy, R/o Village Kamal Kambalpur, PO Kichaktola, Distt.U/Dinojpur (WB)
38. Prabal Kumar Sinha S/o Sh. Braja Kishore Sinha, R/o B-11/171, Kendriya Vihar, PO Airport, Kolkata-2
39. Umed Singh, S/o Sh. Ratan Singh, R/o Village Bhanar (Tikata), PO Lathi, Distt. Bageshwar UK-263633
40. Anand Singh Bhandari, S/o Sh. LS Bhandari, R/o Plot No.146, Vindhya Vasini Nagar, Colony Orderly Bazaar, Varanasi, UP-22102
41. Govinda Kumar Nath, S/o Shri T.C. Nath, R/o Teachers Colony, Didhu, PO Diphu, Distt. Anglong, Assam-78460
42. Satyendra Narayan Sharma, S/o Shri Ramanuj Sharma, R/o Mohalla-Abadganj, Kali Mandir Road, At+{P Daltonganj, Distt. Palamau, Jharkhand
43. PV Joy, R/o East Block-V, RK Puram, New Delhi-110066
44. Sanjay Kumar Mandal, S/o Sh. Kisun Prasad Mandal, R/o Bari Keshopur Janta More, PO-RPS-Jamalpur, Distt. Munger, Bihar
45. Surendra Mohan Sharma, S/o Shri Baleshwar Sharma, R/o Village & Post-Chakia, Distt-Bhojpur, Ara, Bihar
46. Gopal Chandra Barman, S/o Sh. Rameshwar Barman, R/o Village Runibari, PO-Nishiganj, PS-Matha Banga, Distt. North 24 Parganas (WB)
47. Tarkeshwar Yadav, S/o Sh. Dinanath Yadav, R/o Holding No.21, Kaptepara Road, PO-Authpur, Distt. North 24 Parganas (W.B)
48. Subhash Sarkar, S/o Late Sh. Megh Lal Sarkar, R/o Village Nandanpur, PO-Nandalghat, Distt. Jalpaiguri (WB)
49. Anurag Mishra, S/o Late Sh. P.Mishra, R/o Opposite Radha Krishna Temple, Deputy Ganj, Moradabad (UP)-244001
50. Ambrish Kumar, S/o Shri Ranvir Singh, R/o 389/A Shambhunagar, Shikogabad, Distt. Firozabad (UP)
51. Binod Kumar Limbu, S/o Shri HB Limbu, R/o Vill-Padampukhri, Distt.-Dimapur, Nagaland
52. L.Rajendra, S/o Sh. Laishuam Jhotombi Singh, R/o Lalambung Makhong, RIMS Road, Imphal
53. L.Rajendra, S/o Sh. Laishuam Jhotombi Singh, R/o Lalambung Makhong, RIMS Road, Imphal
54. Dilip Kumar, S/o Late Shri Bhim Lal Sharma, R/o Prateet Nagar, Raiwala Cantt. Dehradun, Uttrakhand-249205 -Applicants (By Advocate: Shri Padma Kumar S)
-V E R S U S-
1. Union of India through The Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, North Block, New Delhi
2. The Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal, East Block, RK Puram, New Delhi
3. The Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, North Block, New Delhi-1
4. The Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi -Respondents (By Advocate: Shri Rajinder Nischal) O R D E R (Oral) Justice Syed Rafat Alam:
In the instant Application, the applicants, who are civilian employees holding the post of Circle Organizers in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), have challenged the action of the respondents in not granting the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- mainly on the ground that SSB is not a part of Cabinet Secretariat but of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and, therefore, have sought the following reliefs:-
(a) Applicants seek a direction declaring that the Applicants are entitled to the same Grade Pay of Rs.4800 as they are similarly situated Circle Organizers, who have been granted the benefit of Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- vide Order dated 20.7.2012 (1.8.2012) in OA No. 1816/2011.
(b) Direction to the Respondents to grant the PB 2 Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- from 1.1.2006 or from the date they became Circle Organizer whichever is later with all consequential benefits including the grant of MACP from the respective dates based on the revised Grade Pay as on 1.1.2006 and also interest on arrears.
(c) Any other direction with this Honble Tribunal may be pleased pass under the facts and circumstances of the case.
(d) A direction granting cost of litigation to the Applicants.
2. At the outset, Shri Padma Kumar S, learned counsel for the applicants, submits that the facts and the reliefs claimed in this Application are similar and identical to that of OA No. 1816/2011 which was disposed of vide order dated 20.7.2012 wherein decision of the respondents in not granting the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- at par with field officers of other organizations like RAW, ARC and SFF on the ground that SSB is a part of MHA and not Cabinet Secretariat, was not approved mainly on the ground that it is discriminatory. Hence, the respondents were directed to grant Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- in Pay Band (PB) 2 from 1.1.2006 with all consequential benefits to those applicants. A copy of the judgment is enclosed as Annexure A-1. Learned counsel for the applicants, therefore, submits that the instant Application being covered by the aforesaid order and to the earlier order of the Tribunal dated 13.8.2010 in OA No. 3319/2009 wherein it has been observed that Circle Organizers in SSB were placed under the Ministry of Home Affairs only for functional reasons and they continued to perform the same work which they were performing earlier. Relying on the aforesaid decision, a similar view was taken by the Tribunal in OA No. 1011/2011, JS Thakur & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Ors. and the directions were issued to grant Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- at par with the field officers of other organizations like RAW, ARC and SFF. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that the Tribunal consistently found that the Circle Organizers working in SSB even if being placed under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs, would be entitled to get the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- and depriving them of the same would be discriminatory.
3. On the other hand, Shri Rajinder Nischal, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents, fairly stated that the controversy now stands concluded in view of the aforesaid judgments of this Tribunal and, therefore, this Application may be disposed of with the similar directions.
4. Having considered the submissions and gone through the pleadings of the parties and the aforesaid judgments, we do not find any reason to differ with the view taken in J.S. Thakur & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Ors. (supra) and, therefore, of the view that the grievance of the applicants is squarely covered by the aforesaid judgments of this Tribunal.
5. In the result, this Application succeeds and is disposed of in terms of the aforesaid judgments of this Tribunal for the reasons assigned therein. The respondents are, therefore, directed to grant PB-2 Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- to the applicants w.e.f. 1.1.2006 or from the date when they became Circle Organizers, whichever is later with all consequential benefits, within a period of three months from the date of service of copy of this order. There shall be no order as to costs.
(Birendra Kumar Sinha) (Syed Rafat Alam) Member (A) Chairman /lg/