Central Administrative Tribunal - Chandigarh
Bhajan Lal Pucda Code 3180447 Presently ... vs Comptroller And Auditor General Of ... on 14 September, 2015
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL,
CHANDIGARH BENCH
O.A.No.060/00376/2015 Orders pronounced on: 14.09.2015
(Orders reserved on: 07.09.2015)
CORAM: HONBLE MR. SANJEEV KAUSHIK, MEMBER (J) &
HONBLE MR. UDAY KUMAR VARMA, MEMBER (A)
1. Bhajan Lal PUCDA Code 3180447 presently working as A.A.O.
2. Ajay Kumar Gupta PUCDA Code 3181079 presently working as A.A.O.
3. Akhileshwar Mishra PUCDA Code 3181088 presently working as A.O.
4. Amal Kumar PUCDA Code 3180470 presently working as A.A.O.
5. Amit Jain PUCDA Code 3180973 presently working as A.A.O.
6. Amit Kumar Sinha PUCDA Code 3180471 presently working as A.A.O.
7. Amit Malik PUCDA Code 3180460 presently working as A.A.O.
8. Anil Kumar PUCDA Code 3181320 presently working as A.A.O.
9. Anil Kumar PUCDA Code 3180949 presently working as A.A.O.
10. Anita Sharma PUCDA Code 3180088 presently working as Sr. A.O.
11. Anoop Kumar Mandal PUCDA Code 3180785 presently working as A.A.O.
12. Anup Kumar PUCDA Code 3180080 presently working as A.A.O.
13. Anuradha Gupta PUCDA Code 3180442 presently working as A.A.O.
14. Anurag Malhota PUCDA Code 3180982 presently working as Sr. A.O.
15. Arun Kumar PUCDA Code 3181120 presently working as A.A.O.
16. Arun Tuli PUCDA Code 3180432 presently working as Sr. A.O.
17. Ashish Kumar Srivastava PUCDA Code 3180376 presently working as A.A.O.
18. Ashwani Kumar PUCDA Code 3180465 presently working as A.A.O.
19. Ashwani Kumar PUCDA Code 3180435 presently working as Sr. A.O.
20. Ashwani Kumari PUCDA Code 3180368 presently working as A.A.O.
21. Ashwani Sood PUCDA Code 3180402 presently working as A.A.O.
22. Atma Ram PUCDA Code 3181118 presently working as A.A.O.
23. Atulaya Kumar PUCDA Code 3180410 presently working as A.A.O.
24. Babu Ram PUCDA Code 3180099 presently working as A.O.
25. Baran Babu PUCDA Code 3180394 presently working as A.A.O.
26. Bharat Bushan Sharma PUCDA Code 5012022 presently working as A.A.O.
27. Binwant Singh PUCDA Code 3180360 presently working as Sr. A.O.
28. Biresh Singh GJAHB Code 5012657 presently working as A.A.O.
29. Bishnu Kumar PUCDA Code 3180459 presently working as A.A.O.
30. Chander Kesh Raina PUCDA Code 3181055 presently working as A.A.O.
31. Chandra Prakash Barna PUCDA Code 3180859 presently working as A.O.
32. Chandra Sekhar Srivastava PUCDA Code 3180109 presently working as A.A.O.
33. Charanjiv PUCDA Code 3180104 presently working as A.O.
34. Dalbir Singh Katyal PUCDA Code 3180456 presently working as A.A.O.
35. Daljit Singh PUCDA Code 3180458 presently working as A.A.O.
36. Darshan Singh HRCDA Code 5012304 presently working as A.A.O.
37. Davinder Singh Toor PUCDA Code 3180112 presently working as A.A.O.
38. Deep Shikha Punj PUCDA Code 3180469 presently working as A.A.O.
39. Dharamvir PUCDA Code 3180404 presently working as A.A.O.
40. Didar Singh PUCDA Code 3181113 presently working as A.A.O.
41. Dileep Kumar PUCDA Code 3180107 presently working as A.O.
42. Dilip Singh PUCDA Code 3180827 presently working as A.A.O.
43. Dinesh Kumar I PUCDA Code 3180765 presently working as A.A.O.
44. Dinesh Kumar II PUCDA Code 3180355 presently working as Sr. A.O.
45. Gagandeep Kaur Arora PUCDA Code 5012416 presently working as A.A.O.
46. Gagandeep Singh Arora PUCDA Code not allotted presently working as A.A.O.
47. Geeta Taneja PUCDA Code 3180431 presently working as Sr. A.O.
48. Goutam Dass PUCDA Code 3181068 presently working as A.A.O.
49. Gulshan Rai PUCDA Code 3180387 presently working as A.A.O.
50. Gur Parshad PUCDA Code 3181114 presently working as A.A.O.
51. Gurdass Ram PUCDA Code 5012258 presently working as A.A.O.
52. Gurjeet Kaur PUCDA Code 3180942 presently working as A.A.O.
53. Gurtej Singh Aulakh PUCDA Code 5011852 presently working as A.A.O.
54. Gurvinder Kaur PUCDA Code 3181093 presently working as A.A.O.
55. Hanish Thapar PUCDA Code 5011741 presently working as A.A.O.
56. Harbhajan Singh PUCDA Code 3180877 presently working as A.A.O.
57. Harchand Singh PUCDA Code 3180114 presently working as A.O.
58. Harish Kumar PUCDA Code 5011906 presently working as A.A.O.
59. Harkanwaljit Singh PUCDA Code 3180413 presently working as A.A.O.
60. Harsh Sahani PUCDA Code 3180975 presently working as A.A.O.
61. Harshdeep Singh Samrat PUCDA Code 5011687 presently working as A.A.O.
62. Hem Lata PUCDA Code 3180467 presently working as A.A.O.
63. Hemant Kumar PUCDA Code 3180086 presently working as A.A.O.
64. Hemant Rakesh Ujjal PUCDA Code 3180798 presently working as A.A.O.
65. Hukum Chand II PUCDA Code 3180820 presently working as Sr. A.O.
66. Indu Aggarwal PUCDA Code 5011853 presently working as A.A.O.
67. Indu Gupta PUCDA Code 5011657 presently working as A.A.O.
68. Jagdish Chand PUCDA Code 3180439 presently working as Sr. A.O.
69. Jagjeet Kumar PUCDA Code 3180786 presently working as Sr. A.O.
70. Jaipal Sharma PUCDA Code 3180090 presently working as Sr. A.O.
71. Jasbinder Singh PUCDA Code 3181062 presently working as A.O.
72. Jasbir Kaur PUCDA Code 3180425 presently working as A.A.O.
73. Jaswant Singh PUCDA Code 3180839 presently working as A.A.O.
74. Jatinder Singh Rathor PUCDA Code 5012204 presently working as A.A.O.
75. Jitender Kumar PUCDA Code 3180433 presently working as Sr. A.O.
76. Jitendra Singh PUCDA Code 3180808 presently working as A.A.O.
77. Kailash Kumar PUCDA Code 3180409 presently working as A.A.O.
78. Kaire Navdeep Kaur PUCDA Code 3180381 presently working as A.A.O.
79. Kalika Prasad PUCDA Code 3180397 presently working as A.A.O.
80. Kamna Verma PUCDA Code 5012547 presently working as A.A.O.
81. Kanti Prasad PUCDA Code 3180441 presently working as Sr. A.O.
82. Kaushal Prasad PUCDA Code 3180444 presently working as A.A.O.
83. Kavita Gupta PUCDA Code 5011904 presently working as A.A.O.
84. Kishore Chander PUCDA Code 3180398 presently working as A.A.O.
85. Krishan Kumar PUCDA Code 3180423 presently working as A.A.O.
86. Krishn Kumar PUCDA Code 3181073 presently working as A.A.O.
87. Kuldeep Singh PUCDA Code 3180736 presently working as A.A.O.
88. Kuljit Singh PUCDA Code 3180742 presently working as A.A.O.
89. Kunwar Bahadur Singh PUCDA Code 3180390 presently working as A.A.O.
90. Lalit Mohan Mahajan PUCDA Code 3180352 presently working as Sr. A.O.
91. Lalit Sajwan PUCDA Code 5012205 presently working as A.A.O.
92. Lav Kumar PUCDA Code 3180372 presently working as A.A.O.
93. Lubna Toora PUCDA Code 3180974 presently working as A.A.O.
94. Madan Lally PUCDA Code 3180445 presently working as A.A.O.
95. Malkhan Singh Azad PUCDA Code 3180108 presently working as A.O.
96. Manmohan Singh PUCDA Code 3180897 presently working as A.A.O.
97. Manoj Kumar PUCDA Code 3180396 presently working as A.A.O.
98. Manoj Kumar I PUCDA Code 3180105 presently working as A.O.
99. Manoj Rajan PUCDA Code 3180452 presently working as A.A.O.
100. Md. Hashim PUCDA Code 3181080 presently working as Sr. A.O.
101. Meena Kumar PUCDA Code 3180821 presently working as A.A.O.
102. Meenu Sharma PUCDA Code 3180317 presently working as Sr. A.O.
103. Mohinder Singh PUCDA Code 3180468 presently working as A.A.O.
104. Monika PUCDA Code 5011683 presently working as A.A.O.
105. Mukesh Chand PUCDA Code 3180369 presently working as A.A.O.
106. Mukesh Kumar PUCDA Code 3180450 presently working as A.A.O.
107. Mulakh Raj Kalsi PUCDA Code 3180310 presently working as Sr. A.O.
108. Narinder Khattar PUCDA Code 3180089 presently working as Sr. A.O.
109. Narinder Singh PUCDA Code 3180359 presently working as Sr. A.O.
110. Naveen Kumar PUCDA Code 3180094 presently working as Sr. A.O.
111. Navin Kumar Thakur PUCDA Code 3181065 presently working as A.O.
112. Neel Kamal PUCDA Code not allotted presently working as A.A.O.
113. Neena Kaul PUCDA Code 3180860 presently working as Sr. A.O.
114. Neena Thour PUCDA Code 3180326 presently working as Sr. A.O.
115. Neenu Gupta PUCDA Code 3180800 presently working as A.A.O.
116. Neeraj Kumar PUCDA Code 3180101 presently working as A.O.
117. Nidhi Mahajan PUCDA Code 5012163 presently working as A.A.O.
118. Nihar Gupta PUCDA Code 5012202 presently working as A.A.O.
119. Nikhil Minhas PUCDA Code 3180416 presently working as A.A.O.
120. Nisha Dutt PUCDA Code 3180847 presently working as A.A.O.
121. Om Parkash Sangwan PUCDA Code 3180113 presently working as A.O.
122. Parmjit Kaur Walia PUCDA Code 3180116 presently working as A.A.O.
123. Paramjit Toora PUCDA Code 3180115 presently working as A.A.O.
124. Pardeep Kumar II PUCDA Code 3180806 presently working as A.A.O.
125. Parminder Pal Singh PUCDA Code 5012401 presently working as A.A.O.
126. Parmod Kumar PUCDA Code 3180367 presently working as A.A.O.
127. Parshotam Lal PUCDA Code 3181119 presently working as A.A.O.
128. Parveen Kumar PUCDA Code 3180103 presently working as A.O.
129. Parveen Kumar Sood PUCDA Code 3181121 presently working as A.A.O.
130. Parveen Lata PUCDA Code 5011550 presently working as A.A.O.
131. Parvin Krishan PUCDA Code 3180453 presently working as A.A.O.
132. Parvin Sharma PUCDA Code 5012537 presently working as A.A.O.
133. Paravind Kumar PUCDA Code 3180411 presently working as A.A.O.
134. Pawan Kumar PUCDA Code 3180983 presently working as A.O.
135. Pawan Kumar PUCDA Code 3180353 presently working as Sr. A.O.
136. Prabhakar Khurche PUCDA Code 3180473 presently working as A.A.O.
137. Prakash Sehgal PUCDA Code 3180449 presently working as A.A.O.
138. Priyanka Goel PUCDA Code 5011497 presently working as A.A.O.
139. Promila Chhabra PUCDA Code 3180117 presently working as A.A.O.
140. Ravinder Kumar Sharma PUCDA Code 3180466 presently working as A.A.O.
141. Raj Kumar PUCDA Code 3181056 presently working as A.A.O.
142. Raj Kumar Chauhan PUCDA Code 3180362 presently working as Sr. A.O.
143. Raj Kumar-VI PUCDA Code 3180405 presently working as A.O.
144. Raj Paul PUCDA Code 3180385 presently working as A.A.O.
145. Rajinder Kumar PUCDA Code 3181112 presently working as A.A.O.
146. Rajendra Kumar (PH) PUCDA Code 3181091 presently working as A.A.O.
147. Rajesh Kumar Khanna PUCDA Code 3181066 presently working as A.A.O.
148. Rajinder Kumar PUCDA Code 3180371 presently working as Sr. A.O.
149. Rajinder Kumar PUCDA Code 3180427 presently working as Sr. A.O.
150. Rajinder Nath PUCDA Code 3180463 presently working as A.A.O.
151. Rajinder Singh III PUCDA Code 3180102 presently working as A.O.
152. Rajinder Singh II PUCDA Code 3180842 presently working as A.A.O.
153. Rajiv Kumar PUCDA Code 3181075 presently working as A.O.
154. Rajiv Kumar Rathore PUCDA Code 3181051 presently working as A.A.O.
155. Rajiv Sharma PUCDA Code 3180388 presently working as A.A.O.
156. Rajiv Sood PUCDA Code 3180393 presently working as A.A.O.
157. Rajnish Kumar PUCDA Code 5011380 presently working as Sr. A.O.
158. Rajvinder Pal Singh PUCDA Code 3180767 presently working as A.A.O.
159. Rakesh Kumar PUCDA Code 3180386 presently working as A.A.O.
160. Rakesh Kumar Bhatia PUCDA Code 3180436 presently working as Sr. A.O.
161. Rakesh Kumar Grover PUCDA Code 3180408 presently working as A.A.O.
162. Rakesh Kumar Gupta PUCDA Code 3180391 presently working as A.A.O.
163. Rakesh Sethi PUCDA Code 3180854 presently working as A.A.O.
164. Ram Charit Prasad PUCDA Code 3180415 presently working as A.A.O.
165. Ram Milan PUCDA Code 3180389 presently working as A.A.O.
166. Ram Naresh PUCDA Code 3180366 presently working as A.A.O.
167. Ram Phal PUCDA Code 3180878 presently working as A.O.
168. Ram Shiromani Mishra PUCDA Code 3180406 presently working as A.A.O.
169. Raman Jha PUCDA Code 3180414 presently working as A.A.O.
170. Ramesh Chand Mottan PUCDA Code 3180092 presently working as Sr. A.O.
171. Ramesh Kumar PUCDA Code 3181117 presently working as A.A.O.
172. Randeep Raj @ Raj K PUCDA Code 3180841 presently working as A.A.O.
173. Ranjeet Kumar PUCDA Code 3181076 presently working as A.A.O.
174. Rashmi Mahajan PUCDA Code 3180837 presently working as A.A.O.
175. Rattan Lal PUCDA Code 3181053 presently working as A.A.O.
176. Ravi Kant Sharma PUCDA Code 3181115 presently working as A.A.O.
177. Ravinder Kumar Sharma PUCDA Code 3180403 presently working as A.A.O.
178. Rekha Rani PUCDA Code 3180347 presently working as Sr. A.O.
179. Resham Singh Sahadra PUCDA Code 3180097 presently working as A.O.
180. Rohit Khanna PUCDA Code 3180392 presently working as A.A.O.
181. Roop Singh PUCDA Code 3180419 presently working as A.A.O.
182. Roshan Singh PUCDA Code 5012313 presently working as A.A.O.
183. Rupesh Kumar PUCDA Code 3180095 presently working as Sr. A.O.
184. Roopinder Kaur Gill PUCDA Code 5011499 presently working as A.A.O.
185. Satish Kumar Jain PUCDA Code 3180418 presently working as A.A.O.
186. Sahil Singla PUCDA Code 5012589 presently working as A.A.O.
187. Sandeep Bhargwa PUCDA Code 3180457 presently working as A.A.O.
188. Sandeep Gangal PUCDA Code 3180399 presently working as A.A.O.
189. Sandeep Kumar PUCDA Code 5012220 presently working as A.A.O.
190. Sangeeta Nanda PUCDA Code 3180422 presently working as A.A.O.
191. Sanjay Kumar PUCDA Code 3180443 presently working as A.A.O.
192. Sanjay Negi PUCDA Code 5012203 presently working as A.A.O.
193. Sanjay Sapru PUCDA Code 3180081 presently working as A.A.O.
194. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta PUCDA Code 3180461 presently working as A.A.O.
195. Saroj Pal PUCDA Code 3180448 presently working as A.A.O.
196. Sat Pal PUCDA Code 3180758 presently working as A.A.O.
197. Satinder Kumar PUCDA Code 3180790 presently working as Sr. A.O.
198. Satinder Pal Singh PUCDA Code 3180756 presently working as A.A.O.
199. Satish Kumar PUCDA Code 3181077 presently working as A.A.O.
200. Satnam Singh PUCDA Code 3180400 presently working as A.A.O.
201. Satya Parkash Gupta PUCDA Code 3180407 presently working as A.A.O.
202. Shashi Kumar PUCDA Code 3181126 presently working as A.A.O.
203. Shashi Kumar PUCDA Code 3180464 presently working as A.A.O.
204. Shashi Kumar PUCDA Code 3180760 presently working as Sr. A.O.
205. Sheetal Goel PUCDA Code 5012222 presently working as A.A.O.
206. Shekhar Singh Bisht PUCDA Code 3180087 presently working as Sr. A.O.
207. Shivali Rana PUCDA Code 5012237 presently working as A.A.O.
208. Sudhir Kumar PUCDA Code 3180424 presently working as A.A.O.
209. Sukhbir Sharma PUCDA Code 3180091 presently working as Sr. A.O.
210. Sukhbir Singh PUCDA Code 3180346 presently working as Sr. A.O.
211. Sukhdev Sharma PUCDA Code 3180354 presently working as Sr. A.O.
212. Sukhpal Singh PUCDA Code 3181116 presently working as A.A.O.
213. Sukhvinder Singh PUCDA Code 3180454 presently working as A.A.O.
214. Suneeta Rawal PUCDA Code 3180421 presently working as A.A.O.
215. Sunil Kumar PUCDA Code 3180349 presently working as Sr. A.O.
216. Sunil Kumar Rohilla PUCDA Code 5012329 presently working as A.A.O.
217. Surender Pal PUCDA Code 3181124 presently working as A.A.O.
218. Suresh Kumar PUCDA Code 3180787 presently working as A.A.O.
219. Surinder Kaur Sachdeva PUCDA Code 3180426 presently working as Sr. A.O.
220. Surjit Kaur Baidwan PUCDA Code 3180370 presently working as A.O.
221. Sushil Kumar PUCDA Code 3180100 presently working as A.O.
222. Sushil Kumar PUCDA Code 3180796 presently working as Sr. A.O.
223. Sushil Kumar Gupta PUCDA Code 3180093 presently working as Sr. A.O.
224. Sushma Kumari Raina PUCDA Code 3181123 presently working as A.A.O.
225. Vandana Mehta PUCDA Code 3180881 presently working as A.A.O.
226. Vanita Garg PUCDA Code 5012372 presently working as A.A.O.
227. Vijay Kumar Aggarwal PUCDA Code 3180111 presently working as A.O.
228. Vijay Kumar PUCDA Code 3180412 presently working as A.A.O.
229. Vijay Kumar PUCDA Code 3180455 presently working as A.A.O.
230. Vijesh Kumar PUCDA Code 3180395 presently working as A.A.O.
231. Vikas PUCDA Code 5012172 presently working as A.A.O.
232. Vikas Kumar Mathur PUCDA Code 3181054 presently working as A.A.O.
233. Vipan Kumar PUCDA Code 5012271 presently working as A.A.O.
234. Vir Bhan PUCDA Code 3180384 presently working as A.A.O.
235. Vishal Goel MHMUC Code 5012535 presently working as A.A.O.
236. Vishesh Biswal PUCDA Code 3181052 presently working as A.A.O.
237. Amrit Pal Kaur PUCDA Code 5011584 presently working as A.O.
(All the applicants are working in the office of Principal Accountant General (Audit) Punjab, Chandigarh).
APPLICANTS
VERSUS
1. Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 9, Deen Dayal Upadhya Marg, New Delhi.
2. Director General (Commercial-II), Office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 9, Deen Dayal Upadhya Marg, New Delhi.
3. Principal Accountant General (Audit), Punjab, Chandigarh, Sector 17, Chandigarh.
RESPONDENTS
Present: Mr. Hemender Goswami, Advocate, for the applicants.
Mr. Barjesh Mittal, counsel for Respondents
O R D E R
HONBLE MR. SANJEEV KAUSHIK , MEMBER (J)
1. 237 applicants have joined in this Original Application under section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, seeking quashing of the order dated 8.4.2015 (A-2) vide which their claim for grant of stepping up of pay at par with their juniors/subordinates getting higher grade pay/pay on grant of financial up-gradations under MACP has been rejected and for issuance of direction to the respondents to extend them benefit of grade pay of Rs.5,400/- by stepping up their pay at par with their subordinates / juniors in terms of decision of Chennai Bench of this Tribunal dated 29.10.010 as upheld upto Apex Court of the country on 10.8.2014 and other decisions.
2. The facts which led to filing of the instant Original Application are that there was a common cadre/office of Accountant General dealing with Accounts and Entitlement as well as Audit under the CAG of India. It was bifurcated in March, 1984. Even after bifurcation and change of nomenclature of two offices, employees bifurcated and working in both the offices had similar avenues of promotion in the hierarchy i.e. Clerk, Accountant, Sr. Accountant, Section Officer/Supervisor and Assistant Accounts Officer. The applicants had initially joined as Clerks/Auditors/Group D/SO/AAO and after passing the relevant examination, they were promoted as Section Officers (SO) and as Assistant Accounts Officer/Assistant Audit Officer (AAO). The cadre of SOs and AAOs was merged w.e.f. 27.5.2009. The cadre of Accountants/Auditors and Senior Accountant / Senior Auditor were different with different pay scales, there is no difference in the duties performed by Accountant/Auditor and Senior Accountant / Senior Auditor. Similarly, cadre of SO and AAO/AAO were different with different pays scales but duties performed by them were same. However, w.e.f. 27.5.2009, the cadre of SO and AAO/Asstt. Audit Officer were merged whereas Accountant/Auditor and Senior Accountant / Senior Auditor cadres were not merged though the duties performed by them are same.
3. Prior to 1.1.2006, the pay scale of SO (Accounts)/Section Officer (Audit) was Rs.6500-10500 and that of Assistant Accounts Officer/Assistant Auditor Officer was Rs.7450-11500. However, w.e.f. 1.1.2006, both the cadres of SO and AAO were merged and placed in common pay band PB-2 of Rs.9300-34800 with grade pay of Rs.4800 and in January, 2013 a notification under proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution has also been issued in that behalf. The applicants are working in the office of respondent no.3 as Assistant Audit Officer/Audit Officer/ Senior Auditor Officer on regular basis after qualifying the relevant examination.
4. The Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, DOPT, New Delhi issued MACP Scheme w.e.f. 1.9.2008 under which three financial up-gradations after 10, 20 and 30 years of service were to be allowed to those employees who have not got any promotion.
5. The grievance of the applicants in short is that the Senior Auditors who had joined the service as Auditors in the office of respondent no.3 have been granted 3rd MACP w.e.f. 1.9.2008 in grade pay of Rs.5400 over and above the grade pay of applicants who are superior / senior to them in the organizational hierarchy, supervising the work of the said subordinates / juniors and are getting lower grade pay of Rs.4,800/- which is unjust and improper. They are not even qualified having not passed the SOGE examination but are getting higher grade pay of Rs.5400 thereby creating an anomaly. The grant of grade pay of Rs.5400 also carries with it other service related benefits like higher type of accommodation, LTC etc. which is being also denied to the applicants. The applicants preferred a representation, Annexure A-9 for grant of benefit of higher grade pay at par with junior/subordinates on the basis of judicial pronouncements but the same has been declined on the ground that the same cannot be allowed to the applicants as the law declared therein is not universal and cannot be extended to similarly situated persons which is illegal, hence this Original Application.
6. The respondents have filed a reply. They do not dispute about the factual scenario that the issue raised in this case has already been clinched by Chennai Bench of this Tribunal in O.A.No. 966 and 967 but they claim that the question of law has been left open for adjudication by the Honble Apex Court. Thus, the applicants cannot be extended benefit of the said decision. They also submit that the C.A.T. Madras Bench in its decision dated 31.10.2014 (R-1) has held those decisions to be per incuriam having not taken into consideration clause 20 of MACP Scheme and as such their claim was declined. Thus, the applicant cannot be extended any benefit.
7. We have heard learned counsel for the parties at length and perused the material on the file.
8. The Madras Bench of this Tribunal in O.A.No. 966 of 2009 (S. Prabhu-II & Others Vs. Union of India etc.) decided on 29.12.2010 (Annexure A-6) has clinched the issue holding that Senior Accountants functioning under the control of the applicants cannot be fixed in a grade pay higher than the applicants and F.R. 22 provides for the removal of anomalies by stepping up the pay of seniors when their juniors happened to draw more pay. It was held that the private respondents who were functioning inferior than the applicants and who were not even qualified to be promoted to the post held by applicants were given higher pay scale in the guise of implementation of scheme which is not sustainable. The Court allowed two O.As by a single order holding as under :-
8. Even though, we are of the opinion that in the guise of implementation of the scheme, the private respondents are given the higher pay scales than the applicants and one of the relief claimed in the applications is to quash the office memorandum wherein such benefit is extended to the private respondents, in the interest of justice, we do not propose to take away such benefits which are being extended to the private respondents. However, we are inclined to give relief to the applicants by directing the respondents to extend the benefit of the MACP scheme in favour of the applicants by fixing their grade pay at Rs.5400/-w.e.f. the date on which such benefit was extended to the private respondents.
9. For the reasons stated above, both the applications are disposed of in the following terms:
There will be a direction to the respondents to grant the revised pay to the applicants by extending the benefit of MACP Scheme in favour of the applicants by fixing their grade pay at Rs.5400/-from the date on which the said benefit was extended to the private respondents and to disburse the accrued arrears, if any, to the applicants within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order. However, there will be no order as to costs.
9. The aforesaid judgment was upheld by the Hon'ble Madras High Court by a detailed order dated 19.03.2014. The Hon'ble High Court after making detailed discussion came to the conclusion that there was no infirmity in the reasons assigned by the Tribunal for allowing the Original Applications and granting relief to the applicants. The respondents went in appeal in Hon'ble Supreme Court by filing an SLP which was also dismissed by their Lordships on 19.08.2014. Thereafter the respondents passed office order dated 28.08.2014 implementing the judgment.
10. However, the C.A.T. Madras Bench, had occasion to deal with the once again in a bunch of petitions including in O.A.No. 951/2011 titled Augustine Roy Rozario Vs. Union of India & Others. decided on 31.10.2014 (Annexure R-1). The Bench came to the conclusion that clause 20 of MACP Scheme clearly postulates that no stepping up of pay is permissible on grant of higher pay to a junior under MACP. The same is reproduced as under :-
No stepping up of pay in the pay band or Grade Pay would be admissible with regard to junior getting more pay than the senior on account of pay fixation under MACP Scheme.
11. It was held that the aforesaid clause was never quashed by any court of law. This particular provision of Scheme was not taken into consideration in the earlier case and as such the same was impliedly termed as per incuriam. The Bench took note of Full Bench decision of Ernakulam Bench of this Tribunal rendered on 22.3.2013 in O.A.No. 1103 of 2012 J. Leelamma & Others Vs. Union of India & Others, in which it was held that Clause 20 of MACP Scheme is valid and legal. It was, thus, held that the applicants are not entitled to step up their pay at par with their juniors. Financial up-gradation under the MACP Scheme shall be purely personal to the employees and seniority has no role to play.
12. The Full Bench in the case of J. Leelamma (supra) has held that though in view of clause 20 of MACP Scheme, claim for stepping up of pay of employees cannot be granted but liberty was given to them to claim stepping up of their pay from the administrative authorities.
13. The issue of stepping up of pay to a senior at par with junior who has started getting higher pay on account of grant of benefits under MACP Scheme has been settled by now in various cases including in O.A.No. 842-JK-2007 - Madan Gopal Sharma & Others Vs. Union of India & Others decided on 17.11.2009. In that case reliance was placed on decision of Honble Apex Court in the case of Ram Sarup Ganda (supra) in which it was held that a senior is entitled to step up his pay as a general rule as and when any junior gets fixed in a pay scale higher to him on account of grant of ACP Scale. Similar view was taken in Harcharan Singh Sudan (supra). Para 14 of the said decision is reproduced as under :
14. However, one aspect is to be seen. In the case decided by the apex court, the State Government was the appellant and the challenge was against the High Court judgment, which held that the higher pay scale be given to the respondent at par with their juniors whose pay scale became higher on account of the benefit of ACP afforded to them. The appeal was not dismissed but partly allowed and it was declared that the respondents were entitled to stepping up of pay. In other words, there shall only be the stepping up of pay and not the pay scale. The pay scale in respect of the applicants would remain the same as of date but the pay would be fixed in appropriate stage and if there is no stage to match the pay drawn by the junior, the difference shall be treated as one of personal pay. The pay partly would be compared annually and partly would be maintained in future..
The relevant para of decision in the case of Ashok Kumar Sharma (supra) reads as under:-
11. With this O.A. stands disposed of and the respondents are directed to step up the pay of the applicant at par with his junior aforesaid and in terms of the directions contained in the case of Harcharan Singh Sudan (supra). It is made clear that the applicant shall be given stepping up of pay only and not the pay scale, as explained above. The pay may be fixed accordingly and arrears be also paid to him within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order The consistent view taken by this Tribunal has also been upheld by Honble Jurisdiction High Court in CWP No.12894 of 2010 Union of India & Others Vs. Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh decided on 23.7.2010.
14. Now we proceed to deal with the objection raised by the respondents that the applicants are not entitled to the benefit of decision of learned Madras Bench in the case of Prabhu-II (supra) as that decision is not of universal application and per incuriam. In the case of E.S.P. Rajaram and others vs. Union of India & Others, AIR 2001 SC page 581, the controversy related to the scale of pay admissible for Traffic apprentices in the Railway appointed prior to the cut off date. It was observed that the controversy in its very nature is one which applies to all such employees of the Railways; it is not a controversy which is confined to some individual employees or a section of the employees. If the judgment of the Tribunal which had taken a view contrary to the ratio laid down by Supreme Court judgment was allowed to stand, then the resultant position would have been that some Traffic Apprentices who were parties in those cases would have gained an unfair and undeserved advantage over other employees who are holding the same post. Such enviable position would not only have been per se discriminatory but could have resulted in a situation which is undesirable for a cadre of large number of employees in a big establishment like that of the Indian Railways. To avoid such a situation the direction impugned was passed. It was absolutely necessary for the same of maintaining quality and fair-play with the other similarly placed employees.
15. Similarly a Division Bench of our own jurisdictional High Court of Punjab and Haryana High Court had the occasion to consider the similar controversy in the case of Satyapal Singh and others vs. The State of Haryana and another, 1999 (2) RSJ 377. The relevant observations made in para 5 may be extracted as below:
5. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the judgment of the learned Single Judge was really not a judgment in personam but was judgment in rem inasmuch as law had been laid down and the petitioners in that case were held entitled to the relief claimed by them. Really speaking, the State Government should have itself granted the same relief to other similarly situated persons though they may not have come to the Court. The State government should under such circumstances apply the law itself to the similarly situated persons instead of forcing any individual or a Union to resort to unnecessary litigation as law is already settled and only the same has to be applied to the facts of a particular case. The petitioners in the present case had, through their Union, filed a representation in August, 1992 after the judgment of the learned single Judge. If the respondents failed to comply with the judgment because of the pendency of the Letters Patent Appeal and then the appeal before the Apex court, the petitioners cannot be denied the same benefit as was granted to the petitioners in the aforesaid writ petitioner. The respondents as a Welfare State should rather see to it that the litigation in the courts is minimized. After this Court or the Apex Court lays down the law, it should see to it that similarly situated persons automatically get the same relief without resorting to litigation. In another case of Satbir Singh vs. State of Haryana, 2002 (2) SCT page 354, the Honble High Court has held that when a judgment attains finality, the State is bound to grant relief to its employees who are similarly situated even though they are not party to the litigation. A final decision of the Court must not only be respected but should also be enforced and implemented evenly and without discrimination in respect of all the employees who are entitled to the benefit which has been allowed to the employees who have obtained orders from the Court. The matter is one of principle and should not depend upon who comes to the court and who does not.. Thus, the objection taken by the respondents would stand over ruled.
16. The issue in this case is as to whether the applicants can be granted only stepping up of pay or they are entitled to grant of stepping up of pay with grade pay at par with their junior / subordinates as has been granted by Madras Bench of this Tribunal as upheld upto Apex Court of the country, despite a contrary view taken by another Bench of same Tribunal.
17. The aforesaid poser stands answered in the latest decision on the issue by C.A.T. Guwahati Bench of this Tribunal in the case of Shri Ashim Kumar Biswas & Others vs. Union of India & Others, O.A.No. 040/00008 of 2014 decided on 25.2.2013 which has thrashed out the issue in detail holding that once there is a decision of two Honble High Courts on an issue a Bench of this Tribunal could not rely upon a provision contained in MACP Scheme prohibiting stepping up of pay. The matter was referred to a third Member to sort out the issue on finding that two members had taken contrary view. The learned third Member approved the view taken by learned Judicial Member holding that employees were entitled to grant of stepping up of pay by way of grant of grade pay of Rs.5400/-. The observations made by the Bench are reproduced as under :-
In view of such authoritative pronouncements of Honble High Court of Madras and Honble High Court of Delhi , there is nothing left for this Tribunal to adjudicate except following the ratio propounded by Their Lordships, which is very rudiment embedded in judicial discipline. That apart, this Tribunal cannot venture to take a different view, which the higher courts have already adjudicated. Learned counsel for the respondents wanted to go through some judgments of Honble C.A.T., Ernakulam Bench and C.A.T, Madras Bench. In this context, I can only say that once there is an authoritative pronouncement of Honble High Courts, I cannot venture to take a different view. I have gone through the judgment passed by Honble Member Judicial and not only found it to be rational but also based on precedents and as such the O.A. has to be allowed as per the directions given by the Honble Member Judicial. The view of the Honble Member (A) that one there is a clear cut provision in the MACPI Scheme under Clause 10, so also under Clause 20 of the Annexures of the MACP Scheme from administrative point of view, there is nothing wrong with the Department in not granting such benefit to the applicants merely because they were senior to some of the persons who have got more grade pay. But the pivotal question that comes for consideration is whether on the face of judicial pronouncements of Honble High Court of Madras and Delhi, such a right cannot be denied merely because there is no provision in the Scheme. The Scheme has an administrative direction and not a statutory enactment, whereas judicial pronouncements have binding force and act as statutory directions. Since there is nothing wrong in the MACP circular, consciously. Their Lordships have not quashed the provision but have observed where stepping up of pay of senior can be made to bring it at par with that of their juniors.
4. In view of the majority view and since I concur with the view expressed by Honble Member Judicial, the O.A. is allowed with a direction to the respondents to fix the grade pay of the applicant at Rs.5400/- with effect from the date on which such benefit has been extended to their juniors and the accrued interest may be disbursed preferably within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
18. We find that the other objection taken by the respondents qua a contrary view having been taken by another Bench of the Tribunal has been taken care of by the co-ordinate Bench at Guwahati, as discussed above that once there are judicial pronouncements at the hands of two High Courts, the Tribunal has no much role to play except to follow the same. Thus, the applicants are held entitled to the grant of stepping up of pay by grant of grade pay of Rs.5400/- as has been allowed by the Madras Bench of this Tribunal in the case of S. Prabhu-II (supra) and by Guwahati Bench of this Tribunal in the case of Shri Ashim Kumar Biswas (supra). Resultantly, the impugned orders, Annexures A-1 and A-2 are quashed and set aside. The respondents are directed to extend the benefits to the applicants within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.
19. The parties are left to bear their own costs.
(SANJEEV KAUSHIK) MEMBER (J) (UDAY KUMAR VARMA) MEMBER (A) Place: Chandigarh Dated: 14.09.2015.
HC* 24 O.A.No.060/000376/2015