Central Administrative Tribunal - Madras
N Narasimhan vs Comptroller And Auditor-General Of ... on 14 September, 2022
1 OA 1607/2015
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
CHENNAI BENCH
OA NO.1607/2015
Dated Wednesday, the 14th day of September Two Thousand Twenty Two
CORUM: HON'BLE MR. T.JACOB, ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER
&
HON'BLE MS. LATA BASWARAJ PATNE, JUDICIAL MEMBER
1.N.Narasimhan
2.U.G.Lakshmi
3.A.Vidyasagar
4.G.N.Jayalakshmi
5.S.Thiagarajan
6.Parvathi Subramanian
7.Shanthi Balan
8.Radha Rajagopalan
9.Latha Chandrasekaran
10.B.Revathy
11.K.Boopalan
12.T.R.Chandra
13.Lalitha Sivakumar
14.R.Savithiri
15.D.Padmaja
16.T.Lakshmi
17.K.Suseela
18.G.Lalitha
19.Baby Sekar
20.V.Kamala
21.Kamala Kumaravel
22.S.Nambi
23.Ramamani Rangan
24.Malathi Krishnamurthy
25.B.Malathi
26.M.Vatsala
27.Vimala Subramanian
2 OA 1607/2015
28.S.Swarna Kumari
29.A.Komala
30.P.Vijayalakshmi
31.N.Ganga Bagirathi
32.Rani Pinakapani
33.K.S.Sakunthala
34.Nandini Pai
35.Lalitha Balasubramanian
36.R.Parimala Kasthuri
37.G.Srinivasan ...Applicants
By Advocate M/s S.Sadasharam
Vs.
1.Union of India,
Rep., by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India,
10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002.
2.Principal Accountant General (A & E),
Tamil Nadu, Chennai 600 018
3.Secretary to Government of India,
Ministry of Finance, New Delhi ...Respondents
By Advocate Mr. V.Murali (R 1 & 2)
3 OA 1607/2015
ORAL ORDER
(Pronounced by Hon'ble Ms. Lata Baswaraj Patne, Member(J)) The applicants have filed this OA under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking for the following relief:
"To direct the respondents to provide retrospective benefit of payment of arrears of salary from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003 in the matter of implementing the pay revision in Office Memorandum dated 28.02.2003 and Circular dated 04.03.2003 issued by the 1st respondent providing for the upgradation of salary w.e.f 01.01.1996 and payment of arrears of salary retrospectively from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003 and pay the arrears to the applicants with interest at the rate of 12% per annum."
2. The brief facts of the case as stated by the applicants are as follows:
The applicants are retired Senior Accountants and serving Senior Accountants in the office of the 2nd respondent herein under the control of the 1st respondent. After introduction of V CPC recommendations, the Government of India issued orders on 28.02.2003 upgrading the pay scales for the staff belonging to the organized Accounts Department on notional basis w.e.f 01.01.1996 with actual payments being made from 19.02.2003 the date on which the decision was approved by the Government. Consequently the 1st respondent office also issued a circular dated 04.03.2003 extending the pay scales to the Accountants, Senior Accountants, Assistant Accounts Officers and Section Officers in the Indian Audit of Accounts Department. As such the pay parity with Railway Accounts has been maintained. While so, the Accounts Wing employees of the Railway Department filed a case before the Hon'ble Patna High court in Civil Writ Jurisdiction case No.11452/2005 challenging the portion of the order denying retrospective benefit of pay arrears from 01.01.1996 and the Hon'bele Patna High court by order dated 09.04.2010 allowed the said writ 4 OA 1607/2015 petition. Further, the Junior Accounts Assistant, Divisional Accounts office of the Southern Railway, filed OA 671/2003 before the CAT Ernakulam Bench challenging the denial of arrears of pay from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003 and the said OA was allowed by order dated 30.06.2006 and confirmed by the Hon'ble High court of Kerala in WP(C)No.22276/2007 dated 27.03.2012 as well as by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) CC 1997/2013, vide order dated 25.02.2013. The applicants have made several representations both individually as well as through the Accounts Employees Association to the 1st respondent claiming pay parity and removal of anomaly in the matter of payment of arrears of salary from 01.01.1986 to 18.02.2003 for which there is no proper reply and the last communication of the 3 rd respondent dated 30.04.2015 revealed that the claim of the applicants have been forwarded to the concerned Ministry for proper examination but still no orders have been passed. Aggrieved the applicants have filed the present OA.
3. The respondents have entered appearance through their counsel and filed a detailed reply statement refuting the contentions made in the OA except those which were admitted on facts. The respondents have submitted that so far, the Government of India in the Ministry of Railways or Finance have not issued any order bequeathing monetary benefit from 01.01.1996. The Cabinet decision to grant the replacement scales of pay from 19.02.2003 is in vogue for the past 12 years. Grant of improved pay scales of Accounts Staff of Indian Railways with notional effect from 01.01.1996 and monetary benefits from 19.02.2003 is based on the conscious decision of the group of ministers which was approved by the Cabinet. The respondents relied upon the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in CA No.2468 to 2469 of 2005 wherein it is observed as under: 5 OA 1607/2015
"Once we find that it was open to Government to extend a benefit to a set of its employees w.e.f a particular day on the basis of some anomally found in the report of the Fifth Pay Commission, there would arise no discrimination because the very implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission Report would not entitle the respondents to any benefit. The very right to their benefit arose because of the decision of the Government to extend them a particular benefit not specified in the Fifth Commission Report. It is therefore not possible to postulate that the decision of the Government must be given a retrospective effect and if no such effect is given, the Tribunal or Court can interfere and direct to give such retrospective effect."
Therefore, a category of employees who have been granted higher/upgraded pay scales based on the Government's specific decision beyond the recommendations of the Pay Commission, like the case of the applicants are not entitled to claim that upgraded scale w.e.f the date of implementation of Pay Commission's recommendations on actual basis but only as decided by the Government. Hence they prayed for dismissal of the OA.
4. Heard both sides. Perused the OA and relevant records along with counter filed by the respondents.
5. It is to be noted that while making the said claim, the applicants, by their representations have requested the department for said upgradation of salary be given w.e.f 01.01.1996 and payment of arrears of salary be made w.e.f 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003. By their representations the applicants have specifically pleaded that they are entitled for the pay and based upon the court orders citing the order passed by the coordinate bench of this Tribunal at Ernakulam dated 30.06.2006 in OA 671/2003 while dealing with the said issue pertaining to the higher scale of pay w.e.f 01.01.1996 as per 6 OA 1607/2015 the recommendations of the V CPC though it has been granted only w.e.f 18.02.2003. The Tribunal has passed the order in detail considering all the aspects and parameters in all four corners and the order passed by the Principal Bench of CAT in the matter of Pradeep Kumar Sharma & Ors. Vs. UOI [2003 (1) ATJ 1] as well as in the matter of Artisan staff, the Cabinet has accorded the sanction and granted the arrears w.e.f. 01.01.1996 and also observed that the question was not grant of completely new pay scales but a question of rectification of anomaly between similarly placed persons thereby allowed the Original Application filed by the Accounts Assistants from the office of the Southern Railway by quashing the impugned order wherein it has been declared that the actual benefit would be only w.e.f. 19.02.2003 and directed the respondents to grant the arrears of revised pay and allowances to the applicants therein for the period from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003. The said order of the Ernakulam Bench of this Tribunal has been challenged before the Hon'ble High court of Kerala in WP No.22276/2007. The Hon'ble High court of Kerala, vide its order dated 27.03.2012 upheld the order passed by the CAT, Ernakulam Bench. Against the said order of the Hon'ble High court, the department has filed SLP before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) CC 1997/2013 and the same has been dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, vide its order dated 25.02.2013 with the observation, "Delay condoned. We do not find any legal and valid ground for interference. The special leave petition is dismissed." Thereafter, the respondent department has tested the said order in review by filing Review Petition (C) No.1494/2013, but the same has also been dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme court, vide order dated 01.08.2013.
6. It is to be noted that in another set of OA, the employees of the 7 OA 1607/2015 Railway department have filed OA 925/2003 before the coordinate bench of this Tribunal at Patna. The said OA was rejected by the Tribunal vide its order dated 30.06.2005 and against which the applicants therein preferred WP before the Hon'ble High court of Patna in Civil Writ Jurisdiction case No.11452/2006. The Patna High court by its order dated 09.04.2010 had observed that four categories of employees of the Indian Railways namely, Artisan staff, Master Cook in Catering, Medical and Canteen department and Primary School Teachers have been given uniform treatment by identifying their appropriate pay scale and granted them monetary benefit w.e.f 01.01.1996, the date on which the recommendation of the V CPC was enforced. On the other hand, the employees of the Accounts Establishment have been given a differential treatment. They have not been given monetary benefit w.e.f 01.01.1996 but have instead been given notional benefit w.e.f 01.01.1996 as a result of which they have been deprived of the differential amount of salary for the period from 01.01.1996 to 19.02.2003 therefore the Hon'ble High court observed that this calls for serious consideration and these employees have been subjected to hostile discrimination. Therefore the order passed by the CAT, Patna Bench in OA 925/2003 has been set aside by the Hon'ble High court and the Hon'ble High court modified the orders passed by the respondent Railways department. While passing the order the Hon'ble High court has taken the writ petition to be in a representative category for all employees of the Accounts Establishment of the Indian Railways all of whom shall get the benefits of appropriate pay scales w.e.f 01.01.1996 with payment of arrears of salary. Further it has been directed that the post-retirement benefits of such employees who have already superannuated shall be revised apart from payment of arrears of salary.
8 OA 1607/2015
7. It is to be noted that the respondents in their reply statement at Para 11 has taken the plea that originally the Accounts staff of Railways were granted notional benefit of improved scales from 01.01.1996 with monetary benefits from 19.02.2003 which has been implemented in the respondent department also therefore while t he original grantees, i.e., Accounts Staff of Railways themselves have not been granted monetary benefit from 01.01.1996, the applicants in the present OA are not at all entitled to such dispensation. It is to be noted that in the said circumstances, the Accounts Staff of the Railway department have challenged the said action before the Hon'ble courts which has attained finality after the dismissal of the SLP as well as the Review Petition by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Also as per another set of directions from the Hon'ble High court of Patna, they have ben granted the benefit w.e.f 01.01.1996. Therefore in view of these facts, the applicants herein are also entitled for such similar relief.
8. As far as reliance placed by the respondents in the matter of UOI Vs. Arun Jyoti Kundu & Ors in Civil Appeal No.2468-2469/2005 dated 27.08.2007 is concerned, the said judgement will not be much helpful to the respondents since the observation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court pertains to refixation of pay scale or to issue directions to merge the cadres. Here the case of the applicants is that they are seeking the pay parity which is adopted by the respondents and in the same issue the order passed by the Ernakulam Bench of this Tribunal has attained finality as well as the same view has been taken by the Hon'ble High court of Patna. In view of the said facts and circumstances, the OA deserves to be allowed.
9. In the light of the above, the OA is allowed with the following directions:
9 OA 1607/2015
The applicants are entitled to the benefit of revised pay scale calculating arrears of pay and allowances w.e.f 01.01.1996. The respondents are directed to grant the arrears of revised pay and allowances to the applicants for the period from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003 within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. In case, the amount is not paid within a period of three months, then without prejudice to any other remedy that the applicants may have, the amount shall carry interest at the rate of 9% per annum.
10. The OA is allowed as above. No order as to costs.
(Lata Baswaraj Patne) (T. Jacob) Member (J) 14.09.2022 Member (A) MT