Central Administrative Tribunal - Lucknow
Raghvendra Dixit Aged About vs The Union Of India Through The Secretary on 17 September, 2015
Central Administrative Tribunal, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow Original Application No. 332/00555/2014 Reserved on 9.9.2015 Pronounced on 17.9.2015 Honble Sri Navneet Kumar , Member (J) Honble Ms. Jayati Chandra, Member (A) 1. Raghvendra Dixit aged about, 39 years, son of, Sri R.P. Dixit, resident of , 5, Radha Kunj, Amrapali Vihar, RBL Road, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O. at PAO (Ors) AMC, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 2. Chandra Prakash, aged about 45 years, Son of, Sri Durga Prasad, Resident of, E-2/134, Amrapali Yojna, Hardoi Raod, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 3. S.P. Singh, aged about, 41 years, Son of, Sri Veer Bahadur Singh, Resident of, C 3/8, Vivek Vihar Colony, V.I.P. Road, Lucknow Cantt. Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 4. R.K. Sinha, aged about, 41 years, Son of, Late Sheo Nath Lal, Resident of, 567/144, Anand Nagar, Jail Road, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 5. Arvind Mishra, aged about, 38 years, Son of, Sri Shiva Prasad Mishra, Resident of, 384/1, Radhanagar Colony, Daraganj, Allahabad-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (P), Allahabad-U.P. was earlier posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow at the time of wrong fixation of his pay. 6. Keshraj Singh, aged about, 45 years, Son of, Late Indrajeet Singh, Resident of, C 3/4, Vivek Vihar Colony, V.I.P. Road, Lucknow Cantt. Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 7. Bhagirath Sheohare, aged about, 51 years, Son of, Late Loyak Ram, Resident of, 568/339, Gitanjali, Alambagh, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), AMC, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 8. Suhel Ahmad, aged about, 48 years, Son of, Late Hafiz Mutafid Ali, Resident of, 504/38, Tagore Marg, Nirala Nagar, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), AMC, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 9. Siddharth Kumar, aged about, 43 years, Son of, Sri R.K. Srivastava, Resident of, 18/340, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow 10. Vishal Raizada, aged about, 43 years, Son of, Sri S.P. Raizada, Resident of, E-1420, Omexe City, RBL Raod, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at L.A.O. Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 11. Hansraj Tiwari, aged about, 38 years, Son of, Sri S.B. Tiwari, Resident of, E-1136, Omaxe City, RBL Road, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), AMC, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 12. K.D.S. Rajput, aged about, 41 years, Son of, Sri R.B. Rajput, Resident of, 1/253, Rashmi Khand, Sharda Nagar Yojna, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), 11 GRRC Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 13. Vijay Kumar, aged about, 41 years, Son of, Sri K.G. Agarwal, Resident of, 1/449, Sec-J, Jankipuram, Lucknow. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 14. Jagdish Prasad, aged about, 41 years, Son of, Sri Ram Naresh, Resident of, Village, Manikpur Lalbojhi, Bhatpurwa Kalan, Shravasti. Presently posted as A.A.O., at L.A.O. Babina, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 15. Manoj Kumar Tiwari, aged about, 43 years, Son of, Late Y.P. Tiwari, Resident of, Nirala Nagar, Faizabad-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at A.L.A.O. Faizabad, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 16. Lalta Prasad Maurya, aged about, 49 years, Son of, Chhote Lal Maurya, Resident of, Ibrahimpur, P.O.-Thawar (Mall), Lucknow. Presently posted as A.A.O.,Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 17. M.P. Agarwal, aged about, 40 years, Son of, Sri D.N. Agarwal, Resident of, Jhanjharpur Bazar, Madhubani, Bihar-847404 Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), SLI, Fatehgarh-U.P., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 18. Animesh Srivastava, aged about 41 years, Son of, Sri Gopalji Srivastava, Resident of, E-1282, Rajajipuram, Lucknow- 226017, Presently posted as A.A.O., at the RTC, Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 19. S.K. Pandey, aged about, 37 years, Son of, Sri Vidyadhar Pandey, Resident of, D-3/510, Sector-H, LDA Colony, Kanpur Road, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 20. Rajesh Kumar, aged about, 44 years, Son of, Sri Narsingh, Resident of, B-5/8, Vivek Vihar Colony, Lucknow Cantt-2. Presently posted as A.A.O., at the R.T.C. Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 21. Omprakash, aged about, 37 years, Son of, Late Thakur Das, Resident of, B-4/6, Vivek Vihar Colony, V.I.P. Road, Lucknow Cantt, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 22. Sameer Kumar, aged about, 46 years, Son of, Sri V.M. Srivastava, Resident of, 162/6, Manas City, Indira Nagar, Lucknow. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), AMC, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 23. K.N. Agrahari, aged about 40 years, Son of, Sri C.L. Agrahari, Resident of, E-1173, Omaxe City, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at LAO Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 24. S.K. Singh, aged about, 37 years, Son of, Sri Lok Nath Singh, Resident of, 18/24 A, Risha, Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at the R.A.O. Lucknow, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 25. Sanjeev Kumar, aged about, 40 years, Son of , Lala H.N. Prasad, Resident of, 129/1, Old Kalinga Line, Jhansi Cantt. Presently posted as A.A.O., at LAO Jhansi, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 26. Sujay Kumar, aged about, 40 years, Son of, Sri Ramchandra Singh, Resident of, 22/4, War Memorial Colony, Kanpur Cantt-2080004. Presently posted as A.A.O., at Area Accounts Office, Kanpur, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 27. Vishal Mishra, aged about, 38 years, Son of, Sri S.C. Mishra, Resident of, 66, Chanakya Puri, Bara Birwa, Kanpur Road, Lucknow-23. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 28. Rajiv Kumar, aged about, 42 years, Son of, Sri Kamal Dev Sinha, Resident of, care of, Sri A.K. Pandey, B-33/14-37, Kaushlesh Nagar, Varanasi-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), 39 GTC, Varanasi, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 29. Kamal Kishore, aged about 40 years, Son of, Sri Ayodhya Prasad, Resident of, C 3/3, Saketpuram Colony, Faizabad Cantt.-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), DRC, Faizabad, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 30. Hubraj Yadav, aged about, 45 years, Son of, Sri Tanman Yadav, Resident of, C 3/2, Saketpuram Colony, Faizabad Cantt.-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., at PAO (Ors), DRC, Faizabad, Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 31. Pramod Sharma, aged about, 40 years, Son of, Late Maheshanand Sharr, Resident of, 10 A/59, Vrindavan Yojna, RBl Road, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 32. Manish Sarkar, aged about, 40 years, Son of, Sri M.K. Sarkar, Resident of, K1/1389, Aashiyana, Lucknow-U.P. Presently posted as A.A.O., Under the PCDA (CC), Lucknow-U.P. 33. Prashant Tripathi, aged about, 45 years, Son of, Late R.C. Tripathi, Resident of, C-2100. Indira Nagar, Lucknow-016 Presently posted as A.A.O. under the CGDA, New Delhi .Applicants By Advocate : Sri Shyamal Narain Versus 1. The Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure (Implementations Cell), North Block, New Delhi. 2. The Ministry of Defence (Finance), through its Secretary, Establishment-1 Section, Government of India, New Delhi. 3. The Controller General of Defence Accounts, Ulan Batar Road, Palam, Delhi, Cantt 110010. 4. The Principal Controller of Defence Accounts, (Central Command), Lucknow-U.P. Respondents By Advocate: Sri Alok Trivedi ORDER
BY HONBLE SRI NAVNEET KUMAR, MEMBER (J) The present Original Application is preferred by the applicant u/s 19 of the AT Act, with the following reliefs:-
a) issue a suitable order or direction to the respondents to fix the pay of the applicants, as on 01.01.2006, on the basis of the pre-revised upgraded scale of Rs. 7500-250-12000 (instead of the pay scale of Rs. 6500-10500), along with all consequential benefits, and them the entire arrears of their pay and other allowances on account of such refixation, with interest within a reasonable and stipulated period of time.
b) issue a suitable order or direction commanding the respondents to extend to the applicants the benefit of grant of increments due to them while fixing their basic pay in the revised pay structure w.e.f. 01.01.2006, consequent upon the bunching of two or more stages in the existing scale, with all consequential benefits, and pay them the entire arrears of their pay and other allowances on account of such refixation, with interest.
c) issue such other orders or directions, and grant such other and further relief, as might be considered just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
d) award the costs of this original application in favour of the applicants, throughout.
2. The facts of the case are that the applicants were appointed in the respondents establishment as Auditors or Clerks in accordance with law and after passing the departmental SAS examination prescribed for the promotion at different times between the years 2002-2004, they were successively promoted to the posts of Section Officer (A) and Assistant Accounts Officer. Subsequently, in the 5th Central Pay Commission, they were recommended the pay scale of Rs. 650-200-10500 and Rs. 7450-250-11500/-. The applicants were working on the post of AAO in the aforesaid pay scale and after acceptance of the recommendations of 5th Central pay Commission, the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008 were notified and deemed to have come into force on the 1st January, 2006. By virtue of the aforesaid Rules, the pay scale of the post of S.O. (A) in the pay scale of Rs. 6500-10500 and the post of Assistant Accounts Officer, in the pay scale of Rs. 7450-11500 were both upgraded to Rs. 7500-12500/- w.e.f. 1.1.2006 and eventually placed in pay Band -2 with grade pay of Rs. 4800/- and subsequently the post of SO (A) and AAO were merged and re-designated as Assistant Accounts Officer.
3. In the revised pay scale Rules, 2008, the applicants were required to opt whether they wished to switch over to the revised pay structure w.e.f.1.1.2006 or from the date of their promotion as SO(A) and all the applicants had elected to be governed by the revised pay structure w.e.f. 1.1.2006. Subsequently, in 2008, the revised pay Rules were notified which was followed by the O.M. dated 30.8.2008, on the subject of implementation of sixty Central Pay Commission recommendations fixation of pay and payment of arrears instructions regarding. Since pay scale of Rs. 6500-10500 and pay scale of 7450-11500 both were merged in one common pay scale of Rs. 7500-12000/- w.e.f. 1.1.2006, the previous scale ceased to have any existence as of 31.12.2005 and could not be treated as subsisting on 1.1.2006.
4. Learned counsel for applicants has also indicated that some of the aggrieved person after being considered discriminatory, preferred an O.A. before the Tribunal at Allahabad vide O.A. No. 293/2011 and Division Bench of the Tribunal quashed the orders of the respondents. While passing the order dated 6.1.2014 , the respondents observed as under:-
2. The case regarding extension of benefits of pay fixation in respect of SO (A)/AAO on promotion at par with applicants of O.A. No.293/2011 w.r.t. Honble CAT, Allahabad Bench order dated 9.8.2011 has been examined in this HQRs. Office.
3. In this connection, it is intimated that as per the direction of Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure), the benefits extended in the case of O.A. No. 293/2011 is applicable to the applicants of O.a. No. 293/2011 only.
5. As observed by the Chandigarh Bench of the Tribunal and as per the Observation of the Honble Apex Court in the case of State of Karnataka and others Vs. C. Lalitha decided on 31.10.2006 (Appeal (Civil) No. 919 of 2002), it has been observed that Service jurisprudence evolved by this Court from time to time postulates that all persons similarly situated should be treated similarly. Only because one person has approached the court that would not mean that persons similarly situated should be treated differently.
6. In respectful care with the law enunciated by the Honble Apex Court in the aforesaid case, the impugned order cannot be allowed to be sustained and accordingly, the same is quashed and set aside. The matter is remitted back to the respondents to reconsider the case of the applicants in the light of order passed in O.A. No.293/2011 decided on 9.8.2013 passed by Allahabad Bench in the case of Neeraj Kumar Srivastava and others Vs. UOI and others. The same may be done within a period of 2 months form the date of receipt of certified copy of this order and if the applicants are found entitled to the relevant benefits, the same be extended to them as well. The speaking order passed by the respondents be communicated to the applicants as well.
7. With the above observations, O.A. is disposed of . No order as to costs.
(JAYATI CHANDRA) (NAVNEET KUMAR) MEMBER (A) MEMBER(J) HLS/-