Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

The contention of the appellants is that the learned Single Judge did not agree in review jurisdiction to look at the letter dated 25.07.2023 issued by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which demonstrated that there was stoppage of inadmissible allowances in other KVKs also and not just KVKs under the Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat.

The further contention of the appellants is that the letter dated 25.07.2023 was issued based upon an inspection report by ICAR, Finance Division, which revealed widespread unauthorised payments by multiple host organisations. It was contended that the ICAR's funds were used for making such inadmissible allowances to the staff of KVKs without the approval or knowledge of ICAR, which uptil now has resulted in payment of several hundred crores unauthorisedly.

The contention of the respondents, however, is that the stoppage was based only upon a complaint filed by a private body.

The respondents are engaged in various KVKs, which are under the administrative control of the Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. Pursuant to the Central Pay Revision recommendations which came into effect from 01.01.2016, the respondents were given the option to either opt for the pay scale applicable to the Assam Agricultural University or the one applicable in case of employees coming under the ICAR. The respondents had opted for the pay scale of ICAR even though the Grade Pay was less in that pay scale, only taking into account that they would be entitled to certain additional allowances if they agreed to adopt the pay scale of Assam Agricultural University. It was also submitted that this was a knee jerk reaction of the ICAR, without examining the Memorandum of Understanding Page No.# 46/46 and taking into account that other KVKs across the country under various host organisations/grantees have been getting such allowances.

That apart, it was contended that the respondents are not getting anything beyond the pay scale which is agreed to by the Memorandum of Understanding between the ICAR and the Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The additional emoluments are in the nature of the privileges they had hitherto been getting for working in the North-East region.

The countervailing argument advanced on behalf of the appellants is that no sooner it was discovered by the ICAR that KVKs employees were being paid additional amounts by way of various inadmissible allowances from the ICAR funds, necessary steps have been taken by the ICAR to write to the host organisations for stoppage of those allowances.