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ii) Respondents be directed to act on the basis of Annexure-1 & 2 in consultation with Dept. of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance by removing anomaly and regularize/revise the pension and give all such benefits accrued from such action with interest.

iii) Any other appropriate reliefs as may be deemed fit and proper be issued.

2. The facts in brief are that the applicant joined service as Senior Observer under the Respondent-Department with effect from 18.05.1973 and was promoted as Scientific Assistant in the scale of Rs.5500-9000/- with effect from 26.4.1982. He was again promoted as Professional Assistant/Assistant Meteorologist, Gr.II(AM.II) in the scale of Rs.6500-10500 with effect from 17.2.1995 and as Assistant Meteorologist in the scale of Rs.7500-12000/- with effect from 27.4.2004 and while working as such, the applicant retired from service on 31.03.2008 on attaining the age of superannuation. After coming into force the 6th CPC with effect from 1.1.2006, vide notification dated 18.6.2009 the post of Senior Observer stood merged with Scientific Assistant with effect from 1.1.2006 carrying the revised scale of Rs.9300-34800 with Grade Pay of Rs.4200/-. According to applicant, vide Gazette Notification Part-B & C dated 29.08.2008, the post of Scientific Staff in the scale of Rs.6500- O. A. No. 260/898 OF 2015 10500 with Post Graduate Degree was upgraded and placed in the scale of Rs.74500-11500 corresponding to the revised Pay Band (PB-2) of Rs.9300- 34800/- with Grade Pay of Rs.4600/-. Grievance of the applicant is that the Respondents without taking into consideration the relevant instructions provided in the Gazette Notification dated 20.8.2008 (A/2 series) in respect of the benefit of Scientific Service with Post Graduation Qualification in Science with effect from 1.1.2006, granted 1st and 2nd financial upgradation under the ACP Scheme in the scale of Rs.7450-11500/- (pre-revised) (revised to Rs.9300-34800 with GP of Rs.4600/-) and Rs.10,000-15200 (pre-revised) (revised to Rs.15600-39100 with Grade Pay of Rs.6600) with effect from 17.2.1995 and 27.4.2004 respectively.

3. It is the case of the applicant that on account of merger of the post of Senior Observer with that of Scientific Assistant in I.M.D. in pursuance of notification dated 18.6.2009, three promotions availed by the applicant stood reduced to two and therefore, he is entitled to 3rd financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme.

4. Per contra, respondents have filed a detailed counter. According to Respondents. While admitting the fact of three promotions as well as merger of the post of Senior Observer with the post of Scientific Assistant with effect from 1.1.2006 thus reducing promotions of the applicant to two, it has been pointed out by the Respondents that the regular promotion earned by the applicant from the cadre of Senior Observer (Rs.5000-150-8000) to Scientific Assistant (Rs.5500-175-9000) was ignored for the purpose of grant of 1st financial upgradation under the ACP Scheme as per clarification to the point of doubt no.1 to DOP&T OM No.35034/1/97-Estt. (D) Vol. IV dated 10.02.2000 and to this effect further clarification under Para-9 to DOP&T OM O. A. No. 260/898 OF 2015 No.35034/3/2008-Estt.(D) dated 19.05.2009. Due to merger of the post as above with effect from 01.01.2006, the 1st financial upgradation was counted in the cadre of Professional Assistant (now AM-II) which he earned on promotion in view of DOP&T OM dated 9.8.1999. Similarly, the 2nd financial upgradation is counted in the cadre of Assistant Meteorologist-I which he earned on promotion in line with DOP&T OM dated 09.08.1999. The pay scale of Professional Assistant (Rs.6500-200-10500) and Assistant Meteorologist-I (Rs.7500-2500-12000) have been revised in PB-2 (Rs.93400-34800 + GP 4600 & PB-2 (Rs.9300-34800 + GP Rs.4800 from 01.01.2006, respectively as per 6th PC recommendations. Respondents have mentioned that the applicant retired from service on 31.03.2008 on attaining the age of superannuation and MACP Scheme was introduced w.e.f. 1.9.2008 and as such he is not entitled to financial upgradation under MACP Scheme.

11. Admittedly, applicant had initially been appointed as Senior Observer in the scale of Rs.5000-8000 (pre-revised) in the year 1973. He was promoted as Scientific Assistant in the scale of Rs.5500-9000/- in the year 1982. He was further promoted as Professional Assistant (now Assistant Meteorologist) O. A. No. 260/898 OF 2015 Gr.II (AM.II) in the scale of Rs.6500-10500 in the year 1995. While working as such, scale of Rs.6500-10500 was revised to Rs.Rs.7450-11500/- carrying Grade Pay Rs.4600/-. The applicant thereafter was promoted as Assistant Meteorologist, Gr.I(AM-I) in the scale of Rs.7500-12000/-(pre-revised) carrying Grade Pay of Rs.4800 in the year 2004 and subsequently retired from service on 31.03.2008 on attaining the age of superannuation. From above, it is clear that while the scale of Rs. 5500-8000/- of Senior Observer stood merged with the scale of Rs.5500-9000 of Scientific Assistant forming a common Grade Pay of Rs. 4200 as per 6th CPC recommendations, the post of Professional Assistant (Assistant Meteorologist) Gr.II (AM.II) carrying the scale of Rs.6500-10500/- was upgraded to Rs.74500-11500/- PB-2 (Rs.9300- 34800) with Grade Pay of Rs.4600/- as per the Gazette of India (Part-B) Section-I read with Part-C (Section-I) (A/2 series). Be that as it may, it is an admitted fact that the applicant was promoted as Assistant Meteorologist, Gr.I(AM-I) in the scale of Rs.7500-12000/- in the year 2004. Rule-1 of the MACP Scheme stipulates that there shall be three financial upgradations under the MACPS counted from the direct entry grade on completion of 10, 20, 30 years service respectively. Financial upgradation under the Scheme will be admissible whenever a person has spent 10 years continuously in the same grade. It is an admitted position that before completing 10 years service in the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- the applicant has retired from service on superannuation. Therefore, by any stretch of imagination he could not be entitled to get the benefit of financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme. Secondly, as regards the benefit of merger of the post of Senior Observer in the scale of Rs.5000-8000 with that of Scientific Assistant carrying the scale of Rs.5500-9000/-, as indicated above, MACP Scheme provides merger of O. A. No. 260/898 OF 2015 three pay scales, i.e,. Rs.5000-8000, Rs.5500-9000 and Rs.6500/10500/- to a common Grade Pay of Rs.4200/- and that too grant of the next higher grade pay in such a situation is to be considered only after the implementation of MACP Scheme. But in the instant case, whereas scale of Rs.5000-8000 and Rs.5500-9000 stood merged together, scale of Rs.6500-10500 was upgraded to Rs.7450-11500/- as per the recommendation of the 6th CPC whereafter applicant was promoted to Assistant Meteorologist, Gr.I(AM-I) in the scale of Rs.7500-12000/-(pre-revised) carrying Grade Pay of Rs.4800 in the year 2004. Thus, the applicant having not completed 10 years service in GP Rs.4800/- is not entitled to any financial benefit under the MACP Scheme or for that by the time the Scheme came into force, he had already retired from service.