O. A. No. 485 of 2007. Case: 1. Dakshin Railway Rajbhasha Karmachari Sangh (Drrks), General Secretary, Sabu M. Philip, Kochi, 2. A. K. Deepa, Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. II, Ernakulam Vs 1. Union of India, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Railways, New Delhi, 2. Member Staff, Railway Board, New Delhi, 3. General Manager, Southern Railway, Headquarters, Chennai. Central Administrative Tribunal
| Case Number | O. A. No. 485 of 2007 |
| Counsel | T. C. G. Swamy, Sunil Jose |
| Judges | Dr. K. B. S. Rajan (Judicial Member) & K. Noorjehan (Administrative Member) |
| Issue | Constitution of India, 1950 - Articles 39(d), 14, 16; Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 |
| Judgement Date | July 30, 2009 |
| Court | Central Administrative Tribunal |
Judgment:
Dr. K. B. S. Rajan (Judicial Member), (Ernakulam Bench)
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Applicant No. 1 is an association while applicant No. 2 is a serving Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. II in the office of Area Manager, Southern Railway, Ernakulam Junction, under Respondent No. 2.
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The grievance of the applicants is this OA is that despite there being parity in every aspect of qualification, functional responsibilities and the like between the posts of Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. II, Grade I and Rajbhasha Supdt. of the Respondents' organization on the one hand and Junior Hindi translators, Sr. Hindi Translators and Assistant Director (OL) of other Departments on the other, the pay scales of Official Language Staff in the Railways have not been brought at par with their counterparts either in the office of the Central Secretariat Official Language Service (CSOLS) or the subordinate offices of the Central Government. And this disparity continues for decades.
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To narrate the brief history, in the Railways, earlier, prior to 1978, there was a three-tier structure of Hindi Staff, called Junior Hindi Translator, Senior Hindi Translator and Head Hindi Translator. Later on, the structure of this cadre had been revised to have a four-tier structure as:
(a)
Hindi Assistant Gr. III
Rs 330 - 560
(b)
Hindi Assistant Gr. II
Rs 425 - 640
(c)
Hindi Assistant Gr. I
Rs 550 - 820
(d)
Hindi Superintendent
Rs 700 - 900
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With effect from 01-04-1987, the first two posts i.e. Hindi Assistant Gr. III and Hindi Assistant Gr. II had been amalgamated and made into one post i.e. Hindi Assistant Gr. II with a pay scale of Rs 1400 - 2300. Annexure A-2 refers. There has been a change in the designation effected from June 1989 vide Annexure A-3 and the same is as under:-
Hindi Assistant Gr.II
Rajbhasha Asst. Gr. II
Hindi Assistant Gr. I
Rajbhasha Asst. Gr. I
Hindi Superintendent
Rajbhasha Supdt.
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There is a provision for compulsory training in translation for the staff engaged on translation work in all the Ministries/Departments and Railways also send the Rajbhasha Staff for such training. Annexure A-4 refers.
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Sometimes in 1990, when there was a disparity in the pay scale of Junior and Senior Hindi Translators of CSOLS on the one hand and those in subordinate offices on the other, O.A. 157/90 was filed before the Principal Bench by the CPWD Translation' Association claiming pay parity. The Tribunal, after considering all the aspects held as under:
"4. We have gone through the records of the case and have considered the rival contentions. In a similar case (O.A. No. 1310/89 - V.K. Sharma and others Vs. Union of India and others), another Bench of this Tribunal has decided in its judgment dated 24.9.1991 that the respondents should grant the scale of Rs.1640-2900 and Rs. 1400-2600 to the Senior and Junior Translators respectively. In Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ/Inter Service Organisations) of the Ministry of Defence with effect from 1.1.86 with all consequential benefits of pay fixation, arrears plus ancillary allowances etc. The Tribunal relied upon the decision of the Supreme Court in Randhir Singh Vs. Union of India, 1982 SCC (L&S) wherein the Supreme Court observed that where all the relevant considerations are the same, persons holding identical posts must not be treated differently in the matter of their pay merely because they belong to different departments. In the Ministry of Defence, the Senior Translators and Jr. Hindi Translators had been given the pay scale of Rs. 1600-2660 and Rs.1400-2600 respectively.
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We reiterate the same view. Following the ratio in the judgment of this Tribunal in V.K. Sharma's case, we allow the present application and direct the respondents to grant the scale of Rs.1640-2900 and Rs.1400-2600 to the Sr. Translators and Jr. Translators respectively in the office of the Respondents in the instant case. The applicants would also be entitled to all consequential benefits including refixation of pay, arrears of pay, etc. The interim order passed on 2.2.90 is hereby made absolute. The respondents shall comply with the above directions within a period of 2 months from the date of communication of this order. "
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Vide Annexure A-6 order dated 8th November 2000, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Official Language had brought the requisite pay parity between the Senior Hindi Translators/Junior Hindi Translators of CSOLS and those of the Subordinate offices. Thus from 01-01-1996 the Senior Hindi Translators' pay scale had been fixed at Rs 5,500 - 9,000 and that of Junior Hindi Translators at Rs 5,000 - 8,000. The Pay scale of Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. I and II respectively were only Rs 5,000 - 8,000 and Rs 4,500 - 7000.
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Vide Annexure A-7 order dated 19th February 2003, there was an upward revision in the pay scale of Junior Hindi Translators and Senior Hindi Translators of CSOLS respectively to Rs 5,500 - 9,000 and 6,500 - 10,500, effective from 11-02-2003. This was further modified by Annexure A-8 order dated 02-04-2004 whereby the higher pay scales for Junior Hindi Translators and Senior Hindi Translators were to be notionally effective from 01-01-1996 and actually from 11-02-2003 and in addition, the pay scale of Assistant Director (OL) was revised to Rs 7,500 - 12000, effective notionally from 01-01-1996 and actually from 11-02-2003, as above. Thus, from 01-01-1996 the pay scales of Junior Hindi Translators/Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. II, Senior Hindi Translators/Rajbhasha Assistant Gr. I and Assistant Director (OL) / Rajbhasha Supdt. in the CSOLS, other departments and the Railways have been as under:-
Service/Department
Designation and Pay scale
Cent. Sectt. Official Language Services
Jr. Hindi Translators: 5,500 - 9,000
Sr Hindi Translator: 6,500 - 10,500
Asst. Director (OL) 7,500 - 12,000
Subordinate Offices of the Jr. Hindi Government
Translators: 5,000 - 8,000
Sr Hindi Translator: 5,500 - 9,000
Asst. Director (OL) 6,500 - 10,500
Railways
Rajbhasha Asst. Gr. II 4,500 - 7,000
Rajbhasha Asst. Gr. I 5,000 - 8,000
Rajbhasha Supdt 6,500 - 10,500
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The applicants preferred a number of Representations vide Annexure A-9 series for removing the above glaring disparity in pay scale on the basis of equal pay for equal work but no positive action had been taken by the respondents. Hence this O.A. praying for the following relief (s):
(i) Direct the respondent Railways to implement Annexure A6 forthwith and to grant the benefit of the replacement scales of pay of Rs.5000-8000 and Rs.5500-9000 to the applicants who are working as Rajbhasha Assistants Grade II and Rajbhasha Assistant Grade I respectively from 1.1.96 and direct further to grant all consequential arrears of pay and allowances arising therefrom;
(ii) Declare that the applicants are entitled to the same treatment in the matter of their scales of pay as are granted to the Junior Hindi Translators, Senior Hindi Translators and Assistant Director (OL) working in the Central Secretariat Official Language Service as given in Annexures A7 and A8 and direct the respondents to grant the scales of pay of Rs.5500-9000, Rs.6500-10500 and Rs.7500-12000 to the Rajbhasha Assistant Grade III, Rajbhasha Assistant Grade I and Rajbhasha Superintendents who are members of the applicants' Association with effect from 1.1.96 with actual benefits therefrom with effect from 11.2.2003 and direct further to grant all consequential arrears arising therefrom;
(iii) Award costs of and incidental to this application;
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Respondents have contested the O.A. According to them, there is no pay parity right from the beginning in respect of the Hindi Staff of Railways and others as there has been a marked difference in educational...
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