O. A. No. 4276/2010, M. A. No. 3219/2010. Case: 1. Group 'B' CPWD Office Staff Association (All India), Through its General Secretary, M. Nazaruddin, 2. Anand Singh Vs 1. Union of India, Through the Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure) Implementation Cell, New Delhi, 2. Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, New Delhi, 3. Director General, Central Public Works Department, 4. Director (S & D), Office of Directorate General, CPWD, 5. Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, North Block, New Delhi. Central Administrative Tribunal
| Case Number | O. A. No. 4276/2010, M. A. No. 3219/2010 |
| Judges | M. L. Chauhan (Judicial Member) & Shailendra Pandey (Accountant Member) |
| Issue | Service Law |
| Judgement Date | July 20, 2011 |
| Court | Central Administrative Tribunal |
Judgment:
Shailendra Pandey (Accountant Member), (Principal Bench New Delhi)
-
MA 3219/2010 has been filed for condonation of delay of 283 days. In the interest of justice, the delay is condoned and the MA is allowed.
-
In this OA, the applicants have challenged the order of the respondents dated 06.03.2009, rejecting their claim for placements of the posts of Office Superintendents (Gr.I and Gr.II) in CPWD in the upgraded revised pay structure of grade pay of Rs.4600/- in the pay band PB-2.
-
Applicant No.1 is an Association of the staff of Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Applicant No.2 is a member thereof, working as a Superintendent Grade-II in CPWD. Prior to the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission there were two pay scales applicable to the Office Superintendents (117 in number) working in CPWD - one group of the Office Superintendents (32 in number) were placed in the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500 and were designated as OS-I while the other Office Superintendents were placed in the pay scale of Rs.5500-9000 and were designated as OS-II. It is stated that there was absolutely no difference in the duties and responsibilities performed by the two groups and the two tier system in the OS category introduced w.e.f. 1.01.1996 was merely a financial upgradation without any functional difference and the two posts were interchangeable. It is stated that not only were OS-II in CPWD denied the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500 but that they were denied equal treatment vis-'-vis similarly situated Government employees in other departments. Aggrieved by the said disparity, the All India CPWD Office Staff Association and the Applicant No.2 herein filed an OA No.271/2007 before this Tribunal with a prayer to direct the respondents to place all the OSs in CPWD in the scale of Rs.6500-10500 with effect from 1.1.1996. The said OA was dismissed vide order dated 09.07.2007.
-
It is stated that in the meantime, the Association had submitted a Memorandum to the 6th CPC and that the DG, CPWD recommended the same vide OM dated 2.1.2007 to the 6th CPC. The Memorandum sought placing of all the OSs of CPWD in the pre revised pay scale of Rs.6500-10500. It is stated that thereafter, the 6th CPC made a specific recommendation with regard to Office Superintendents in CPWD vide Para 7.46.25 (Page 82) in its report (under Chapter 7 for Ministry of Urban Development, which is extracted below:
7.46.25 Extension of the scale of Rs.6500-10500 has been sought for 47 posts of Office Superintendents as against the present scenario where only 32 posts have been given the higher scale. Due to the proposed merger of scales of Rs.5500-9000 and Rs.6500-10500, all the posts of Office Superintendents will be placed in the scale of Rs.6500-10500. The post is not comparable to that of Section Officer. Hence, parity with Section Officers can not be recommended.
Vide notification dated 29.08.2008 the Ministry of Finance notified the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, wherein at para No.(ii) of Section (I) of Part B it has been laid down as follows:-
On account of merger of pre-revised pay scales of Rs.5000-8000, Rs.5500-9000 and Rs.6500-10500 some posts which presently constitute feeder and promotion grades will come to lie in an identical grade. The specific recommendations about some categories of these posts made by the Pay Commission are included in Section-II of Part-B. As regards other posts the posts in these three scales should be merged. In case it is not feasible to merge the posts in these pay scales on functional considerations, the posts in the scale of Rs.5000-8000 and Rs.5500-9000 should be merged, with the posts in the scale of Rs.6500-10500 being upgraded to the next higher grade in pay band PB-2, i.e., to the grade of pay of Rs.4600 corresponding to the pre-revised pay scale of Rs.7450-11500, the post being upgraded from the scale of Rs.6500-10500 should be merged with the post in the scale of Rs.7450-11500.
-
It is stated that 'even though the para (ii) of Section I of Part B of Central Civil Service (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008 has stated that the specific recommendation about some categories of these posts made by the Pay Commission are included in Section II of Part B, a serious anomaly has occurred in as much as the specific recommendation by...
To continue reading
Request your trial