WP(C) 245 of 2007. Case: Anjan Deb Roy Vs The State of Tripura.
| Case Number | WP(C) 245 of 2007 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: D.K. Biswas, A.K. Deb and G.K. Nama, Advocates and For Respondents: B.C. Das, Advocate General and S. Chakraborty, Addl. G.A. |
| Judges | Deepak Gupta, C.J. |
| Issue | Service Law |
| Citation | 2014 (3) GLT 669 |
| Judgement Date | July 24, 2014 |
Judgment:
Deepak Gupta, C.J., (At Agartala)
-
This is a second round of litigation filed by the petitioners.
-
The petitioners Anjan Deb Roy and Gouranga Kanti Roy Choudhury were appointed as Junior Grade Stenographers on 22-06-1988 and 16-09-1988 respectively. The Government of Tripura issued notification on 16-09-1988 revising the pay and allowances of all Government employees of the State of Tripura w.e.f. 01-01-1986 as per Tripura State Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 1988. Another notification was issued on 13-12-1988 providing automatic movement from the lower grade to higher grade after completion of 4 years of service in respect of all cadre services except the Tripura Stenographers Service.
-
The members of the Tripura Stenographers Service raised this issue and the State constituted the Pay Anomaly Sub-Committee and the All Tripura Stenographers Association submitted its representation before the committee. However, the committee gave no finding and on 05-11-1996 the 4th Tripura Pay Commission was constituted and even the 4th Pay Commission in its report dated 29-06-1998 did not deal with the issues raised by the stenographers.
-
Thereafter, the petitioners filed writ petition being Civil Rule No. 301 of 1999 before the Agartala Bench of the Gauhati High Court and the grievance made by them was that the anomaly in not granting automatic upgradation of scale after four years of service had not been considered either by the Pay Anomaly Committee or the 4th Pay Commission. It would be pertinent to mention that the 3rd Pay Commission in its report had recommended that all cadre service officers should be moved from the lower to the next higher grade automatically after 7 years of service. Where one grade had two scales of pay, then the movement would be from the lower scale to the higher. The Government of Tripura accepted the pay suggested by the 3rd Pay Commission and also by the 4th Pay Commission. However, whereas, in respect of other cadre services, such as Tripura Civil Services, Tripura Police Services, Tripura Engineering Services etc., the Government of Tripura permitted movement to the higher grade/scale on completion of 4 years instead of 7 years, the Stenographer Service was left out of the benefit of the recommendation. Therefore, the petitioners alleged that they had been discriminated against in this regard.
-
Reliance by the petitioners was placed on the judgment of the Apex Court in Purshottam Lal vs. Union of India, [AIR 1973 SC 1088] wherein the Apex Court had held that if any category of Government servant was excluded from the benefit that was recommended by the Pay Commission, material should be placed before the Court to support why such category of Government servants was excluded from such benefit. The State took up the plea that the benefit of automatic movement into the higher grade after 4 years of service was only allowed in respect of those working in the "higher grade" of Rs. 800-1860/- which was later revised to Rs. 2100-3000-5000/-. The State submitted that the Stenographer Service had not been considered to be a "higher grade" service.
-
The learned Single...
To continue reading
Request your trial