Civil Appeal No 3121 of 1981
From the Judgment and Order dated 28 9 1979 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc
Petition No 408 of 1978
MK Ramamurthi and HS Parihar for the Appellants
Maheshwari T VSN Chari and RN Poddar for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KHALID J
The question involved in this appeal brings to fore how the equality doctrine embodied in the Constitution of India is attempted to be flouted by some authorities under cover of artificial divisions dividing persons doing the same work into two 103 groups without any justification and denying to one group by way of pay and emoluments what the other group gets
We do not propose to examine the width of the quality provisions contained in article 39d in all its manifold aspects but would like to restrict it in its application to the facts of this case in our attempt to see whether the High Court was justified or not in declining relief to the petitioners
Now the facts This appeal by special leave is directed against the Judgment of a Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in Miscellaneous Petition No 408 of 1978 dismissing the petition challenging the Order of the Government of India accepting the recommendations of the Third Pay Commission dividing Senior Draughtsmen into two groups with different pay scales which according to the appellants violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution
The Appellants Nos
1 to 8 are Senior Draughtsmen in the Ordnance Factories under the Ministry of Defence Department of Defence Production and the Director General of Ordnance Factories
Appellants Nos
1 to 5 were promoted on different dates to the post of senior Draughtsman when they were working as Draughtsmen
Appellants Nos
6 7  8 were directly recruited as Senior Draughtsmen in the Vehicle Factory Jabalpur on different dates
Appellant No 9 is a registered Association of the Employees working in the DesignDrawing Office of the Defence Establishments under the Ministry of Defence etc
There are 33 establishments under the Ministry of Defence Production and Director General of ordnance Factories Calcutta
In these establishments there are two categories of Drawing Office Staff 1 Senior Draughtsman and 2 Draughtsman
Senior Draughtsmen are either directly recruited or promoted from the post of Draughtsmen
At all relevant times all the Senior Draughtsmen throughout the above establishments were drawing the same pay scale
The first and the second Pay Commission set up by the Government of India recommended same scales of pay for all the Senior Draughtsmen
A Third Pay Commission was set up by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of Shri Raghubar Dayal a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India and consisting of three other members
One of the recommendations of this Pay Commission related to the scales of pay of Draughtsmen and Senior Draughtsmen 104 Draughtsmen were to be in the scale of Rs 330 560 while the Senior Draughtsmen were divided into two groups with two scales of pay Rs 330 560 and Rs 425 700
It is this division of Senior Draughtsmen that was under challenge before the High Court
Representations were made by the Petitioner against this grouping by the Third Pay Commission and they pleaded that there should not be any discrimination in the pay scales of Senior Draughtsmen as was recommended by the Third Pay Commission
Similar representations were made by others also like Senior Rate Estimator Senior Rate Fixer Senior Planner and Supervisor etc
Some representations were accepted by the Government but not the representations made by the appellants  Association
Aggrieved by this unhelpful attitude of the Government in not accepting their representation the appellants moved the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution Their case before the High Court was that Senior Draughtsmen discharged identical duties and performed similar work
That being so there was little or no justification in putting 50 of them in a higher scale of pay and 50 others in a lower scale of pay
This grouping was without any intelligible differentia
The High Court referred to a decision of this Court in Kishori Mohanlal Bakshi vs Union of India1 and sought support from it to deny relief to the petitioners
That was a case where the grouping of Income tax Officers as Class I and class II with different scales of pay and different channel of Promotion was questioned
This Court observed in that Judgment as follows It might very well be that matters relating to employment or appointment to any office in article 161 are wide enough to include the matter of promotion
Inequality of opportunity for promotion as between citizens holding different posts in the same grade may therefore be an infringement of article 16
Thus if of the Income tax Officers of the same grade some are eligible for promotion to a superior grade and others are not the question of contravention of article 161 may well arise
But no such question can arise at all when the rules make Income tax Officers of Class I eligible for appointment as Assistant Commissioner but make 105 Income tax Officers of Class II eligible for promotion as Income tax Officers of Class I but not for promotion to the post of Assistant Commissioners
There is no denial in such a case of equality of opportunity as among citizens holding posts of the same grade
As between citizens holding posts in different grades in Government service there can be no question of equality of opportunity
article 16 does not forbid the creation of different grades in the Government service
The abstract doctrine of equal pay for equal work has nothing to do with article 14
article 14 therefore cannot be said to be violated whose the pay scales of Class I and Class II Income tax Officers are different though they do the same kind of work
Incremental scales of pay can be validly fixed dependent on the duration of an officers service
 The High Court also referred to the decisions of this Court in State of Punjab vs Joginder Singh1 Unikat Saakunni Menon vs State of Rajasthan2 and State of Mysore  Anr
vs P Narsingh Rao3 in which cases also certain grouping of employees were challenged as violative of article 14  16 which challenge was repelled by the Supreme Court
The High Court relied upon these decisions and held that It is therefore evident that it was open to the Government to fix two different pay scales for Senior Draughtsmen and that It was for the Government to decide what pay scale should be provided to the different
classes of employees and simply because they have been provided different pay scales that would not amount to discriminations
 The High Court was told that all the Senior Draughtsmen did the same kind of work and discharged same or similar duties and that therefore there was no justification for a distinction being made between the two classes of Senior Draughtsmen providing two different pay scales on the basis of seniority Denial of the higher scale of pay to one class of Senior Draughtsmen only on the ground of length of service was according to the appellants wrong
The Government brought in this classification by its Order dated 1 7 1978 directing that only Senior Draughtsmen holding that post on 31 12 1972 would be given the Senior scale and not 106 those who did not hold that post on 31 12 1972
This basis the appellants contended was unsupportable
These contentions did not appeal to the High Court
While repelling the arguments of the Petitioners the High Court observed that The petitioners are unable to show a single authority in support of their contention that all the persons doing the same work are entitled to same scale of pay
 It is the correctness of this decision that falls to be decided in this appeal
Before discussing the factual matrix of the case we will refer to the Order passed by the Government of India on 27th January 1978 which brought into effect this difference in the pay scale
The said Order reads as follows The undersigned is directed to refer to Sl
No 32 of Part D Section I in the First Schedule to the Civilians in Defence Services Revised Pay Rules 1973 and to say that the President is pleased to decide that as recommended by the Third Pay Commission in para 81 Chapter 14 of their report half the number of posts of Draughtsman in the DGOF Organisation on the present pay scale of Rs 205 7 240 8 280 will be placed in the revised scale of Rs 425 15 500 EB 15 560 20 700 and the remaining half in the revised scale of Rs 330 10 380 EB 12 500 EB 15 560    
On their allocation to the revised scale of Rs 425 700 and Rs 350 560 the existing Draughtsman in the present pay scale of Rs 205 280 who are brought on to the revised scale of Rs 330 560 would continue to retain their present designation as a personal to them
The placement of the existing Draughtsman in the higher revised pay scale of Rs 425 700 will be on the basis of seniority subject to the rejection of the unfit
Any administrative instruction that may be considered necessary may be issued by you
These orders will take effect from 1 1 73
 It is pursuant to this Order that the change in the emoluments of the petitioners  group of Draughtsmen was effected
107 It has to be borne in mind that this differentiation is not based on any intelligible ground
The group of Draughtsmen entitled to the higher scale of pay is not selected by any process nor is it based on any merit cum seniority basis but is based only on seniority cum fitness
There is no denial anywhere that both these types of Draughtsmen do the same work and discharge the same functions and duties
According to the recommendations of the Third Pay Commission a Draughtsman has to get Rs 330 10 380 EB 12 500 EB 15 560 while Senior Draughtsman like the appellants who have become so on promotion will continue to get the same scale of pay and not the higher scale of pay
In other words the promoted persons like the appellants are without any monetary benefit to them
The pay that they would get as Senior Draughtsman would be the same as a Draughtsman would get under the Third Pay Commission
That is for the same work and same functions the appellants would get less pay than the other group of Senior Draughtsmen
The explanation is that this division is based on seniority
This cannot be accepted as sufficient to meet the requirements of law
By seniority a Senior Draughtsman will get higher pay with the increments that he earns proportionate to the number of years he is in service
Here that is not the case
It is the classification of the Senior Draughtsmen into two groups that is responsible for the higher pay
For this classification the Government must be able to satisfy the Court of certain other tests which are non existent in this case since it is not in dispute that Senior Draughtsmen belonging to the two Divisions do equal and same work
In view of the total absence of any plea on the side of the respondents that the Senior Draughtsmen who are placed in the advantageous group do not perform work and duties more onerous or different from the work performed by the appellants group it will have to be held that this grouping violates Article 14 of the Constitution
The High Court did not have the advantage of a decision of this Court in Randhir Singh vs Union of India  Ors1 to which one of us was a party which evolved the equality doctrine embodied in Article 39d and read Article 14 into it while considering the complaint of a driver who was originally in the Army but later employed as a driver constable in Delhi Police Force under the Delhi Administration and who was denied the same pay as was available to the other drivers in the service of the Delhi Administration
This Court 108 allowed the Writ Petition and directed the concerned authorities to pay the petitioners in that case salary at least equal to the Drivers of the Railway Protection Force
Disagreeing with the plea put forward by the Union of India this Court observed as follows The Counter Affidavit does not explain how the case of the drivers in the police force is different from that of the drivers in other departments and what special factors weighed in fixing a lower scale of pay for them
Apparently in the view of the respondents the circumstance that persons belong to different departments of the Government is itself a sufficient circumstance to justify different scales of pay irrespective of their identity of their powers duties and responsibilities
We cannot accept this view
If this view is to be stretched to its logical conclusion the scales of pay of officers of the same rank in the Government of India may vary from department to department notwithstanding that their powers duties and responsibilities are identical
We concede that equation of posts and equation of pay are matters primarily for the Executive Government and expert bodies like the Pay Commission and not for Courts but we must hasten to say that where all things are equal that is where all relevant considerations are the same persons holding identical posts may not be treated differentially in the matter of their pay merely because they belong to different departments
Of course if officers of the same rank perform dissimilar functions and the powers duties and responsibilities of the posts held by them vary such officers may not be heard to complain of dissimilar pay merely because the posts are of the same rank and the nomenclature is the same
 This Court however observed that a differential treatment in appropriate cases can be justified when there are two grades based on reasonable grounds and stated as follows It is well known that there can be and there are different grades in a service with varying qualification for entry into a particular grade the higher grade often being a promotional avenue for officers of the lower grade
The higher qualifications for the higher grade which may be 109 either academic qualifications or experience based on length of service reasonably sustain the classification of the officers into two grades with different scales of pay
The principle of equal pay for equal work would be an abstract doctrine not attracting article 14 if sought to be applied to them With respect we agree with the conclusion arrived at in the above Judgment that where all relevant considerations are the same persons holding identical posts and discharging similar duties should not be treated differently
The case on hand is much stronger than the facts of the Randhir Singh s case
In that case the drivers belonged to two different departments
In this case the Senior Draughtsmen divided into two groups are in the same department doing identical and same work
It is not a case of different grades created on the ground of higher qualification either academic or otherwise or an entitlement by any other criteria laid down
The justification for this classification is by the mere accident of an earlier entry into service
This cannot be justified
The above decision of this Court has enlarged the doctrine of equal pay for equal work envisaged in Article 39d of the Constitution of India and has exalted it to the position of a fundamental right by reading it alongwith Article 14
This exposition of law had given rise to some whispering dissent in that the doctrine had been extended beyond permissible limits
The observations that the abstract doctrine of equal pay for equal work has nothing to do with article 14 in the Judgment in Kishori Mohanlal Bakshi vs Union of India supra rendered by a Constitution Bench of this Court it is contended may perhaps run counter to the observations in the decision referred above
We do not think it necessary on the facts of this case to dwelve at length upon the effect of this observation on a wider campus of service jurisprudence in the context of equal pay for equal work which will have to be attempted in an appropriate case
For the purposes of the case on hand it is sufficient to note that the classification between two groups of Senior Draughtsmen is 110 without any basis
They do the same work they perform the same duties and as such the ratio of the decision in Randhir Singh s case applies to this case with greater force
The Order passed by the Government of India on 27th January 1978 implementing this classification violates article 14 of the Constitution and has to be struck down and we do so
In our opinion it would be a great injustice to continue the appellants on the scales of pay of Draughtsmen even after promotion as Senior Draughtsmen which is destructive of all incentive and initiative in the service
In our Judgment the High Court was in error in declining relief to the appellants
We accordingly set aside the Judgment of the High Court and allow this appeal and direct the Union of India to fix the scale of pay of appellants at Rs 425 15 50 EB 15 560 20 640 EB 20 700
The appellants will be entitled to costs from the respondent No 1
MLA Appeal allowed


Summary:
Senior Draughtsmen in the Ordnance Factories under the Ministry of Defence are either directly recruited or promoted from the post Draughtsmen
At all relevant times all the Senior Draughtsmen throughout the above establishments were drawing the same pay scale of Rs 205 280
While revising the pay scale of various categories of employees the Third Pay Commission recommended that the Draughtsmen should be placed in the scale of Rs 330 560
The Pay Commission also recommended that the Senior Draughtsmen should be divided into two groups and half the number of posts of Draughtsmen in the above organisations on the present pay scale of Rs 205 280 be placed in the revised scale of Rs 425 700 on the basis of seniority and the remaining half in the revised scale of Rs 330 560
Pursuant to the aforesaid recommendation the Government of India by its Order dated 1st July 1978 directed that only those senior Draughtsmen who were holding that post on 31st December 1972 would be given the senior scale of pay ie Rs 425 700
The appellants who are senior Draughtsmen made representation to the Government of India against this grouping by the Third Pay Commission
As the representations were not accepted the appellants challenged the Order of the Government before the High Court in a Writ Petition contending that all the Senior Draughtsmen did the same kind of work and discharged same or similar duties and therefore there was no justification for distinction being made amongst the Senior Draughtsmen providing two different pay scales on the basis of seniority
The High Court dismissed the petition holding that it was open to the Government to fix two different pay scales for Senior Draughtsmen and that it was for the Government to decide what pay scale should be provided to the different classes of employees
102 Allowing the appeal  HELD 1 Where all relevant considerations are the same persons holding identical posts and discharging similar duties should not be treated differently
Therefore the Order passed by the Government of India implementing the impugned recommendation of the Third Pay Commission dividing the Senior Draughtsmen into two categories with two different pay scales on the basis of seniority violates Article 14 of the Constitution and is struck down
Randhir Singh vs Union of India and Ors
  followed
In the instant case the group of Draughtsmen entitled to the higher scale of pay is not selected by any process nor is it based on any merit cum seniority basis but is based only on seniority cum fitness
Moreover the Senior Draughtsmen divided into two groups are in the same Department doing identical and same work
It is not a case of different grades created on the ground of higher qualification either academic or otherwise or an entitlement by any other criteria
Thus the classification between the two groups of Senior Draughtsmen is without any basis
In view of the total absence of any plea on the side of the respondents that the Senior Draughtsmen who are placed in the advantageous group do not perform work and duties more onerous or different from the works performed by the appellants group it will have to be held that this grouping violates Article 14 of the Constitution
107 E F Kishori Mohanlal Bakshi vs Union of India AIR 1962 SC 1139 State of Punjab vs Joginder Singh   Unikat Sankunni Menon vs State of Rajasthan AIR  State of Mysore and Anr
vs P Narsingh Rao   distinguished