ivil Appeal No 1210 of 1984
From the Judgment and Order dated 2881980 of the Madras High Court in Appeal No 213 of 1978
K Ram kumar for the Appellant
R Mohan T Raja and R Nedumaran for the Respondent 891 The following Order of the Court was delivered Ten acres of land belonging to the appellant had been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act
The Land Acquisition Officer awarded compensation at the rate of one rupee one paise per sq
On a reference under section 18 of the Act the Court enhanced the rate of compensation to Rs 225 per sq
On appeal by the State the High Court by the impugned judgment reduced the compensation to Rs 200 per sq
The reason stated by the High Court for so reducing the rate of compensation was that the acquired area was a compact plot of 10 acres which was laid out as building sites with fully formed roads and drainage
The High Court held that since the roads and drainage occupied a part of the area acquired proportionate deduction in compensation ought to be made
Counsel for the appellant submits that what was acquired was a compact area of 10 acres
The fact that roads and drainage had been laid out does not reduce the value of the land acquired
In fact the appellant had incurred expenditure in preparing the land as building sites and the High Court ought to have accepted his contention that he was entitled to higher compensation
We see no reason why the High Court should have reduced the compensation awarded by the Reference Court on the ground that roads and drainage had been laid out
The fact that these improvements had been made on the land shows that what was acquired was more valuable than what it would have been without the improvements
The reason given by the High Court for reducing the compensation awarded by the Reference Court was wrong in principle
Accordingly we set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and restore that of the Reference Court
The appeal is allowed in the above terms
No Costs
RP Appeal allowed


Summary:
The New Delhi Municipal Committee by its resolution dated 1910
1973 extended the benefit of higher pay scales recommended in the Shiv Shankar Committee Report to its staff working in the electricity wing
Following this the employees working in the general wing of the NDMC also raised demand for granting them the benefit of those pay scales
In the meantime by its resolution dated 2761978 the NDMC constituted with effect from 151978 the electricity wing composed of 28 technical and 496 ministerial posts and decided to give all of them scales of pay as per SS Committee s Report
In the writ petitions filed in the High Court the ministerial staff failed to receive full relief
This Court in RD Gupta  Ors etc
vs Lt Governor Delhi Administration  Ors
  found that the entire ministerial staff in the NDMC constitutes a unified cadre
The ministerial posts in the general wing the electricity wing and the water works wing are interchan geable posts and postings are made from the common pool according to administrative convenience and exigencies of service and not on the basis of any distinct policy or special qualifications
It was thus held that all sections of the ministerial staff should be treated alike and all of them were entitled to the same scales of pay for the work of equal nature done by them
In order to extend the benefit of RD Gupta s case the NDMC by its order dated 961988 revised the pay scales of  18 categories of employees who constituted 496 posts forming the electricity cell
By another order 414 dated 2771988 the NDMC extended the benefit of SS Committee s scales to eight allied categories of sweepers subsequently all the drivers of the NDMC were extended benefit of RD Gupta s case
On the question whether the petitioners fall within the cadre of ministerial staff or fall in similar cadres which have already been granted the benefit of SS Committee s pay scales
Disposing of the writ petitions the Court HELD 1
There is no valid justification for discriminating the employees of the Auto Workshop which forms a part and parcel of the electricity wing of the NDMC since the benefit of the pay scales recommended by the SS Committee has been allowed by the NDMC to the 18 categories of employees which include daftry peon chowkidar sweeper etc
422D E 2
The NDMC having allowed the benefit of SS Committee s scales to rat catchers and dog catchers vide order dated 2771988 there is no valid justification for denying such benefit to duplicating machine operators and gunmendog shooters
There is no essential difference in the job work done by gunmendog shooters
The post of duplicating machine operators in transferable and interchangeable from other class IV employees of the NDMC who have already been granted benefit of SS Committee s pay scales vide order dated 961988
422E 3
Both the posts of Junior Technical Assistant Hindi and Assistant Store Keeper are such posts which clearly fall within the ministerial cadre
They are thus entitled to the benefit of SS Committee s scales
423B 4
The benefit of SS Committee s pay scales having already been extended to the pump drivers in the electricity wing there is no valid ground or justification to deny such benefit to the pump drivers working in the water supply horticulture and civil wings of NDMC
423C 5
The employees of Junior Navyug School run by NDMC fall in a different cadre altogether and as such cannot claim the benefit of SS Committee s pay scales on the basis of RD Gupta s judgment
Their posts are not interchangeable or transferable from any other post under the NDMC
The nature and the duties performed by them are totally different and they cannot be granted the benefit of the SS Committee s pay scales 415 on the basis of any equality with the other employees of NDMC who have been granted such benefit
423D E 6
The telephone operators working in the NDMC fall in a separate cadre and their posts are neither interchangeable nor transferable with the other members of the service in the NDMC
That apart the petitioners are trained Telephone Operators and Senior Telephone Operators and as such do not fall within the category of ministerial staff and are not entitled to the benefit of SS Committee s pay scales on the basis of RD Gupta s case
423F 7
The respondent Delhi Administration and NDMC are directed to take appropriate steps within three months and make payment of the entire arrears and grant future benefit in the pay scales as recommended by SS Committee
424B