IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.SIRI JAGAN WEDNESDAY, THE 19TH AUGUST 2009 / 28TH SRAVANA 1931 WP(C).No. 28651 of 2008(J) --------------------------------------- PETITIONERS : ------------------------ 1. I.K.GOPALAKRISHNAN, S/O.SRI.KUNHIKUTTAN, IKKAERAN HOUSE, PO.BLANGAD, CHAVAKKAD, THRISSUR, (EX.F.O. CHIEF ENGINEER(CR) OFFICE, KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, KOCHI) 2. V.A.VIJAYAN, S/O.V.A.ACHUTHAN, VACHAKKAL HOUSE, CHOTTANIKKARA PO ERNAKULAM, (EX.A.O.(GRADE-I), CHIEF ENGINEER (CR) OFFICE, KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, KOCHI. 3. V.M.AISHA, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER (GRADE-I), O/O.CHIEF ENGINEER(CR) KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, KOCHI. BY ADV. SRI.M.R.GOPALAKRISHNAN NAIR SMT.I.VINAYAKUMARI RESPONDENTS: ---------------------------- 1. STATE OF KERALA, REP.BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. 2. KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, REP. BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR, JALA BHAVAN, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. BY SRI. MANOJ KUMAR, SPL. GOVERNMENT PLEADER(FINANCE) SRI. C. UNN IKRISHNAN THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 19/08/2009, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C).No. 28651 of 2008(J) APPENDIX PETITIONERS' EXHIBITS: EXHIBIT P1: THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.KWA/JB/E2-1800/97 DATED 25/08/2005 ISSUED BY THE CHIEF ENGINEER (HRD & GL). EXHIBIT P2: THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.KWA/JB/E2/1800/97 DATED 27/4/2004 ISSUED BY THE SECOND RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT P3: THE TRUE COPY OF THE CIRCULAR NO. KWA/JB/SY. CELL-3432/2005 DATED 3/11/2006. EXHIBIT P4: THE TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 25/01/2008 IN W.P.(C). NO.2993/2008 OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT. EXHIBIT P5: THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.KWA/JB/E2/1800/97 DATED 20/5/2008 ISSUED BY THE SECOND RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT P6: THE TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 8/7/2008 IN WP(C) NO.20522/2008 OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT. EXHIBIT P7: THE TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 16/7/2008 OF THE PETITIONERS. EXHIBIT P8: THE TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER NO.KWA/JB/E2/1800/97 DATED 22/8/2008 OF THE SECOND RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT P9: THE TRUE COPY OF THE G.O(P) NO.968/87/FIN. DATED 17/11/1987. /TRUE COPY/ P.A. TO JUDGE rhs S. SIRI JAGAN, J ............................................... W.P(C) No. 28651 of 2008 ................................................. Dated this the 19th day of August, 2009 J U D G M E N T Petitioners 1 and 2 retired as Finance Officers and the 3rd petitioner is working as Administrative Officer in the services of the Kerala Water Authority. Originally they were Senior Superintendents. They were promoted as Accounts Officers Grade II. The post of Senior Superintendent is the feeder category to the post of Accounts Officer Grade II. The Government sanctioned a higher grade for Senior Superintendents with effect from 1.11.1998. But that higher grade was limited only to 20% of the total cadre strength, which is 3, since the cadre strength was 16. Petitioners did not come within the 20% before they were promoted to Accounts Officer Grade II. Therefore they got promotion as Accounts Officer Grade II, without a fixation in the scale of pay applicable to Senior Superintendents (Higher Grade). Subsequently, persons who got the fixation as a Senior Superintendent (Higher Grade), who were juniors to the petitioners got promotion as Accounts W.P(C) No. 28651 of 2008 -2- Officer Grade II. In that post, although those persons were juniors to the petitioners, those juniors were drawing higher pay than the petitioners on account of fixation under Section 28A, since they got a benefit of the scale of pay of Senior Superintendents (Higher Grade) in between, which the petitioners had not. Therefore petitioners requested for stepping up of their pay on par with the pay drawn by their juniors in the post of Accounts Officer Grade II. However, by Ext.P8 order, the same was rejected on the following reasons: “Government vide letter No. 21233/02/07 WRD dated, 04.07.2008 has clarified that since the eligibility for promotion to the post of Accounts Officer II is based on the possession of the additional qualification of Account Test (H) it can not be treated as a promotion post in the regular line of promotion of the post of Senior Superintendent/Revenue Officer and so it is not necessary that the promotion to posts of Accounts Officer-II should be routed through the post of Senior Superintendent (HG). Therefore neither step up of pay of the seniors to the level of juniors nor notional fixation under GO(P) 968/87/Fin. dated, 17.11.1987 is admissible in such cases.” 2. Petitioners submits that in the case of another person similarly situated like the petitioners, the water authority themselves had passed Ext.P5 order, giving the benefit of such fixation to one KS Reghunathan Nair and therefore there is no logic in denying the same to the petitioner. W.P(C) No. 28651 of 2008 -3- 3. I have considered the rival contentions in detail. 4. It cannot be denied that there is a serious anomaly in the matter. Petitioners got themselves promoted as Accounts Officer Grade II before they could get the benefit of the higher grade scale of pay applicable to Senior Superintendents, since they were not sufficient to posts in the grade of Senior Superintendent (Higher Grade). Therefore when subsequently those who have got fixation as Senior Superintendent (Higher Grade) who were junior to the petitioners, were promoted as Accounts Officer Grade II, naturally those juniors would be drawing more pay than the petitioners. That anomaly has to be certainly remedied. For this either there should be a notional fixation of the petitioners' pay in the higher grade scale of pay of Senior Superintendent another fixation in the scale of pay, applicable to Accounts Officer Grade II or to step up the pay of the petitioners on par with their juniors. I am of opinion that in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioners should be given the benefit of stepping up of pay on par with that of their juniors, as provide in Rule 28A of the KSR to avoid anomaly. Accordingly Ext.P8 is quashed and the 2nd respondent W.P(C) No. 28651 of 2008 -4- is directed to give the petitioners the benefit of stepping up of pay on par with all their juniors in the post of Accounts Officer Grade II. Their pay in the subsequent posts also shall be correspondingly revised and fixed. Orders in this regard shall be issued and arrears of pay disbursed to the petitioners, as expeditiously as possible, at any rate, within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. S. SIRI JAGAN, JUDGE rhs