C.M. No. 2077 of 2010 & LPA No. 713 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.M. No. 2077 of 2010 & LPA No. 713 of 2010 Date of decision:- 28.09.2010 The Punjab State Electricity Board through its Secretary and another. ......Appellants Vs Thana Singh and others ......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: - Mr. J.P.S. Sandhu, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Sudhir Nar, Advocate, for respondents No. 1, 3 to 9. * * * * RANJAN GOGOI, J (ORAL) C.M. No. 2077 of 2010 After hearing the learned Counsel for the parties delay of 100 days in filing the appeal is condoned. LPA No. 713 of 2010 Heard. This appeal is directed against the order dated 21.01.2010, passed by the learned Single Judge of this Court granting a part of relief claimed in the writ petition filed by respondents No. 2 to 10. The relief granted by the learned Single Judge was to the effect that the C.M. No. 2077 of 2010 & LPA No. 713 of 2010 2 respondents/writ petitioners who were working as Sub Fire Officers be granted the enhanced pay scale of Rs. 1800-3200 with effect from such date when the said pay scale was effective alongwith interest thereon. The incumbents in the post of Sub Fire Officers alongwith Head Clerks, Head Clerk-cum-Divisional Accountants and Internal Auditors were included in Group XII posts under the appellant/Board. The pay scale of the posts of Sub Fire Officers alongwith the other posts continued to remain the same even after revision w.e.f. 01.01.1980 and 01.01.1986. However, it appears that at some point of time while the pay scale of other group posts was revised to 1800- 3200, the scale of Sub Fire Officers continued to remain at Rs. 1640- 2925. The learned Single Judge recorded a finding that the stand of the Board as available in the reply filed in the writ proceeding did not indicate any basis for denial of the higher pay scale to Sub Fire Officers while granting the same to the other categories of posts included in Group XII. In the absence of any discernible basis for the refusal of the higher pay scale to Sub Fire Officers, the learned Single Judge took the view that the actions of the Board in denying the same to the respondents/writ petitioners amounted to hostile discrimination which is prohibited by Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Even before us no tangible basis have been disclosed for the impugned action of treating the incumbents in posts included in Group XII differently. That apart, from the recommendation of the Superintending Engineer, Thermal, O.P. Circle, GNDTP, Bhatinda C.M. No. 2077 of 2010 & LPA No. 713 of 2010 3 (Annexure P2), it appears that according to the said authority the Sub Fire Officers who constitute a very small cadre with limited chances of promotion deserved the same scale as allowed to the other incumbents in Group XII. Taking into account all the aforesaid facts and particularly the absence of any discernible basis for treating the respondents/writ petitioners differently in the matter of grant of higher pay scale, we are of the view that no interference with the order of the learned Single Judge is called for. We, therefore, refuse to entertain this appeal any further. Letters Patent Appeal is accordingly dismissed. (RANJAN GOGOI) JUDGE (RAJAN GUPTA) 28.09.2010 JUDGE Amodh