Case: THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH &amp; ORS Vs. VIJAY SHANKAR DUBEY

to how the cut off date was fixed as 01.04.2001 is unsustainable. The Report of anomaly of the Committee with regard to different Departments recommending different pay scales is based on pay structure of different Departments and merely because employees of wireless department has been given higher scale with effect from 01.01.1996 that cannot be the ground to declare the date, 01.04.2001 fixed for implementation of the amendment of pay scale of the Joint Director, Prosecution illegal. We find substance in the submission of the learned counsel for the appellants that amendment in the pay scale of Joint Director, Prosecution was recommended by the Committee of the Chief Secretary on the analogy of the CBI organisation of the Center. Thus, the benefit of upgradation of pay scale as per pay scale in CBI organisations was accepted for the first time. The representation of Prosecution Wing was accepted by the Committee of the Chief Secretary agreeing to extend the benefits of the CBI organisation of the Center. When the amendment in the pay scale is being affected, we do not find any arbitrariness in fixing uniform date, 01.04.2001. The submission of Shri Misra that amendment of the pay scale ought to relate back from 01.01.1996 which was the date fixed by the Fifth Pay Commission cannot be accepted in the facts of the present case. 17. Shri Misra has also placed reliance on the judgment of this Court in Purshottam Lal and others vs. Union of India and another, (1973) 1 SCC 651. In the above case, the petitioners were employed with the Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun which was a department of the Government of India, Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The Second Pay Commission submitted its report and made recommendations with regard to Scientific Staff. The revision of the pay scale of the Scientific Staff in the Forest Research Institute was with effect from 21.06.1962 whereas recommendation of Second Pay Commission was accepted by the Government with effect from July 1, 1959 with regard to similar sister Institutions. The said Scientific Staff of Forest Research Institute protested and submitted representation and thereafter filed the writ petition under Article 32 in this Court. Before this Court arguments were raised on behalf of the Government that Second Pay Commission did not deal with the case of the petitioners and they were not entitled for the benefit with effect from July 1, 1959 which submission was not accepted. In paragraphs 14,15 and 17 this Court laid down following: 14. Mr Dhebar on behalf of the Government maintains the same position and he says that the Pay Commission Report did not deal with the case of the petitioners. We are unable to accept this contention. The terms of reference are wide, and if any category of government servants was excluded material should have been placed before this Court. The Pay Commission has clearly stated that for the purposes of their enquiry they had taken all persons in the Civil Services of the Central Government or holding civil posts under that Government and paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India, to be Central Government employees. It is not denied by Mr Dhebar that the petitioners are paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India. 15. Mr Dhebar contends that it was for the Government to accept the recommendations of the Pay Commission and while doing so to determine which categories of employees should be taken to have been included in the terms of reference. We are unable to appreciate this point. Either the Government has made reference in respect of all government employees or it has not. But if it has made a reference in respect of all government employees and it accepts the recommendations it is bound to implement the recommendations in respect of all government employees. If it does not implement the report regarding some employees only it commits a breach of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. This is what the Government has done as far as these petitioners are concerned. 17. In the result the petition is allowed and it is directed that the revised pay- scales of the petitioners will have effect from July 1, 1959, in accordance with the recommendations of the Pay Commission. We further direct that the petitioners should be paid the amount payable to them as a consequence of the revision of the pay-scales with effect from July 1959. The petitioners will have the costs of this petition. 18. In the above case, this Court has considered a case which was also covered by the Second Pay Commission but benefits were not extended whereas benefits to the similar sister Institutions were extended. This Court, thus, allowed the writ petition and directed the benefit to writ petitioners also with effect from July 1, 1959. The above case has no bearing on the facts of the present case. The sequences and events in the present as noted above are based on different set of facts and the above judgment does not help the respondent in the present case. 19. We, thus, are of the view that the cut off date, 01.04.2001 for amendment of pay scale of the post of Joint Director, Prosecution on the basis of the recommendation of the Committee of the Chief Secretary was a conscious decision, the amendment in the pay scale was made following the analogy in the CBI organisation of the Center. When a benefit for the first time is extended to a category of employees, the State can always fix a rational cut off date and it was not obligatory for the State to extend the benefit of analogy of the CBI organisation of the Center with effect from 01.01.1996 which was the date of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. The respondent being not covered by the Government order dated 02.02.2007 was rightly informed that he was not entitled for the benefit of amendment in the pay scale he having already retired on 31.01.1997.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]11. Between the parties there is no dispute that Fifth Pay Commission revised pay scale of Joint Director, Prosecution from Rs.3700-5000 to Rs.12000-16500. The respondent was extended the benefit of Fifth Pay Commission Report from 01.01.1996 and his pension was thus revised accordingly. The State Government accepted the recommendations of Fifth Pay Commission vide Government order dated 23.12.1997 and decided to revise the pay scale from 01.01.1996. Several objections and representations were submitted by several Departments including Officers working in the Directorate of Prosecution13. A perusal of the above enclosure indicates that pay scales of all the officers of Prosecution Department were not amended, amendments were made only for the Senior Prosecution Officer (Senior Scale)/Deputy Director Prosecution and Joint Director (Law)/Joint Director (Prosecution) with effect from 01.04.2001 as mentioned in column No.416. The High Court in the impugned judgment relying on two earlier judgments of the High Court, in Ghanshyam Singh and Anand Kumar Mishra and others, held that the case of the respondent is covered by the said judgments, hence, the writ petition is to be allowed. The High Court had not opined as to how the cut off date was fixed as 01.04.2001 is unsustainable. The Report of anomaly of the Committee with regard to different Departments recommending different pay scales is based on pay structure of different Departments and merely because employees of wireless department has been given higher scale with effect from 01.01.1996 that cannot be the ground to declare the date, 01.04.2001 fixed for implementation of the amendment of pay scale of the Joint Director, Prosecution illegal. We find substance in the submission of the learned counsel for the appellants that amendment in the pay scale of Joint Director, Prosecution was recommended by the Committee of the Chief Secretary on the analogy of the CBI organisation of the Center. Thus, the benefit of upgradation of pay scale as per pay scale in CBI organisations was accepted for the first time. The representation of Prosecution Wing was accepted by the Committee of the Chief Secretary agreeing to extend the benefits of the CBI organisation of the Center. When the amendment in the pay scale is being affected, we do not find any arbitrariness in fixing uniform date, 01.04.2001. The submission of Shri Misra that amendment of the pay scale ought to relate back from 01.01.1996 which was the date fixed by the Fifth Pay Commission cannot be accepted in the facts of the present case18. In the above case, this Court has considered a case which was also covered by the Second Pay Commission but benefits were not extended whereas benefits to the similar sister Institutions were extended. This Court, thus, allowed the writ petition and directed the benefit to writ petitioners also with effect from July 1, 1959. The above case has no bearing on the facts of the present case. The sequences and events in the present as noted above are based on different set of facts and the above judgment does not help the respondent in the present case19. We, thus, are of the view that the cut off date, 01.04.2001 for amendment of pay scale of the post of Joint Director, Prosecution on the basis of the recommendation of the Committee of the Chief Secretary was a conscious decision, the amendment in the pay scale was made following the analogy in the CBI organisation of the Center. When a benefit for the first time is extended to a category of employees, the State can always fix a rational cut off date and it was not obligatory for the State to extend the benefit of analogy of the CBI organisation of the Center with effect from 01.01.1996 which was the date of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. The respondent being not covered by the Government order dated 02.02.2007 was rightly informed that he was not entitled for the benefit of amendment in the pay scale he having already retired on 31.01.1997.