The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of delay and laches, the concept of continuing wrong, and the interpretation of the Limitation Act in employee pay-scale disputes.

JUDGMENT :

Sanjiv Khanna, J.

Leave granted.

2. This common judgment decides the afore-stated appeals filed by the employees of the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation,¹[Hereinafter the ‘respondent-Corporation’.] who have challenged the judgment dated 13th June 2019 of the Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad, whereby the appeal filed by the respondent-Corporation was partially allowed, in view of delay and laches on the part of the appellants in approaching the court, by restricting the grant of higher pay-scale of Rs.5,000-8,000/-,²[Revised to 9,300-34,800 in terms of the 6th Pay Commission] with consequential benefits from the date of the judgment of the Single Judge on 31st July 2018. Prayer of the appellants for recovery of arrears from 2010 was declined. The respondent-Corporation, it has been held, would not be required to refund any amount that they have recovered from the appellants pursuant to the order dated 28th October 2010.

3. The appellants, who were initially appointed to the post of ‘Junior Clerk’ on an ad hoc basis, were made permanent on the post of ‘Data Entry Operator’ in the Computer Department of the respondent-Corporation in the pay-scale of Rs.4,000-6,000/-on different dates.

4. On 19th February 2007, the respondent-Corporation, vide order no. Mahekam/1/223, adopted and implemented in a modified form the Scheme of the Government of Gujarat,³[Scheme of Higher Grade Scale dated 16th August 1994 (Government resolution No. PAY-1194/(44)/M), hereinafter referred to as the ‘Scheme’] to, inter alia, deal with the problem of ... ‘absence or restricted chances of promotion to the Government employees’. The Scheme, inter alia, envisaged grant of pay-scale of the next promotional post on completion of 9, 18 or 27 years of service. The Scheme had also stipulated that in case of ‘employees on posts having more than one promotional post in different scales of pay, their pay of Higher Grade Scale shall be considered the pay of the pay-scale of the lowest of the promotional posts’.

5. The appellants were granted the higher pay-scale of the next promotional post of Rs.5,000-8,000/- from different dates upon furnishing undertakings in favour of the respondent-Corporation. One of the clauses in the undertaking stipulated that the appellants shall give up the benefit made available under the Scheme in case of denial of regular promotion accessible to the employee. In such a scenario, the employee shall accept the original downgraded pay and salary in the original pay-scale. Further, the appellants had agreed that the arrears were payable to them only from 1st January 2006.

6. However, pursuant to the order dated 28th October 2010, the benefit provided under the Scheme was revised by the respondent-Corporation observing that the appellants and others employees were erroneously granted benefit of the higher grade pay-scale of the next promotional post instead of the next stage in the hierarchy of pay-scales, that is, the first higher pay-scale. Consequently, the employees who were in the pay-scale of Rs.4,000-6,000/- had been wrongly granted the higher pay-scale of Rs.5,000-9,000/-, in accordance with the pay-scale of the next promotional post, instead of the pay-scale of Rs.4,500-7,000/-, the next stage in the hierarchy of pay-scales. The order dated 28th October 2010 states that the anomaly had arisen as the respondent-Corporation had not appropriately fixed the pay-scales and thereby, excessive and unintended benefits had been given to the employees. As a result, the respondent-Corporation had to bear improper and excessive financial burden of the higher pay-scales. Pursuant to the order, the pay-scales of the appellants were appropriately revised to the first higher pay scale and the excess payments made were recovered from the appellants.

7. After nearly seven years, in September 2017, the appellants filed Writ Petitions before the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad challenging the order dated 28th October 2010