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2006 Supreme(Cal) 436
High Court Of Calcutta
Debasish Kar Gupta
DIPANKAR MANNA - Appellant
Versus
BOARD OF COUNCILLORS, BHADRESWAR MUNICIPALITY - Respondent
W. P. 21124 Of 2000
Decided On : 07/20/2006
Daisy Basu, FAZLUL HAQUE, KAMALESH BHATTACHARJI, MILAN BHATTACHARJI
Employees of Municipalities cannot be treated at par with State Government employees in terms of pay scales and service conditions.
Headnote:
MEDICAL OFFICER (HOMOEO) - PAY SCALE - ENTITLEMENT - MUNICIPALITY EMPLOYEE - NOT PARALLEL TO STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES: HOWRAH MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ACT, 1980 - SECTIONS 13 (2), 15, 16 AND 53 (3).
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a Homoeopathic Medical Officer working under the Bhadreswar Municipality, challenged the order rejecting his claim for a higher pay scale at par with the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Health Department of the Government of West Bengal. The petitioner relied on a Government Order granting a higher scale of pay to the Homoeopathic Medical Officers working under the Health Department and the judgment of a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in M. A. T. No. 2315 of 1998, which directed the Howrah Municipal Corporation to grant a higher scale of pay to the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under it.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the petitioner's case was not covered by the judgment in M. A. T. No. 2315 of 1998 as the Pay Commission had not examined the case of the petitioner and there was no recommendation to give a higher scale of pay to him. The court also held that the petitioner, being an employee of the Municipality, could not claim the same status as that of a State employee and, therefore, the scale of pay enjoyed by the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Health Department of the Government of West Bengal could not be granted to him automatically.
Issues: 1. Whether the petitioner's case was covered by the judgment in M. A. T. No. 2315 of 1998, which directed the Howrah Municipal Corporation to grant a higher scale of pay to the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under it? 2. Whether the petitioner, being an employee of the Municipality, could claim the same status as that of a State employee and, therefore, the scale of pay enjoyed by the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Health Department of the Government of West Bengal could be granted to him automatically?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The judgment in M. A. T. No. 2315 of 1998 was specific to the case of the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Howrah Municipal Corporation and was based on the recommendations of the Pay Commission, which had examined their case. 2. The petitioner's case had not been examined by the Pay Commission and there was no recommendation to give him a higher scale of pay. 3. The petitioner was an employee of the Municipality and, therefore, could not claim the same status as that of a State employee.
Final Decision: The writ application was dismissed.
( 1 ) THIS writ application is filed by the petitioner challenging the order passed by the Chairman, Bhadreswar Municipality as communicated to him by letter dated September 4, 2000 in compliance of the order dated 6th September, 2000 passed in M. A. T. No. 1238 of 2000 by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this court.
( 2 ) THE fact of the case in a nut shell is that the petitioner is a medical graduate in Homoeopathy having been successful in the degree course and he was awarded the DMS Degree. As per letter of appointment dated 21 st January, 1986, the petitioner was appointed in the post of Medical Officer (Homoeo)attached to Rajkishan Charitable Dispensary under the Bhadreswar Municipality in the pay scale of Rs. 340-750/- with other admissible allowances. The petitioner made a representation dated 9th September, 1987 to the concerned respondent for proper fitment and/or upgradation in the scale of pay by removing discrimination like the other similarly placed candidates. The Municipality sent the above representation to the State Government for consideration on 30th october, 1987. As per communication dated 9th November, 1987 the respondent no. 2 informed the petitioner that the appointment of the petitioner was made in the post of "homoeopathic Doctor" as notified and not as "medical Officer (Homoeo)". The petitioner had challenged the decision of the respondents of changing his designation as "homoeopathic Doctor" by filing a writ petition and the same was dismissed. The scale of pay of the petitioner, Medical Officer (Homoeo) and Medical Officer (MBBS) at different times were follows: -
Petitioner Medical Officer (Homoeo ) Medical Officer (MBBS)
1981 340-750 500-1360 600-1600
1990 1140-2160 1640-3635 2200-4000
( 3 ) THE petitioner submitted a representation dated 28th March, 1988 to the Member Secretary, Pay Commission, Office of the 3rd Pay Commission, government of West Bengal for consideration of his grievance in respect of scale of pay as also for recommending his scale of pay at par with that of medical Officer (MBBS ). The petitioner did not receive any reply thereto. Thereafter, the petitioner made further representation dated 10th February, 1995 to the Municipal Authority for consideration of his grievance in respect of his scale of pay. The Municipal Authority sent his representation to the State government for consideration.
( 4 ) IN the mean time the State Government, on receipt of a large number of representations from the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of West bengal for upward revision of the pay scale of the post, referred the matter to the Pay Review Committee for examination. The Pay Review Committee submitted its recommendation to the State Government. After careful consideration of the recommendation of that Pay Review Committee, the Government of West Bengal as per Finance department's Notification No. 8933-F dated 23rd August, 1995 revised the scale of pay of the Homoeopathic Medical Officer working under the Health and Family welfare Department, Government of West Bengal possessing both BHMS (Decree) and DMS (Duration of four years) as Rs. 2,200-4,000/ -.
( 5 ) ACCORDING to the petitioner he was entitled to the above scale of pay of the Homoeopathic Medical Officer. The petitioner filed a writ application being c. O. No. 4034 (W) of 1995 for getting the benefit of the scale of pay of Rs. 2,200-4,000/- which was the scale of pay of the Medical Officer (Homoeo) working under the Department of Health, Government of West Bengal.
( 6 ) IN the mean time three Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the howrah Municipal Corporation filed a writ petition being C. O. No. 6537 (W) of 1991 (in re : Dr Basab Dutta and Ors. v. Howrah Municipal Corporation) for getting the benefit of the scale of pay of Rs. 2,200 - 4,000/- which was similar to that of the Medical Officers (Homoeo) working under the Health Department, gov
