Entitlement to financial benefit of one upward movement and grant of arrears of pay should be in parity with similar cases, and the date of entitlement should be in line with the implementation of the upward movement scheme.

HIMA KOHLI, J.

( 1 ) THE present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking inter alia directions to the respondents to grant the petitioner one upward movement after completion of eight years of service from 17th November, 1986 in the pay scale of Rs. 1400-2,300 along with consequential benefits and arrears. The brief facts of the case relevant for deciding the present petition are that the petitioner was appointed as Security Assistant in the pay scale of rs. 260-400 (revised to Rs. 950-1500) on 17th November, 1978. Vide order dated 27th December, 1985, the UGC permitted grant of one time upward movement to such employees who had rendered eight years of service on a pay scale or have been stagnating in the same. However, the upward movement was not permitted to be granted to any employee who had already been given the benefit of rationalization of pay scale.

( 2 ) ON 12th February, 1986, the Cadre Review Committee (for short 'the CRC') constituted by respondent No. 1/university (hereinafter referred to as 'the University'), recommended rationalization of pay scales of Security assistant, as also many other cadres, as a result of which the petitioner was placed in the rationalized pay scale of Rs. 330-550 (revised Rs. 1200-2040 ). In its meeting held on 18th July, 1994, the CRC recommended that the Security assistants may be granted benefit of one upward movement and that they may be placed in the higher pay scale of Security Inspector in the pay scale of rs. 1400-2300 on completion of eight years of combined service in the pay scale of Rs. 950-1500 and Rs. 1200-2040. Vide Resolution dated 27th September, 1995 passed by the Executive Council of the University approval was granted to the recommendations of the CRC to place the Security Assistants in the scale of rs. 1400-2300 on completion of eight years of combined service in the scale of rs. 950-1500 and Rs. 1200-2040. While accepting the said recommendations of the crc, the Executive Council took note of the fact that the CRC had recommended that in the case of the Library Attendants, who were in a similar pay scale, it had already been decided to grant them upward movement to the next promotion post pay scale of Rs. 1400-2300. In the said Resolution, it was clarified that the upward movement in the pay scale of Rs. 1400-2300 was recommended by the CRC in respect to Security Assistants as personal relief to them. However, the said financial benefit was held to be effective from the date of approval of the executive Council, i. e. 27th September, 1995.

( 3 ) PURSUANT to the aforementioned Resolution of the Executive council, the University issued a Notification dated 6th January, 1997 for grant of one upward movement in the scale of Rs. 1400-2300 to the Library Attendants by clubbing the scale of Rs. 825-200 and Rs. 950-1400. At the same time, vide office Order dated 5th February, 1997, the University granted one upward movement in the scale of the Library Attendants with effect from the date of their eligibility and issued pay fixation orders in the scale of Rs. 1400-2300.

( 4 ) AGGRIEVED by the aforementioned action of the University in restricting the grant of arrears of pay fixation in respect to the petitioner with effect from the date of approval of the Executive Council from 27th september, 1995 as against the Library Attendants who were granted one upward movement in the pay scale of Rs. 1400-2300 with effect from the date of their eligibility after combining the service in the pay scale of Rs. 825-1200 and rs. 950-1200, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition.

( 5 ) COUNSEL for the petitioner submitted that the aforesaid action of the University is violative of the Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of india inasmuch as the petitioner has been discriminated against in grant of arrears to them as compared to the Library Attendants who are also similarly placed and have also been granted the same pay scale on the same basis. It was furt