The exclusion of GDMOs from the benefit of enhanced retirement age suffered from vice of hostile discrimination and was violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

A.K. SIKRI, J. :

1. All the petitioners in these petitions constitute one homogeneous group and raise common grievance. They were working as General Duty Medical Officers (GDMO) with the Director General, Central Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Their age of retirement was 60 years. In case of other three categories of doctors, namely, Teaching Specialists, Non-Teaching Specialists and Public Health Specialists, the Government (respondents) herein decided to enhance the age of superannuation to 62 years vide notification dated 16.11.2006. Since same benefit of increase in age was not extended to GDMOs, the respondents felt that they were discriminated against, as according to them, they broadly fall in the same group in which other three categories of doctors belong to inasmuch as, it is one service which is divided into four sub cadres and, therefore, the impugned action of the respondents suffered from vice of inequality and thus, violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. All these petitioners filed separate application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi. However, the Tribunal has not accepted their contention and all these applications are dismissed. The orders passed by the Tribunal are assailed in these petitions.

2. In view of commonality of the subject-matter as well as the legal principles involved, we heard all these petition together. Naturally, one common judgment would suffice to cover these writ petitions and we propose to proceed accordingly.

3. For the sake of brevity, facts of WP(C) No.460/2007 are taken note of. The Central Health Services (CHS) was constituted by the Government of India way back in the year 1960. It was declared a Class I Service in 1973. In 1982, this service was restructured by dividing into four categories, namely, General Duty Medical Officers, Teaching Specialists, Non-Teaching Specialists and Public Health Specialists. After initial recruitment into their respective cadres, there are separate channel of promotions up to Senior Administrative Grade (SAG level). Beyond that, for promotion to Higher Administrative Grade (HAG level) all the four cadres are treated as feeder cadres. Thus, the four tributaries merge at HAG level and thereafter flow in the same/common direction. The highest post in the CHS is that of Director General, which can be manned by any doctor belonging to these four categories.

4. The petitioner was appointed as GDMO on 24.3.1971. She was promoted as Senior Duty Medical Officer with effect from 25.11.1982 and then as CMO on 15.1.1989. Further promotion as Chief Medical Officer (NFSG) was accorded to her with effect from 1.1.1992. She was given SAG pay scale on 8.2.2005.

5. As mentioned above, as per the recruitment rules, the age of retirement for all the doctors belonging to the four cadres is 60 years. The Government of India felt concerned with high attrition rate of government doctors through voluntary retirement, resignation and foreign assignments. In order to diagnose the cause and to suggest the remedy/treatment for this aforesaid sickness, a High Power Committee was constituted. The purpose, thus, was to examine as to why an unusual number of government doctors were leaving their jobs to take employment in foreign countries/domestic private sector and to suggest measures to prevent abnormal attrition in government cadres. This High Power Expert Committee was headed by Sh.Javed A. Chawdhury, former Health Secretary, Government of India along with seven other members.

6. After an indepth analysis of the situation, the Committee submitted its report in May 2006. In its detailed report, various nuances and intricacies of the problem were discussed, including their causes and number of recommendations made. One of the recommendations was that the retirement age of CHS doctors be enhanced from 60 to 62 year