If a person is asked to discharge all the duties of a higher post, he is entitled to the pay scale of that higher post.

Sudershan Kumar Misra, J.

1. This writ petition impugns the decision rendered by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal bench, New Delhi, on 31st March, 2004 in OA No.1800/2003. By that decision, the Original Application of the petitioner was dismissed after concluding that the petitioner is not entitled to the monetary benefits of the post of Director (F & VP) in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

2. In short, the petitioner’s case is that to deny him the monetary benefits of the post of Director (F & VP); while continuously taking the full work of that post from him right from 25.1.1991 till his retirement nearly 16½ years later, on 31.3.2007, under the garb of a, “current charge”, and that too after bestowing full powers of that post, including that of a Licensing Officer, on him, is, under the circumstances, not sustainable in law.

3. In the year 1980, the petitioner was directly recruited as Joint Director (Consultancy Services), in the Directorate of Food and Vegetable Products. This post was later re-designated as Joint Director (F&VP). At the relevant time, when the question of promotion of the petitioner to the post of Director (F&VP) arose; recruitment to that post was governed by the Food and Nutrition Board (Non-Secretariat Gazetted Post) Recruitment Rules, 1967. Admittedly these rules did not envisage promotion to the next post of Director (F&VP) from the post of Joint Director, which was held by the petitioner, because the feeder grades prescribed for that post were only the posts of Deputy Director (F&VP) and Senior Marketing Officer (Fruit Products).

4. Later on, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries was set up; and the Directorate of Food and Vegetable Products, where the petitioner was employed, along with the post of Director (F&VP), was transferred to that Ministry. Since the extant Rules did not envisage the post of Joint Director (F&VP) as one of the feeder grades for filling the next post in the hierarchy, which was of Director (F&VP); the petitioner represented that the Recruitment Rules be amended to bring him within the zone of eligibility for promotion to the said post of Director (F&VP). That representation was rejected by the Government on 6th January, 1986. Aggrieved, the petitioner filed O.A. No. 13/86 before the Tribunal for a direction to the Government to appropriately amend the recruitment rules. The said O.A. was dismissed on 9th April, 1987, on the ground that the Tribunal would not like to interfere in the amendment of the Recruitment Rules. The petitioner appealed to Supreme Court, but later on he withdrew that appeal.

5. On 31st December, 1990, the post of Director (F&VP) fell vacant. As already noticed, recruitment to this post is governed by the Food and Nutrition Board (Non Secretariat Gazetted Post) Recruitment Rules, 1967. Admittedly, the rules provide for promotion as the first method only from the grades of Senior Marketing Officer (Fruit Products) and Deputy Director (F&VP), with five years regular service in the respective grade. No officer from these two grades had the requisite length of service to be eligible for promotion.

6. Consequently, although the petitioner was also not eligible for promotion to that post because he did not hold either of the two feeder posts prescribed by the rules as aforesaid; a notification was issued by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries on the 25th January, 1991, giving the petitioner the current charge of the duties of the post of Director (F&VP). By the same notification, the petitioner was also appointed as the Licensing Officer under the Fruit Products Order, 1955. The said notification of 25th January, 1991, reads as follows:

“The President is pleased to appoint Shri R.K. Bansal Joint Director (Consultancy) in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to hold the current charge of the duties of the post of Director (F&VP) in addition to his own duties as Joint Director (Consultancy) in the Ministry of Food P