1. There appears, on the face of it, to be so much vacillation, in the stance of the petitioner in the present case from time to time, that it would probably be best to “start at the beginning, and, when we come to the end, stop” – to borrow the timely advice of the Mad Hatter to Alice.

The Facts

2. This writ petition is directed against an Award, dated 27th June 2003, of the learned Industrial Tribunal, Karkardooma (hereinafter referred to as “the learned Tribunal”). Inasmuch as the other applicants, before the learned Tribunal, have not chosen to challenge the impugned Award, the recital of facts hereinafter, shall be limited to the case of the petitioner. The petitioner was one of four Draftsmen, employed by the respondent-Corporation, who initialized the industrial dispute wherefrom the present proceedings emanate. There is, however, considerable road to be covered, before we reach the stage of such initialization.

3. The story, in a way, starts with the agitation, by Draftsmen, in the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), for enhancement/upward revision in the scales of pay being drawn by them. The matter was referred, by the Ministry of Labour, to a 3-member Board of Arbitration (hereinafter referred to as “the Arbitral Board”), headed by a learned retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Hon’ble Jaswant Singh, J. It is not necessary to allude to the details of the Award, dated 20th June 1980 (hereinafter referred to as “the Arbitral Award”), which came to be delivered by the Arbitral Board; suffice it to state that the operative portion, thereof, read thus:

“Having given its careful consideration to the whole of the material on the record and having examined the merits of the case presented both by the Official and Staff Sites, in the light of the entire material and the arguments advanced by the aforesaid representatives of both sides and having taken into account all other relevant factors, including the special features of the case, the Board gives the following Award:-

1. The Three categories of Draftsmen, viz. Grade III, Grade II and Grade I shall be inducted in the Payscales showed hereunder against each of the aforesaid categories:-

Draftsmen Grade III	Rs. 330-560
Draftsmen Grade II	Rs. 425-700
Draftsmen Grade I	Rs. 550-750

2. The above-mentioned categories of Draftsmen shall be fixed notionally in their respective scales of pay as aforesaid from 1.1.1973 in accordance with the recommendations of the 3rd A Commission in respect of weightage and fitment. But for computation of arrears, the date of reckoning shall be the date of recording of disagreement in the Departmental Council viz. 29.7.1977.

3. The arrears of pay which shall be worked out in accordance with the above-mentioned formula shall be paid to the affected employees within 3 months from the date of the receipt of the Award by the Ministry of Labour.”

It is essential, here, to note that, in the CPWD, there were three grades of Draftsman, i.e. Draftsman Grade III, II and I, who possessed the respective qualifications/experience of matriculation with 1 year’s experience, matriculation with 2 years-diploma in draftsmanship and matriculation with 3-year diploma in Engineering. The position may be depicted in a tabulated manner, as under:-

Post	Qualification	Scale as on date of Arbitral Award	Recommended revised scale as per Award
Draftsman Grade III	Matriculation with 1 year’s experience	260-430	330-560
Draftsman Grade II	Matriculation with 2 year-diploma in draftsmanship	330-560	425-700
Draftsman Grade I	Matriculation with 3-year diploma in Engineering	425-700	550-750

As is clear from the operative portion of the Arbitral Award as reproduced hereinabove, the aforementioned scales were directed to be notionally granted wit