IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment establishes that the principle of 'equal pay for equal work' must consider the nature of work, duties, and responsibilities, and that the determination of pay scales falls within the exclusive domain of the Executive, not the Judiciary.

JUDGMENT

V. Kameswar Rao, J.

CM APPL. 12659/2023 (by petitioners under Section 151 CPC seeking permission to file additional documents)

For the reasons stated in the application, the same is allowed and petitioners are permitted to file additional documents. Application is disposed of.

W.P.(C) 99/2016

1. The challenge in this petition is to an order dated October 12, 2015 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi (`Tribunal', for short) in the Original Application being OA No. 726/2013, whereby the Tribunal has dismissed the OA filed by the petitioners herein by stating in paragraphs 26 to 35 as under:

"26. Heard. The learned counsel for both the sides argued more or less in accordance with their pleadings on record, as have been discussed by us in great detail above. No fresh argument beyond the pleadings as already filed and noted by us above was advanced during the course of hearing before us.

27. The learned counsel for the applicants emphasized upon the historical parity having been maintained between the Delhi Police and CPMFs, all of whom come under the MHA while the learned counsel for the respondents had pointed out that the Delhi Police from the level of Constable (Exe) up to the level of Inspector comes under the control of Delhi Government, and it is only the higher posts that come under the control of the MHA-Govt. of India. However, that is not the issue before us.

28. In accordance with the recommendations of the VI CPC, skill upgradation Training Programmes in respect of Group-D employees were imparted in all Departments and Ministries of the Govt. of India, and they were all then placed thereafter in Group-C level posts as MTS, which was a new cadre created, separate from all the other cadres existing at Group-C level till then, after total abolition of Group-D posts. Here, the crux of the matter lies in as to whether the level of Training imparted to the erstwhile Group-D employees of Delhi Police, upgraded to MTS in Group-C posts, is the same so as to qualify to treat them as Combatised, as in the case of "Followers" in CPMFs.

29. Nowhere in their OA, or in the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicants, any averment has been made that they have been made to undergo the full rigorous training of the type of Training imparted to the new recruits as Constable (Exe) in Delhi Police. Also, no other Training, with or without any relaxation, has been claimed. The only claim of the applicants is that as different from their earlier tasks, some night duties had been assigned to them during the Training period, while skill upgradation Training was being imparted to them. It is, therefore, clear that the level of Training imparted to the erstwhile Group-D staff of Delhi Police, in the category of the applicants before us, and other similarly placed persons, was different, and they had not been given full Training in use of Arms and Ammunitions, and in duties related to the maintenance of law and order, and knowledge of laws, as is required as part of the compulsory Training imparted to the Constable (Exe) of Delhi Police.

30. The situation has been entirely different in the case of CPMFs. The CPMFs have adopted the Army pattern of having every single individual, even those holding tasks not directly related to the combat operations on a daily basis, being trained and prepared to indulge in combat, to such a level that in case of need they even stand shoulder to shoulder with their counter-parts, who do not perform such other functions. In the case of the Army, a Company Quarter Master Late Hawaldar Abdul Hamid could indulge in fighting and he destroyed enemy tanks, and was awarded a Paramvir Chakra, even though fighting in the battle field was not a part of the normal duty of Company Quarter Master.

31. The nature of Combatisation of the "Followers" in CPMFs has also been such that even while they continue to perform their usual functions as "Followers" also, but they have been imp