ORDER :

1. Heard Mr. Indrajit Sinha and Mr. Gunendra Mohan Mishra, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mrs. M.M. Pal, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondents assisted by Ms. Aparajita Sinha, Advocate.

2. Respondent-SAIL in the Original Application decided by order dated 09.01.2019, by learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Patna Bench, Circuit Sitting at Ranchi (Annexure-1) has preferred these writ petitions being aggrieved by quashing of para-2(iv) of the notification dated 29.12.2015 issued by SAIL and the direction to make payment of additional fixed amount as mentioned in the said order dated 29.12.2015 to the affected employees from the respective dates on which the pay anomaly occurred. Rest of the conditions in the notification dated 29.12.2015 remained the same.

3. The undisputed facts of the parties are briefly stated hereinafter :

For convenience facts as are borne on record in W.P. (S) No. 2663 of 2019 are being referred to. Applicants joined Bokaro Steel Plant under SAIL between 1976-1994 in non-executive cadre. Wage revision was effected for both non-executive and executive cadre w.e.f. 01.01.2007. Some of the applicants were promoted to executive cadre notionally from 30.06.2008 (2008 batch), whereas the actual date of promotion was 27.03.2009. Other applicants were promoted to the executive cadre notionally from 30.06.2010 (2010 batch), whereas the actual date of promotion was 28.12.2010. Wage revision takes place for non-executive cadres every five years. The second wage revision became effective from 01.01.2012 pursuant to which the pay scale of non-executives became more than the pay scale of executives. The benefit of pay revision were granted from July, 2014. Wage revision of executive cadre is undertaken every 10 years. Therefore, wage revision of executive cadre was due since 01.01.2017. The memorandum of agreement arrived at between the management and workers on 01.07.2014 provided fitment benefits of 17% of basic pay + D.A. to only such workers/non-executives who were on rolls of the company as workers on 31.12.2011 and continued to be so as on 01.01.2012. Applicants who were promoted in 2008 and 2010 to executive cadre raised a pay anomaly grievance that they were drawing less salary (basic + D.A.) compared to non-executive employees junior to them. SAIL in order to address the above mentioned peculiar anomaly issued the letter dated 29.12.2015 granting the affected executive cadre employees additional amount (difference between the salary of executive and non-executive) effective prospectively from 01.01.2016. All the executives of 2008 and 2010 junior officer batch were promoted to the post of Assistant Managers (E2 Grade) from 31.12.2016.

4. In this factual background, applicants approached the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Kolkata, seeking quashing of the orders dated 29.12.2015 and 30.07.2016 vide O.A. No. 350 of 2017 and other analogous original applications on 06.04.2017. By order dated 04.01.2018, learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Kolkata directed the applicant to approach the CAT, Ranchi as their cause of action fell within the jurisdiction of learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Ranchi. After considering the rival submissions of the parties and pleadings on record, learned Central Administrative Tribunal held as under: -

“4. On the issue of jurisdiction, we observe that this case was first filed before CAT, Calcutta Bench on 06.04.2017 and as per that bench’s order dated 04.01.2018, it was ordered to be filed before Ranchi Circuit Bench. Since the place of working of the applicants is within the jurisdiction of the Ranchi Circuit Bench, we conclude that we have the jurisdiction to decide this matter. On the issue of limitation, it is clear that the impugned order is dated 29.12.2015 and the applicants have agitated this matter before the Calcutta Bench of CAT since 06.04.2017. Since the non-payment of compensatory additional amount did result in a c