Review petitions granted for employees in Cooperative Sugar Mills seeking pay parity; prior court ruling was assumed to apply universally despite selective challenges, resulting in review for misapplication of earlier judgments.

(ANITA SUMANTH, J.)

This is a batch of 35 Review Applications. The petitioners have sought a review of an order passed by the Division Bench dated 02.12.2010 in a batch of Writ Petitions.

2. Mrs.Hema Sampath, learned Senior Counsel appearing for Mrs.Meenal, learned counsel for the petitioners makes the following submissions:

i) The petitioners, employees in various Cooperative Sugar Mills had, along with other identically/similarly placed colleagues, sought parity in pay based on a Common Cadre System that had been introduced in the Sugar Mills for the posts above Supervisory C –category.

ii) The Common Cadre System (CCS) had been introduced in 1984 and abolished in 1997.

iii) An Industrial Dispute was filed by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Public Sector Sugar Mills Staff Peravai (in short ‘Peravai’) seeking parity of pay with erstwhile common cadre employees with effect from 01.01.1990.

iv) According to the petitioners, they were members of the unions that were members in the Peravai.

v) The first Writ Petition filed was W.P.No.15192 of 2000, where the Writ Petitioner was one Chandra, a Supervisor in the C category in Dharmapuri District Cooperative Sugar Mills. She sought a mandamus seeking revision and re-fixation of scale of pay on par with the other C category Supervisors, with effect from 01.01.1990 when it had been implemented for that category.

vi) The Industrial Dispute filed by the Peravai in I.D.No.48 of 2000 was decided and an award was passed on 21.02.2002 to the effect that the pay should be rationalised and re-structured with parity in pay scale for employees in CCS and non-CCS.

vii) Neither the Government nor the Sugar Mills challenged award dated 21.02.2002 and it was only the Peravai that challenged the award by way of W.P.No.2325 of 2004. The scope of their Writ Petition was only qua the direction to re-structure the pay scale of the employees under the CCS.

viii) The Writ Petition filed by Chandra (W.P.No.15192 of 2000) was allowed on 24.02.2003, the learned Judge holding that omission of a particular category in C grade should not be taken advantage of.

ix) As against order dated 24.02.2003 allowing W.P.No.15192 of 2000, Writ Appeals were filed by the Sugar Mills in W.A.No.1089 of 2004 and by the Government in W.A.No.4074 of 2004, that came to be dismissed on 12.07.2007 holding that all persons in the same category, whatever be the post, were entitled to the same benefits. These orders have attained finality.

x) In July, 2008, on the heels of the dismissal of the above Writ Appeals, representations were made by the Review Petitioners seeking similar benefits as they too belong to the C category.

xi) Their Writ Petition in W.P.No.16784 of 2008 was allowed on 23.07.2008 directing the authorities to pass orders on their representation within a period of four weeks.

xii) On 26.09.2008, their representations were rejected and their cases distinguished from Chandra’s case on the ground that the direction to ratify her pay was in personam and does not apply in rem. That order was challenged in a batch of Writ Petitions, W.P.Nos.27949 of 2008, 2278, 2279, 9546, 9550, 9562, 17132, 17137, 17146, 17151 of 2009, 28827 of 2008, 17147, 17149, 17152,17154 of 2009, 25896, 27947, 27958, 28840, 28842, 27948 of 2008, 2286, 17133, 17159, 17161,2283, 9560, 17128, 17129, 17130, 17136, 17138, 17142 of 2009, 28829 and 28843 of 2008. (herein after referred to as Batch I of writ petitions))

xiii) On 12.12.2008, the Commissioner