Promoted Group-A officers from non-organized service not entitled to upgraded pay scale given to direct recruit organized Group-A after cadre merger withdrawn ab-initio; prior final speaking order bars reopening via individual claims.

ORDER

Per : Hon’ble Shri Lok Ranjan, Member (A)

The present O.A. has been filed by the Applicant upon being aggrieved by the impugned Order dated 09.08.2011 of the Respondent No.4 for re-fixation of is pay and pension etc. ; the impugned Order dated 19/20.05.2014 of the Respondent No.2 regretting the Applicant’s representation dated 09.01.2014 ; and the impugned Order dated 05.05.2015 on behalf of the Respondent No.1 rejecting the Applicant’s petition dated 14.07.2014 – thereby disallowing him the upgraded Pay Scale of Rs. (14300-18300)/- and fixation of salary and pension as per the Industrial Pay Scale of Rs.(18500-450-23900)/- correspondingly.

2. The matrix of facts as had emerged on the basis of the pleadings of the parties on record had emerged to be as follows briefly. The Applicant was appointed through an All- India competition in the Group-C Post of Telegraph Traffic Supervisor on 19.11.1974 in the erstwhile Post & Telegraph (P&T) Department. He came to be promoted to the Telegraph Traffic Service (TTS), Group-B in 1980 and to the TTS Group- A on 19.12.1984. When the Department of Post & Telegraph was bifurcated into the Department of Posts (DOP) and the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), the TTS had come under the DOT. Vide DOT communication dated 23.06.1995 it had been conveyed that the merger of TTS Group-A with the ITS Group-A of the DOT had been approved, methodology of which had to be finalized and covered in the revised Recruitment Rules (RR) for the merged ITS Group-A. It was further conveyed thereby inter alia that provisional combined gradation list will be prepared ; and till the notification of the amended RRs for the (merged) ITS Group-A in consultation with the concerned department, no regular promotions will be made in both the streams, but the said provisional combined gradation list will be operated for making ad-hoc promotions to the extent required. Eventually, in pursuance to the same, the Applicant came to be promoted to the Junior Administration Grade (JAG) level, initially w.e.f. 08.09.1997 on the basis of provisional combined seniority of TTS/ITS – which was later vide Order dated 29.11.2004 made effective from 14.02.1996, at par with the juniors to him from unmerged ITS promoted on the post of JAG, in pursuance of the Order dated 14.07.2004 of this Tribunal in O.A. No.254/2003.

3. Meanwhile, upon completion of 13 years of service w.e.f. 20.12.1997 in the cadre of TTS Group-A/ITS Group-A, the Applicant was allowed the benefit of revision/upgradation of pay scale from Rs.(12000-375-16500)/- to Rs.(14300- 400-18300)/- vide order dated 09.02.1998 ; and the related fixation of his salary was also done by order dated27.05.1998. After that applicant had retired voluntarily on 11.04.2001 and his pension was determined on the basis of his then pay scale of Rs.(14300-400-18300)/- ; and that was further revised w.e.f. 01.01.2006 on the basis of the acceptance of recommendation of 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC). Further separately, in pursuance the option allowed to DOT employees inter alia the Applicant, he was absorbed in the BSNL w.e.f. 01.10.2000 vide Order dated 10.07.2009. Consequently, the salary till voluntary retirement of Applicant w.e.f. 11.04.2001, as well as the pension thereafter, was refixed as per the Industrial Pay Scale of Rs. (18500-23900)/- that was corresponding to his Pay Scale under the 6th CPC, vide Order dated 24.07.2010 of