Judicial ruling affirms equal pay adjustment rights for senior employees despite increment anomalies resulting from different departmental exam timings.

ORDER

Hon’ble UrmitaDatta (Sen), Judicial Member

The applicant has filed this Original Application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following reliefs:-

“a) An order directing the respondents to step up the pay of the applicants on par with their respective juniors as cited in their representations from the dates their respective juniors started drawing higher pay than that of the applicants with all consequential monetary benefits including arrears;

b) An order directing the respondents to produce/cause production of all relevant records;

c) Any other order or further order/orders as to this Hon’ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper.”

2. The applicants have also filed M.A.No.350/562/2024 seeking permission of this Tribunal to move this O.A. jointly under Rule 4(5)(a) of C.A.T.(Procedure) Rules, 1987. The M.A. is allowed.

3. Brief facts of the case tersely put in this O.A. are as under:-

a) The applicants are working under the respondents on different capacities such as Senior Tax Assistant, Office Superintendent, Inspector of Income Tax in different offices of Income Tax in Kolkata region. According to the applicants, they were granted two advance increments on qualifying departmental examinations for the posts of Inspector of Income Tax and Income Tax Officer as per the guidelines followed in the department while they were working in the Grade Pay of Rs.2400/- in pay band of Rs.5200-20200/- i.e. PB-1. The rate of such increment was 3% of aggregate of pay in pay band plus Grade Pay of Rs.2400/- as on the date of passing the examination.

b) Some of the juniors of the applicant who could not pass the said examination along with the applicants in this O.A. and had cleared the same departmental examination later while working in the Grade Pay of Rs.4200/- in Pay Band of Rs.9,300-34,800 i.e. PB-2, got two advance increments in higher rate after implementation of 7^th CPC. As a result of which, the juniors of the applicants started drawing higher pay than that of the applicants although they were juniors in the seniority list of feeder cadre. Aggrieved by such anomaly in pay, the applicants have approached this Tribunal seeking the aforesaid reliefs.

4. The respondents have filed written reply refuting the claim of the applicants. They have taken the following grounds in their reply:-

a) The issue of anomaly relating to senior Government employees drawing less pay than that of their juniors due to application of provisions of FR 22(1)(a)(1) was considered by the authorities on merits by allowing stepping up of pay of the seniors to bring it at par with that of the juniors in accordance with the guidelines scattered in various OMs and thereafter a consolidated guidelines was issued in this matter vide Office Memorandum dated 26.10.2018 (Annexure R/1), wherein it has been stated as under:-

“2. Consequent upon implementation of CCS(RP)Rules, 2016, the President is pleased to decide the following:

(1) In order to remove the anomaly of a Government servant promoted or appointed to a higher post on or after 1-1-2016 drawing lower pay in that post than another Government servant junior to him in the lower grade and promoted or appointed subsequently to another identical post, the pay of the senior Government servant in the higher post should be stepped up to a figure equal to the pay as fixed for the junior Government servant in that higher post. The stepping up should be done with effect from the date of promotion or appointment of the junior Government servant and will be subject to the following conditions, namely:

(a)