THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.SAM KOSHY AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SUDDALA CHALAPATHI RAO Writ Petition No.22375 of 2003 ORDER: (per Hon’ble Sri Justice P.SAM KOSHY The instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioners under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying the Court for issuance of a Writ, order or direction and more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Certiorari by calling for the records pertaining to order dated 23.09.2003 passed in O.A.No.1103 of 2002 by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench, at Hyderabad; to quash the same as illegal, arbitrary, contrary to law and unconstitutional; and to declare the same as void ab inito, null and void and non-est in the eye of law (for short, ‘the impugned order’)

2. Heard Mr.B. Narasimha Sharma, learned Additional Solicitor General of India, appearing on behalf of Ms.L. Pranathi Reddy, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Central Government, for the petitioners; and Mr.K.S.V. Subba Rao, learned counsel for the respondents.

3. Vide the impugned order, the Tribunal allowed the above O.A. filed by the respondents (Data Entry Operators) working under the petitioner organization, by holding as under, viz., “12. In the result, both these O.A.s are allowed granting declaration as prayed for by the applicants. Further, the respondents are directed to extend the benefit of higher pay sale of Rs.1350-30- 2200 (Pre-revised scale) to the applicants herein with effect from 01.01.1986 or from the dates of their respective appointments whichever is later and the revised scale of pay of Rs.4500-125-7000 with effect from 01.01.1996 and to re-fix the pay of the applicants in that pay scale and to pay arrears of salary due to them. The respondents are further directed to consider the case of such of those applicants who have completed 6 years of service in DEO Grade-A to upgrade them to Grade-B by following the procedure prescribed under the Recruitment Rules, 1992 and to extend them the benefit of different higher pay, if any, fixed to those working in Grade-B than the existing pay scale of Rs.4500-125-7000 from the date of completion of the requisite length of 6 years service in the grade of DEO Grade-A and this exercise shall be completed before resorting to the cadre restructure by abolishing the cadre of DEOs. This order shall be implemented within a period of three months from the date.”

4. The petitioner-Union has assailed the impugned order primarily on the ground that the respondents herein have been recruited under the Electronic Data Processing Discipline (Group “C” Technical Posts) Recruitment Rules, 1992 (for short, ‘the Rules’), wherein the relevant schedule prescribes for channel of promotion, mode of recruitment and the next promotional post including pay-scales for each of the post.

5. Learned Additional Solicitor General of India, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, contended that the Rules specifically show that the post of Data Entry Operator to be a feeder post with the pay scale of 1150-25-1500 which was subsequently revised to Rs.4000. The mode of recruitment reflected in the said rule also was by way of direct recruitment. Further, it was brought to notice of the Court that the next promotional post from Grade-A was to the post of D.E.O. Grade-B which carried a pay scale of Rs.1350-30-1440-40-1800-EB- 50-2200. The mode of recruitment to the said post was purely by way of promotion from among the D.E.O. Grade-A with six years of regular service or by way of transfer on deputation. According to the learned Additional Solicitor General of India, the respondents were recruited under the aforementioned Rules of 1992. The entire recruitment was based upon the procedure prescribed under the said Rules and all the respondents have participated knowing fully well the pay-scale and the promotion channel and also pay-scale of each of the posts. It was on this ground that the learned Additional Solicitor General of India contended that havin