UNION OF INDIA Vs. R G KASHIKAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short point involved in this Special Leave Petition directed against the judgment and order of the Karnataka High Court dated April 11, 1985 is whether the learned single Judge was right in issuing a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the petitioners to extend the benefit of the revision of pay-scales from January 1, 1967 to January 1, 1973 upon the view that denial to the respondent R. G. Kashikar, who was an Instructor Grade II in the National Fitness Corps, of the benefit of revision of pay-scales as accorded to all other Central Government employees, was tantamount to denial of equality before law or equal protection of law and was thus violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution.

(2.) Facts giving rise to the Special Leave Petition are these. In 1954, the Government of India in the Ministry of Education introduced the National Discipline Scheme which, in the year 1965, came to be redesignated as the National Fitness Corps. The respondent was appointed as an Instructor Grade II under the National Discipline Scheme in the year 1963. While the respondent was continuing as an employee of the Central Government. a proposal was made for the transfer of Instructors of the National Fitness Corps to the administrative control of the State Governments. Though the proposal for such transfer of the establishment of the National Fitness Corps to the administrative control of the State Governments was made as far back as in the year 1965, the actual transfer of the services of the respondent and other Instructors to that of the State Government of Karnataka took place with effect from August 1, 1976. Accordingly, the respondent became an employee of the State Government from the said date, During this period, there were other revisions of pay-scales made in respect of employees of the Central Government, but the revision of pay-scales of Instructors on the establishment of the National Fitness Corps was not made by the Central Government. This was the third or the fourth occasion that the respondent knocked at the doors of the High Court for redressal of the wrong, The first writ petition filed by the respondent along with other Instructors in the National Fitness Corps allocated to the State of Karnataka, being Writ Petri. No. 3375 of 1975 was decided by Venkataramiah, J. by his judgment dated November 5, 1975. The teamed single Judge characterized the order passed by the Union of India, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, Department of Education dated April 3, 1974 placing the services of the respondent and other Instructors at the disposal of the Director of Public Instructions, State of Karnataka as being one under Art. 258(1) of the Constitution, but declined to issue a writ of mandamus for extending to them the benefit of revision of pay-scales applicable to the Central Government employees on the ground that there was nothing to show that they had made a demand on the Central Government for extending to them the benefits such as revision of pay-scales, etc., which were extended to all other Central Government employees saying that it was open to them to make a representation to the Central Government in that behalf. In the meanwhile the respondent had already made a representation to the Central Government on October 17, 1975 requesting the Government of India to consider and extend revision of, pay-scales to the Instructors as accorded to all other Central Government servants and in particular to Teachers of the Central Schools as per recommendations of the Third Day Commission, complaining that Instructors under the National Fitness Corps was the only category of Central Government employees discriminated against.

(3.) Incidentally, the Third Pay Commission in its report stated :