O Z HUSSAIN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application under Art. 32 of the Constitution and the President of the National Council of Bio-Medical Scientists is the petitioner. The reliefs asked for are on the allegation that the Group 'A' scientists of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare who are the members of the Council, are being discriminatingly treated; they have not been given any promotional benefits and, therefore, there is a large-scale stagnation in the service. It has been alleged that the Group 'A' scientists are recruited through the Union Public Service Commission. These scientists possess a Master's Degree in the relevant discipline and 3 years' experience to entitle them to be recruited. It has been indicated in a chart filed along with the Writ Petition that the total posts in this category are 243 including post of Drug Controller of India. The promotional posts available are filled up by direct recruitment and open competition and there is no promotional channel provided. Similar scientists in other Ministries, such as Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Oceanography are recruited in terms of rules made under the proviso to Art. 309 of the Constitution and for their Group 'A' scientific and technical officers, promotional avenues are available. The petition further alleges that on their representations from time to time, meetings have been held but decisions taken in such meetings have not been given effect to and, therefore, all the representations have gone, unheeded. Particular reference has been made to the Minutes of a meeting held on 15-5-1989, where Shri Basudeven, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare presided; several officers from different wings of the Ministry attended and representatives of the petitioner's Council participated. It has been alleged that though several demands were pressed by the representatives of the Council, only a few were considered and yet there was no follow-up action of their implementation.

(2.) Notice was issued to the Union of India in the Ministries of Health, Human Resources, Science and Technology and Bio-Technology and the notice indicated that the the matter would be taken up for final disposal. Though no return has been filed to the Rule Nisi, counsel appeared for the respondents and upon appropriate instructions, participated in the hearing of the matter.

(3.) Annexure P-1 indicates the institutions located in different parts of the country where the posts of 'A' Group scientists who are members of the Council work. Their total number is 243 and this is not disputed. The petitioner has placed on record the rules framed in exercise of powers under proviso to Art. 309 of the Constitution in the Ministry of Science and Technology, covering Group 'A' scientists. Rule 13 thereof provides avenues for promotion. This also is not disputed. Annexure P-13 is a tabuler statement prepared by the petitioner, showing the disparities in the service conditions between the Bio-Medical scientists and other similar scientists and the discrimination that Group 'A' specialists/scientists under the establishment of Director General of Health Services suffer. The pay-scale for different categories of Group 'A' scientists in the non-medical posts and of doctors in the medical posts have been separately shown. It has been pointed out therein that while there is a difference in the pay-scale in the. establishment of Director General of Health Services, there is no disparity in respect of similar posts in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) or in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi or the Post-Graduate Institute at Chandigarh. It has been further pointed out in the said chart that various kinds of allowances are admissible to the doctors in the medical wing, such as book allowance, higher degree allowance, risk allowance and conveyance allowance in the establishment of Director General of Health Services while the non-medical category manned by the 'A' Group scientists is denied all these allowances. It has also been alleged that while the medical category doctors get non-practising allowance the benefit of such allowance is not extended to the non-medical category. Such discrimination, according to the petitioner, is not noticed in the I.C.M.R. or in the two Institutes at Delhi and Chandigarh respectively.