STATE OF KARNATAKA Vs. SUBRAMANYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State of Karnataka has preferred these writ petitions challenging the order passed by the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, holding that persons who served the State as Shanbhogues and thereafter who served the State as deemed Village Accountants are not only entitled to benefit of pension but also entitled to the benefit of Rule 247-A of the KCS Rules.

(2.) The facts leading to this proceedings are as under:

(3.) Rule 2 of the Recruitment Rules of 1961 provided that the cadre of Village Accountants shall be a district wise cadre and scale of pay to the post of Village Accountant shall be 65-1-70-2-90. The said recruitment Rules were replaced by fresh Rules in the year 1970. The new Rules did not prescribe any specific scale of pay, but provided that the scale of pay shall be such as may be prescribed by the Government from time to time. There has been revision of pay scale pursuant to or in the light of the recommendations of the pay commission, as a result of which, the pay scale prescribed by Rule 2 of the Recruitment Rules of 1961 was replaced with effect from 1st January 1970, by two scales of pay, one pay scale applicable to persons whose qualification is less than that of school final or S.S.L.C. Second pay scale of the higher scale for those who are S.S.L.C. In spite of the aforesaid revised pay scale coming into force, the said benefit was not extended to the Respondents and persons who are similarly placed. They were only paid "potige" payable under the repealed Act of 1908. Section 4 of the Act is the principle Section which provided that, with effect on and from the appointed date, the village offices shall stand abolished and all incidents pertaining to same shall also stood extinguished. The incidents include the emoluments attached to the office. Therefore, it is clear that when the abolition of the old hereditary village offices became effective, the emoluments attached thereto also stood extinguished. Therefore, the Respondents and persons who were similarly placed, approached this Court in a batch of writ petitions, for a direction to the Government to pay them the difference in the amount between the pay of village accountants and the remuneration drawn by them as 'potige' allowance from the year 1961 till the date of payment. The said writ petitions came to be allowed on 15th March 1971. It was held in the said order that, so long as the Act had not come into force or so long as the old hereditary offices and the emoluments and rights connected there with, had not been effectively abolished, the Government may claim that these Respondents are entitled to be paid only the potige. However, with the dismissal of the appeal before the Apex Court, the Act became effective only on 21st January 1966. Till that date the Respondents are not entitled to make an effective claim for payment of anything other than potige. For the period subsequent thereto, it was held that the posts created are stipendary posts carrying salaries according to the grades by the Rules. It is in this new post the Respondents were continued. The clear legal effect of this is that they would be entitled to be paid salary on the scales prescribed under the Rules. Taking into consideration the question of limitation, it was held that each of the Respondents should be placed at the bottom of the scale prescribed under Rule 2 of the Rules, 1961 on 21st January 1966 and be given increments in the scale and also the benefit or revision of pay scales in 1970 and be paid the difference between the amount so becoming payable and the potige or other emoluments actually paid to them. It was made clear that they shall not be entitled to payment of the excess amount to be calculated for any period prior to the date of three years immediately preceding the date of presentation of the writ petitions. The relevant portion of the judgment where this right was upheld by this Court in the ease of Shankaranarayana v. State of Mysore reported in, 1966 AIR(SC) 1571, reads as under: