R P PANWAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Whether the employees who are at par all along except for a brief period would be entitled to the same scale of pay" is the question involved in this writ petition.

(2.) The basic fact of the matter is not in dispute. The petitioner was working as Stenographer Grade III in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ('DRF for short). He was promoted as Examiner of Customs (OG) on or about 18th January 1978 in the DRI. Examiners of Customs/Preventive Officers, Inspectors of Central Excise working in the DRI had been getting the same scale of pay of Rs.425 - 800. They were re-designated as Intelligence Officers. The petitioner was also re-designated as Intelligence Officer. The respondents, however, while revised the scale of pay of Inspectors of Central Excise from Rs.425-800 to 500-900 w.e.f. 1st January 1980, the scale of pay of Examiner of Customs (OG) had not been so revised. According to the writ petitioner, he had been asked to exercise an option as to whether he would like his pay to be re-fixed in the revised scale by letter dated 17th September 1987 to which he had agreed. However, the Inspectors of Central Excise, Examiners of Customs and Preventive Officers who had been working on deputation on transfer were paid their arrears, the persons similarly situated like the petitioner herein had been denied the. said benefit.

(3.) It is not in dispute that the representation of the petitioner for being placed in the same scale of pay as that of the Inspectors of Central Excise had strongly been recommended by the second respondent herein.