AJAIB SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) - The petitioner Ajaib Singh was nominated as member of the National Commission for Minorities vide Notification dated 24th Aug., 2012 for a fixed tenure of three years from the date of assuming office. There was a provision of fixation of pay contained in the Rules which, inter alia, provided that the chairperson and every member shall be paid salary of Rs.80,000.00 per month, provided that where the chairperson or member was a retired person, the salary payable together with the pension shall not exceed Rs.80,000.00 per month. The petitioner has challenged the vires of proviso to this part of the Rule, as according to him, the normal pay to which the member was entitled to should not be reduced and should be paid without any deduction in addition to the pension which he was drawing from his erstwhile department where he had earlier served.

(2.) For deciding the controversy raised in this writ petition, it is not necessary to go into details of the facts. The petitioner has questioned the validity of proviso to Rule 3 of National Commission for Minorities (Salaries and Allowance and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members) Rules 1995 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rule, 1995' or 'the 1995 Rules') as unconstitutional on the ground that the said proviso is violative of fundamental and constitutional rights of the petitioner as guaranteed under Art. 14, 16, 21 and 300A of the Constitution of India.

(3.) This Rule along with its proviso reads as under:-