P RAMAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner prays for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Respondents to fix his pay in the revised scale of Rs.8000-275-13500 with effect from 5.12.1996 and grant the benefit of ten (10) advance increments in addition to the pay with all consequential benefits. The prayer pertaining to payment of interest at the rate of twelve (12) per cent per annum has not been pressed.

(2.) The Petitioner was selected for the Short Service Commission in the Indian Army and was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant on 25.8.1984. He served for ten years and was released from the Indian Army on 25.8.1994 as per the Scheme of the Short Service Commission. Thereafter, he was interviewed by the Union Public Service Commission and was selected for appointment to the post of Assistant Commandant in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) vide Appointment Letter dated 17.5.1995. After some delay attributable only to the Petitioner, he joined the services of the CISF pursuant to Office Memorandum dated 29.11.1996. It appears that the Petitioner assumed charge as Assistant Commandant on 5.12.1996 and was posted to CISF Unit DSP, Durgapur, West Bengal. The fixation of the Petitioner's pay as Ex-SSCO re-employed as Assistant Commandant in the CISF is contained in the letter No. E-27015(3)/28/97-Entt/112A dated 10.4.1997. It, inter alia, records the length of service of the Petitioner in the Army from 24.10.1983 to 22.9.1994 and that his pre-retirement pay was Rs.3900/- (Basic pay of Rs.3300 plus rank pay of Rs.600). The said letter witnesses that the Petitioner's salary on re-employment with the CISF was Rs.3000/- with effect from 5.12.1996 in the pay scale of Rs.2200-75-2800-EB-100- 4000. In so doing, as has been noted by the Assistant Director/Accts, the benefits of ten (10) years Army service were not made available to the Petitioner. A clarification was sought from the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the letter dated 18.12.2002 the Accounts Officer/Entt, Directorate General, CISF, had addressed a letter to the Sr. Administrative Officer, Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) seeking opinion pertaining to the pay fixation of Ex.-Capt. Parminder Singh, Assistant Commandant, who was re-employed as an Assistant Commandant and whose service background was similar to that of the Petitioner. It records that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had commented that Captain Parminder Singh had been allowed the benefits of 10 years advance increments. We may note that the present petition is predicated on the argument that the Petitioner should be treated on parity with Ex. Captain Parminder Singh, Assistant Commandant, ITBP. Eventually, despite comparisons and Representations made in this regard, the Assistant Director/Accts, Directorate General, CISF, by letter dated 13.7.2004, has confirmed that the Petitioner's pay at Rs.8000/- is in order and that "he cannot be allowed advance increments because even the minimum basic pay fixed on his re-employment is more than his basic pay plus rank pay which he was drawing at the time of retirement from Army". It is this decision that is under challenge before us.

(3.) The Petitioner indisputably is entitled to pay in accordance with Rule 8 of Chapter 2 of Central Civil Services (Fixation of Pay of Re-employed Pensioners) Orders, 1986 circulated vide DoPT OandM dated 31.7.1986,which cannot and does not refer to any Pay Commission. The Rule reads as under: Rule 8 - "ECO's and SSCO's who joined pre-commission training or were commissioned after 10-1-1968, may, or their appointment in Government Service to unreserved vacancies, be granted advance increments equal to the completed years of service rendered by them in the Armed Forces on a basic pay (inclusive of deferred pay but excluding other emoluments) equal to or higher than the minimum of scale attached to the civil post in which they are employed. The pay so arrived at should not, however, exceed the basic pay (including the deferred pay but excluding other emoluments) last drawn by them in the Armed Forces".