CANARA BANK Vs. V K GROVER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of the present petition, the petitioner seeks to assail the order dated 28th February, 2004, passed by the Learned Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court wherein it was held that the respondent, applicant therein, was entitled to stagnation increment.

(2.) The brief facts necessary to dispose of the present petition are as follows. The respondent was appointed in the erstwhile Lakshmi Commercial Bank Limited, as Clerk on 4th September, 1972. He was promoted as Head Clerk on 11th November, 1980 and then to the post of Special Assistant on 11th November, 1981. The respondent was then promoted to the officer cadre on 7th January, 1983. Thereafter, the erstwhile Lakshmi Commercial Bank was amalgamated with the petitioner bank w.e.f. 24th August, 1985. Accordingly, w.e.f. 24th August, 1985, the respondent became an employee of the petitioner bank at the officer cadre. Vide order dated 19th September, 1986, the respondent was transferred to the Sikanderabad Branch of the petitioner bank situated in U.P. However, the respondent did not join at the said branch and was subsequently transferred to the Vishakhapatnam branch in 1988. On 30th May, 1988, the respondent made a representation to the petitioner bank for his retention at Delhi due to his family circumstances. Pursuant to the petitioner bank"s refusal to retain the respondent at Delhi, the respondent again made a representation dated 30th November, 1988 requesting to revert him back to the cadre of workman. The competent Authority of the petitioner bank granted permission to revert the respondent in the clerical cadre, vide proceedings dated 3rd February, 1989 upon the respondent"s acceptance of the terms and conditions of such reversion, vide his acceptance letter dated 3rd January, 1989.

(3.) After reversion, the respondent was fitted at the basic pay scale of Rs.2,715/- which was the basic pay at the 19th stage of 20 years span of clerical scale of pay i.e. at which he would have reached had he continued as a clerk from the date of his appointment w.e.f. 4th September, 1972. The basic pay scale of the respondent became Rs. 2835/- w.e.f. 1st September, 1989 which was subsequently revised to Rs. 2,860 w.e.f. 1st January, 1990, in terms of the revised clerical pay scale under the Supplementary Settlement dated 29th June, 1990, which was the maximum in the clerical cadre. The respondent claimed that he became entitled to get the first stagnation increment of Rs. 120/- from 1st September, 1992, i.e. on completion of 3 years of service after 1st September, 1989 in terms of the Fifth Bipartite Settlement dated 10th April, 1989.