K. L. KHERA Vs. UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are working as Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors and Directors in the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). Some of them are designated as Documentation Officers (in Library). They have been appointed on different dates. Their pay scales were, initially, upgraded, vide order dated 29th June, 2000, by granting them the pay scales prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), in respect of lecturers, readers/Assistant Professors and Professors employed in universities. Later, however, vide individual Office Orders issued to them on 30th November, 2000, the said upgraded scales were withdrawn with retrospective effect. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioners have moved this Court by means of the present writ petition.

(2.) The writ petition avers, on the very outset, that, as per the Rules governing the ICSSR, which was established by Resolution dated 12th December, 1968 of the Ministry of Education and Youth Services, and started functioning as an autonomous organisation w.e.f. 1st August, 1969, the power to appoint all categories of officers and staff, for conducting its affairs, and to fix their remunerations and define their duties, vested in the ICSSR itself. It is further averred that the ICSSR decided, in its own interest, to recruit, as Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors, personnel having qualifications analogous to those held by faculty members in Universities, i.e. lecturers, Assistant Professors and Professors. This, it is also averred, was intended at attracting academicians into the ICSSR. In order to operationalise this objective, three categories of professional staff, i.e. Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors and Directors were created, with qualifications, as per their Recruitment Rules (hereinafter referred to as "RRs") being similar/identical to those which were prescribed by the UGC in respect of lecturers, readers and Professors. Some features of the said RRs, in respect of the aforementioned three categories of posts, i.e. the posts of Assistant Director, Deputy Director and Director, may be extracted thus:

(3.) The writ petition avers that "these posts correspond to the posts of Professors, readers and lecturers in the University system" and that "as per the Recruitment Rules in vogue in the Council, the qualifications of the post of Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors are similar and identical to that of qualifications prescribed by the UGC for Professors, readers and lecturers". Equivalently, it is averred that, on the establishment of the ICSSR, the ?professional staff were given the pay scales as applicable to the teaching staff of the Central Universities as prescribed by the UGC", and that this position continued till 1st January, 1973. W.e.f. 1st January, 1973, the writ petitioner avers that the professional staff of the ICSSR were given scales pursuant to the recommendations of the 3rd Central Pay Commission (hereinafter referred to as "Pay Commission"), as recommended for Central Government employees and that, even though the said Pay Commission revised the scales of pay of university faculty members, on the basis of recommendations made by the review committee of the UGC, these scales were not made applicable to the petitioners. Resultantly, it is averred, the pay scales of the petitioners became lower than the pay scales of the teaching staff of the Central Universities, as fixed by the UGC.