VARGHESE P C Vs. UNION OF INDIA UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner has approached this Court a second time in regard to his claim that he is entitled to the pay-scales applicable to the grade to which he had been equated with effect from 1 November 1966 consequent on the reorganization of States. The petitioner came from the Madras State and on 31 October 1956 he was holding the post of a District Panchayat Officer. This post, it is asserted by the petitioner, was interchangeable with the post held by the second-grade Municipal Commissioners in the Madras State. In fact he has asserted that he had functioned as a Municipal Commissioner is the Fort Cochin area. By Ex. P. 14 order the District Panchayat Officers of the Madras State as well as the second-grade Municipal Commissioners from the Madras State were equated with the Municipal Commissioners of the Travancore-Cochin who were in the third grade of Rs. 200-300, Representations were made by various persons against this equation and Exs. P. 2 and P. 3 orders produced along with this writ application show that the Central Government directed that the District Panchayat Officers of Madras Should not be equated with the Municipal Commissioners in the Travancore-Cochin area to became Municipal Commissioners in the Kerala State. It was further directed that the District Panchayat Officers must be equated only with the Assistant Directors-cum-Personal Assistants to the Director of Panchayats. It may be mentioned here that at that time there was no separate Panchayat Department and the Municipal commissioners as well as the Panchayat Officers fell under what is called Local Bodies Dapartment.

(2.) THERE was a claim that the revised pay-scales which were introduced in the Kerala State with effect from 1 November 1956 must be given to the officers who were allotted to the Kerala State from Madras State. This has been dealt with by the Central Government and they gave a direction by Ex. P. 2 regarding this matter. That direction is in these terms: Further, the revised pay-scales would be allowed to the ex-Malabar officer also with effect from 1 November 1956.

(3.) THE State Government in implementing this direction passed an order which is Ex p. 4 and gave the benefit of the revised pay-scales to the Municipal Commissioners. This is seen from Para 2 of Ex. P. 4; The Government of India have also, on the advice of the Central Committee, directed that the ex Malabar officers should also be allowed the revised pay-scales in the department with effect from 1 November 1956. The Government accept the recommendation and direct that the ex-Malabar Municipal Commissioners and the ex Travancore-Cochin Municipal Commissioners be allowed the revised scales of pay sanctioned to ex-Travancore-Cochin officers in G. P. L. 5-25431/55/dd, dated 23 November 1956, with effect from 1 November 1956 itself on the basis of the revised equation or posts and on the basis of the regrouping of posts ordered in the last paragraph of G. O. Ma, 1018, Public (Int. Spl.), dated 30 November 1959.