GUJARAT ELECTRICITY BOARD Vs. BALVANTSINH S RAHEVAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present is an appeal under Clause 15 of the Latent Patent by Gujarat State Electricity Board being aggrieved by the order dated 12.9.2002 passed in Special Civil Application No. 6886 of 1992 whereby the learned Single Judge allowed the writ application filed by as many as 23 writ petitioners and directed that the original petitioners who were working as Civil Mistries be given the pay scale as was given to one R.J.Shah and others in Reference (IT) Nos.71/89, 72/89, 69/89 and 55/89.

(2.) It is not in dispute before us that each of the respondent - original petitioners Nos.1 to 10 of the List marked as Annexure.A to the writ application are working in the Transmission Division at Navsari, petitioners Nos.11 to 14 are working in Thermal Power Station, Sikka and rest of the petitioners are working in the Transmission Circle at Jambuva, District Baroda. It is the case of the petitioners that petitioners Nos.1 to 9 are shown to be permanent while the others are shown to have entered in the service only, but against their names, the date of their becoming permanent has not been mentioned. According to the petitioners, they joined the services in the pay scale of Rs.290-733 which was revised to Rs.980-2280. According to them, the petitioners were making repeated representations for grant of pay scale of Rs.1180-3050, but no action had been taken by the Gujarat Electricity Board. They submit that as many as four employees through Akhil Gujarat Vidhyut Kamdar Sangh raised an industrial dispute which was registered as Reference I.T.Nos. 71/89, 72/89, 69/89 and 55/89. The Industrial Tribunal passed an award on 19.8.1994 directing to grant pre-revised pay scale of Rs.340-982. A copy of the said award has been annexed with the writ application at Annexure.B. It is also the submission of the petitioners that in the year 1985, the respondent Board took a decision to implement the award accordingly granting pay scale of Rs.1180-3050 to the said Civil Mistries. Thereafter the office order dated 27.6.1995 was issued fixing the pay in the scale of Rs.1180-3050. According to the petitioners, as they were entitled to pay scale of Rs.1180-3050 and a competent Tribunal had made an award in favour of some of the employees, they through their recognised Union, namely, Akhil Gujarat Vidhyut Kamdar Sangh, made certain representations to remove the disparity in the matter of grant of pay scales to the employees belonging to same categories but nothing fruitful could be done in the matter.

(3.) The petitioners submit that the petitioners even in their individual capacity made representations to the Department for grant of the pay scale, but the representations fell on the deaf year of the Department. Constrained by the circumstances, a notice was served on the Electricity Board on 11.6.1997, but the same remained unreplied. According to the petitioners, as Civil Mistries are entitled to pay scale of Rs.340-942 and revised pay scale of Rs.1180-3050 and as there is an award of the competent Tribunal in favour of some of the employees who are similarly situated and as the said award has been in force and implemented in case of those employees, the petitioners who are similarly situated, are also entitled to the said benefits. The petitioners, therefore, prayed that the petitioners be placed in the pay scale of Rs.340-942 and revised pay scale of Rs.1180-3050 with retrospective effect i.e. from the date of their appointment, interest at the rate of 24% on the arrears be paid to them and any other relief which the Court deems fit be also granted.