S J VARSADIA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ applicants, serving as the Range Forest Officers (Survey), have prayed for the following reliefs;

(2.) The writ applicants seek to challenge the decision of the respondent authorities in retrospectively granting the pay scale applicable to the writ applicants to their detriment. The case of the writ applicants, as pleaded in the application, is as under;

(3.) The petitioners submit that their grievance lies in a very narrow compass i.e. whether Range Forest Officers (Survey) are entitled for scale of pay as paid to Range Forest Officers. The petitioners state that while both these posts were clubbed together under the Gujarat Civil Service (Revision of Pay) Rules, 1975 and 1987, at a later stage in the year 1988, when there was a modification with regard to the scale of pay being paid to Range Forest Officers, even at that time the post of Range Forest Officers (Survey) had their scale of pay modified. It is submitted that even though the modification included Range Forest Officers (Survey), yet at a later stage as there was a genuine apprehension of the salary and scale being modified and recovery being effected, the petitioners were required to prefer a writ petition which again was disposed off partly in their favour. The petitioners state that while the issue was pending consideration as per direction of this Hon'ble Court, as no positive signals were being received, petitioners had again preferred writ petition for declaration that they are entitled for salary in the same scale as being paid to Range Forest Officers. It is submitted that during pendency of the said writ petition vide notification dated 25/2/2009, the Finance Department, State of Gujarat, respondent No.2 herein, had been pleased to retrospectively amend the Gujarat Civil Services (Revision of Pay) Rules, 1998 whereby the petitioners i.e. Range Forest Officers (Survey) were deemed to be entitled to a salary lesser than the salary being paid to Range Forest Officers and lesser than that they being paid now. The petitioners being aggrieved and dissatisfied by such a decision of the respondent authorities, which has the effect of down grading the scale of pay of the present petitioner, and would also have the effect of the respondents initiating recovery proceedings against the present petitioners, the petitioners left with no other alternate efficacious remedy prefers this petition.