S ARUMUGHAM Vs. INSPECTOR GENERAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These five writ petitioners are working as First Grade Warders or upgraded First Grade Warders and are at present posted to work at Arur Sub Jail and in one case Sub Jail, Uthangarai. By the impugned order dated 23.07.2012, the second respondent informed them that pay fixation given to them with effect from 01.01.2009 on par with one P.Manickam, who was working as upgraded Warder Grade-I in District Jail, Athur has been correctly fixed earlier. But, however, the subsequent fixations granted have been objected to by the Audit report for the year 2009-2010. The first respondent informed them that the pay fixation wrongly fixed has to be set at right and that the excess amount should be recovered in equal installments from the salary payable from July, 2012.

(2.) Contending that the said recovery was illegal, it was stated that no opportunity was given to them and even if any excess amount paid by way of misrepresentation, that amount cannot be recovered in the light of the an unreported judgment of this court in W.A.No.1302 of 2006, dated 19.03.2009. In paragraph 5 of the affidavit, the operative portion of the division bench order is set out, which reads as follows :

(3.) Except placing reliance upon the aforesaid passage quoted from the division bench order, the petitioners have not made out any case for interfering with the impugned order. In this context, it is necessary to refer to the latest judgment of the Supreme Court in Chandi Prasad Uniyal and others Vs. State of Uttarakhand and others, 2012 8 SCC 417, wherein all these contentions have been considered and in paragraphs 7 to 16, it was observed as follows :