R G RAO Vs. STATE OF GOA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, in this petition filed under Articles 14, 16, 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, sought for a writ of mandamus or a direction to the respondents to fix their pay scale at Rs. 8000-13500 w. e. f. 1-1-1996 along with consequential benefits. Their main grievance was that they being Group "b" Gazetted Officers of the respondents were being given the same pay scales as those of Group Instructors which were Group "c" posts under the Government of Goa and were otherwise feeder posts for promotion to the cadre of the petitioners and therefore the Government of Goa was treating unequals as equals in breach of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) The petitioners at the time of filing the petition were either holding the posts of Principal, Vice Principal, Assistant Apprenticeship Advisor and Technical Officer (Training) which were all analogous posts in the same cadre and interchangeable in the scale of Rs. 6500-10500. Since then petitioner Nos. 1 to 4, 8 and 11 have retired and petitioner No. 3 is presently working as State Director of Craftsmen Training. Petitioner No. 5 is working as Principal, ITI Farmagudi, petitioner No. 6 is working as Principal, ITI, Pernem, petitioner No. 7 is working as State Director, Craftsmen Training and petitioner Nos. 9, and 10 are working as Principals of ITI, Panaji and ITI, Honda Sattari, respectively.

(3.) The case of the petitioners was that their cadre was superior cadre as compared to that of Group Instructors under the same Department namely State Directorate of Craftsmen Training of Government of Goa and that in fact the Group Instructors were feeder category posts for the promotion to the posts of the Principals and the said other analogous posts. It was also their case that the said Principals were "b" Gazetted posts under the State Government and as such ineligible either for bonus or TBPS (Time Bound Promotional Scale) whereas the Group Instructors were "c" Non Gazetted posts under the State Government and as such were in receipt of bonus as well as TBPS and as such upon drawal of TBPS the salary of the Group Instructors exceeded the salary paid to the Principals. The petitioners claim for pay scale of Rs. 8000-13500 w. e. f. 1-1-1996 (i. e. the date on which the pay scale of Fifth Pay Commission were introduced by the State Government) was based on communication No. DGET12 (20) /81tc dated 8681 by which the Deputy Director of Training on behalf of National Council for Training in Vocational Trades of the Government of India had requested all the State Governments (Departments dealing with Craftsmen Training Scheme) that the Government of India had accepted the recommendations of the National Council for Training in Vocational Trades and therefore they should take steps to implement the said decision in consultation with their State Finance Department. Their claim for pay scale in the sum of Rs. 8000-13500 is based in view of item No. 52 of the Training Manual of Industrial Training Institutes and Centers issued by the Government of India which makes the posts of Principal (Junior Scale) /vice Principal equivalent to Assistant Executive Engineer of the State concerned. The petitioners are aware that there is no post equivalent to Assistant Executive Engineer in the State Government and therefore have claimed the scale of Rs. 8000-13500 because according to the petitioners that is the scale which the Assistant Executive Engineers are entitled to in the CPWD under the Government of India.