SURESH CHANDRA PANDEY Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner was appointed as a Lower Division Clerk on 22-8-1964 and was promoted to the post of Upper Division Clerk Grade-II on 27-7-79. He passed the Accountants Training Examination on 30-4-80 and was promoted as Accountant on 30-6-82 and retired as Accountant on 31-3-98 on attaining the age of superannuation.

(2.) ACCORDING to the writ petitioner he was getting the pay scale of Accountant of Rs. 1320-2040/ -. As setforth, the feeder post for cadre of Accountant as per Madhya Pradesh Class III (Ministerial) Forest Service Recruitment Rules, 1978 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules') is Upper Division Clerk Grade-II the pay scale of which is Rs. 1200-2040/ -. It is urged that the pay scale of State employees have been revised with effect from 1-1-1996 vide Notification No. 6-27-2-CR-98, dated 9- 3-98 issued by the competent authority. It is urged in the petition that certain clarifications were issued vide Annexure A- 1, dated 3-2-2001 wherein Rule 10 (2) of the Madhya Pradesh Revision of Pay Rules, 1998 (in short 'the 1998 Rules') has been clarified by which the petitioner is affected and hence, he has challenged the same. The order contained in Annexure A-2 is a consequential order as the pay fixation was erroneously done under the 1998 Rules.

(3.) IT is averred in the petition that the authorities have erred in entirety in understanding the Rules of 1998 and the clarification circular is not in consonance or in tune with the Rules in vogue and that is why the resulting factor is that the decision is taken to recover the amount already paid. It is putforth in the petition that Rule 10 protects the grant of special pay to the persons who were promoted on the post of Accountant on the date the Rule came into being and the circular (Annexure A-l) intends to curtail the benefit by creating an artificial discrimination and, therefore, it deserves to be lanceted. In this backdrop a prayer has been made for quashment of the circular and the order directing recovery of the amount and further to re-fix the pension and retiral benefits by adding the additional pay.