PANKAJ PRAKASH DEKA Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This intra-court appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 27.02.2020 passed by the learned Single Judge in the writ petition, W.P.(C) No. 4972/2015. By the said judgment and order dated 27.02.2020, the learned Single Judge finding no merit in the writ petition preferred by the writ appellant-writ petitioner, has dismissed the same.

(2.) In the writ petition, the appellant-petitioner had sought for a writ in the nature of mandamus seeking a direction to the respondent authorities to grant him pay scale of the Senior Scientific Officer at Rs. 8,100/- - Rs. 13,025/- p.m. w.e.f. 12.12.1999 as per the Draft Service Regulations, 1996 and a writ in the nature of certiorari by holding that the office order dated 25.03.2003 passed by the Director, Assam Science Technology and Environment Council whereby the scale of pay in the posts of Deputy Administrative Officer and Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer was re-fixed purportedly in the next higher scale of pay of Rs. 8,100/- - Rs. 13,025/- w.e.f. from 01.12.2002 as illegal and null and void.

(3.) In the writ petition, it was projected on behalf of the appellant-petitioner that pursuant to a selection process initiated with an advertisement published in 1994, the appellant-petitioner came to be appointed as Scientific Officer in Assam Science Technology and Environment Council ('ASTEC', for short) by an order of appointment dated 12.12.1994 in the scale of pay of Rs. 2,275/- - Rs. 4,450/- p.m. plus other allowances as admissible under the rules. The appellant-petitioner had referred to an advertisement published by the ASTEC in the year 1998 whereby the ASTEC had, inter alia, invited applications for filling up one post of Deputy Administrative Officer and one post of Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer, both purportedly also in the pay scale of Rs. 2,275/- - Rs. 4,450/-. After the selection process undertaken pursuant the said advertisement, the respondent no. 3 (Atanu Kumar Goswami) and the respondent no. 4 (Sri Khargeswar Goswami) came to be appointed as the Deputy Administrative Officer and the Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer in the ASTEC by orders of appointment dated 23.07.2001. It was the case of the appellantpetitioner that in the orders of appointment issued in respect of the respondent no. 3 and respondent no. 4 the pay scale of the Deputy Administrative Officer and the Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer was mentioned as Rs. 5,725/- - Rs. 11,825/- which was the revised scale for the pre-revised scale of pay of Rs. 2,275/- - Rs. 4,450/- but by a subsequent office order dated 25.03.2003 issued under the hand of the Director, ASTEC, the scale of pay of Deputy Administrative Officer and Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer of ASTEC came to be re-fixed at Rs. 8,100/- - Rs. 13,025/- p.m., instead of Rs. 5,725/- - Rs. 11,825/-. It was consequently ordered that the respondent no. 3 and the respondent no. 4 would draw salary as per the re-fixed pay scale w.e.f. 01.12.2002 with pay fixation based on their date of joining. The Draft Service Regulations, 2010 came to be notified as "the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council's (ASTEC) Regulations 2010" on 12.02.2013 for regulating the recruitment and conditions of service of the persons appointed to the ASTEC service with immediate effect. In the ASTEC Regulations, 2010 the pay scale of Deputy Administrative Officer and the Deputy Finance & Accounts Officer was mentioned as Rs. 8,100/- - Rs. 13,025/-.