DHIRESH CHANDRA DUTTA Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in Civil Rule No. 43/87 is the President of Tripura Mahakaran Karmachari Samity which is an Association looking after the welfare of the employees serving under the Government of Tripura. The petitioner No.1 in Civil Rule No. 44/87 is Tripura Shramik Sikshak Karmachari Samity, an Association of employees working under the Government of Tripura and other authorities and aided Institutions in the State of Tripura and the petitioner No.2 in the said Civil Rule is the General Secretary of the said Association.

(2.) In these applications under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioners have prayed for, inter alia, a writ of Mandamus on the State Government of Tripura to pay the entire amount of Rs 112 crores to the State Government employees as Dearness Allowance and Additional Dearness Allowance (hereinafter referred to as "DA" and "ADA" respectively) to neutralise the 120 points from 400 to 520 points rise in the All India Consumer Price Index and for a writ of Prohibition restraining the State Government of Tripura from diverting the aforesaid amount of Rs. 112 crores for any other purpose.

(3.) The relevant facts briefly are that on the recommendation of the First Tripura Pay Commission, the pay scales of the employees working under the Government of Tripura were revised with effect from 1.3.74 and the said revised pay scales were linked to 220 point of Labour Bureau's Consumers Price Index (Tripura Base 1961=100) which was treated as Local Price Index. Thereafter, the Second Pay Commission was set up by the State of Tripura in the year 1979 and the said Commission submitted its Report in December, 1981. The Government accepted the scales of pay recommended by the said Pay Commission and framed the Tripura Government Services (Revised Pay) Rules , 1982, which came into force with effect from 1st January, 1982. Thereafter, by a Memorandum dated 23rd December, 1982, of the Government of Tripura, Finance Department, DA/ADA at Central rates to all categories of employees of the Government of Tripura for all instalments sanctioned by the Government of India upto 1.12.81 was granted subject to certain conditions. Subsequently, by another Memorandum dated 9th April, 1984 of the Government of Tripura in the Finance Department, the; State Government employees were granted DA/ADA with effect from 1.3.84 provisionally pending final recommendations of the Eighth Finance Commission. In the said Memorandum dated 9th April. 1984, it was stated that the DA/ADA would be subject to review/adjustment on the basis of the recommendations of the Eighth Finance Commission in regard to (a) benefits derived from revised pay scales, and (b) DA/ADA granted under the Memorandum. The Eighth Finance Commission constituted by the President of India under Article 280 of the Constitution submitted its interim and final reports. In the intsrim report, the Eighth Finance Commission made provisions in the forecasts of different States including Tripura for all the instalments of ADA which had been sanctioned by the Centre upto index number 496 in the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (Base 1960== 100) and for such purpose recommended an amount of Rs.53.34 crores to be granted as grant-in-aid to the State of Tripura for the financial year 1984-85 as the revenue deficit assessed by it. In its final report, the Eighth Finance Commission made provisions for emoluments of Government employees of different States including Tripura during the five years ending 1988-89 which were in addition to the normal requirements projected during the forecast period and so far as the State of Tripura was concerned, the additional provisions made by the said Commission for emoluments for five years of the forecast period 1984-85 to 1988-89 as given in Table : 1 at page -24 of the report were to the following effect: (Rs. lakhs) <FRM>JUDGEMENT_377_GAULT1_1998Html1.htm</FRM> In its said final report, the Eighth Finance Commission also recommended grants to cover increases in revenue gaps on accounts of additional provisions for DA which covered the 12-monthly average of All India Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (Base 1960=100) upto 520, and so far as the State of Tripura was concerned, a total grant of Rs.23.95 crores was recommended by the Commission for the aforesaid purpose for the period 1984-89. The case of the petitioners in these two writ petitions is that although on the basis of the said recommendations made by the said Eighth Finance Commission, an amount of Rs 112 crores was paid by the Central Government to the State Government of Tripura, the State Government of Tripura has not disbursed the same to its employees and that a mandamus should be issued to the State Government of Tripura to disburse the said amount of Rs 112 crores received by it from the Central Government as DA/ADA for the purpose of neutralizing the rise in the cost of living from 400 points to 520 points for the period of five years from 1.4.84 to 31.3.89.