OM PARKASH MALIK Vs. THE STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners who are working as Upper Division Clerks, Cash Audit Clerks and Typewriter Mechanics with the Haryana State Electricity Board (for short, 'the Board') are presently drawing pay in the scale of Rs. 1350-2200/- and their grievance in the present writ petition is that they should be given the scale of Rs. 1400-2600/- whcih was given to other categories of employees who were drawing pay in the scale of Rs. 525-900 like the petitioners before the revision of grades w.e.f. 1.1.1986.

(2.) The Board as per its office order No. 384 dated 19.8.1987 decided to revise the pay scales of various categories of the employees (regular, ad hoc and work-charged employees) w.e.f. 1.1.1986 as indicated in the Annexure appended to that order. The posts of the Upper Division Clerks, Cash Audit Clerks and Typewriter Mechanics were also included in this Annexure and their pay scale had also been revised from Rs. 525-900/- to Rs. 1200-2040/- w.e.f. 1.1.1986. The petitioners represented to the Board and claimed that their pay scale should have been revised to Rs. 1400-2600/- which was the grade given to all other categories of employees who were drawing pay in the scale of Rs. 525-900/- prior to the date of revision. In other words, the claim of the petitioners ws that prior to the date of revision, they were drawing pay in the scale of Rs. 525-900/- along with various other categories of employees like Analysts, Senior Fireman, B.Ed. teachers, Dispensers, Asstt. Fire Operators Grade-II etc. and after revision w.e.f. 1.1.1986, they were discriminated against inasmuch as they were given the revised scale of Rs. 1200-2040/- whereas other employees who were drawing pay in the same scale of pay as theirs prior to the date of revision were given the higher scale, w.e.f. 1.1.1986. Various other categories of employees had also represented to the Board in regard to the revision of their pay scales and a number of anomalies came to notice during the implementation of the revised pay scales as effected from 1.1.1986. As a result of all this, the Board as per its office order No. 437 F dated 19.1.1989 constituted a Pay Anomaly Committee to examine the anomalies in respect of pay scales revised w.e.f. 1.1.1986 and this committee in its meeting held on 6.2.1991 considered the anomalies and on the pattern adopted by the Haryana Government, recommended to the Board the re-revision of different pay scales w.e.f. May 1, 1990 including the pay scales of the petitioners. In the case of the petitioners, it was recommended that their pay scale be re-revised to Rs. 1350-2200/-. The Board accepted the recommendation of the Anomalies Committee and granted this scale to the petitioners w.e.f. May 1, 1990.

(3.) The first contention advanced on behalf of the writ petitioners is that they are entitled to the higher grade of Rs. 1400-2600/- since this higher grade has been given to the B.Ed. teachers who were also drawing pay in the scale of Rs. 525-1050 with a start of Rs. 585/- prior to the date of revision. I find no merit in this contention. The teachers were drawing pay in the higher scale even prior to the date of revision of grades by the Board and the Board in its wisdom decided to grant them the scale of Rs. 1400-2600/- w.e.f. 1.1.1986. Moreover, the petitioners who are working as Upper Division Clerks and Typewriter Mechanics cannot claim parity in the matter of pay scale with the teachers whose nature of duties are altogether different from those performed by the petitioners. Even their qualifications differ and there is no similarity between the jobs performed by the petitioners and the teachers.