KARNAIL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition, the prayer is for the issuance of a writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondents to grant to the petitioner the scale of pay of the Post of Accounts Officer with effect from April 24, 1978.

(2.) On 20.2.1978 a proposal was put forth by the then Deputy Secretary, Local Government, for the creation of a post of the status of Accounts Officer to be designated as Administrative Officer (hereinafter referred to as "the Ad.O.") for the Local Government Directorate. It was to be a Class II Gazetted Post. The proposal was approved by the concerned Minister on 2.3.1978. On 24.4.1978 orders were issued creating the post of Ad.O., a Class II Gazetted Post in the pay scale of the Rs. 400-1100 equivalent to the post of Accounts Officer. The petitioner was promoted and appointed against the post of Ad.O. on 24.4.1978 in the pay scale of Rs. 400-1100. The promotion was notified in the Punjab Government Gazette with the approval of the Punjab Public Service Commission in the Punjab Government Gazette (extraordinary) dated 20.12.1978. According to the petitioner, in the proposal for the creation of the post of Ad.O., the pay scale of Rs. 400-1100 was inadvertently mentioned instead of Rs. 400-1250, as the pay scale of the post of Accounts Officer had been revised to Rs. 400-1250 by an order of the Governor of Punjab, dated 22.4.1977. On 1.6.1979 the petitioner made a request in writing for correction of the pay scale. The matter was referred to the Finance Department which on 12.4.1979 advised as under :-

(3.) The 2nd Pay Commission's report was received in May 1979. However, the anomaly in the pay scale of the Ad.O. and the Accounts Officer persisted in the report. The revised pay scale of the Ad.O. was Rs. 825-1700 and that of the Accounts Officers was Rs. 1200-1850. The petitioner made a representation to the Chairman, Implementation Committee, 2nd Pay Commission praying for parity of pay scales of the posts of Ad.O. and Accounts Officer. The Implementation Committee held a meeting on 10.8.1979. According to the petitioner, it becomes apparent from the extract of the Report of the Implementation Committee that the post of Ad.O. had been equated with the post of Accounts Officer. But inadvertently, the scale of the post of Ad.O was shown as Rs. 400-1100 instead of Rs. 400-1250. The Implementation Committee decided to refer the case to the Finance Department for correction of the pay scale. The matter was put up before the Finance Department on 3.10.1979, which on 21.12.1979 advised as under :-