SARITA SHARMA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who is serving as House Keeper, Punjab Raj Bhawan, has filed the instant writ petition impugning the order dated 25.6.2013 (Annexure P-6) passed by the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Punjab, whereby her claim seeking pay parity with the posts of Senior Assistant/Senior Scale Stenographer, has been rejected. It has been pleaded that the petitioner was initially appointed on the post of House Keeper in the Punjab Raj Bhawan on 23.1.1989 in the pre-revised scale of Rs. 600-1120/-.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner would refer to a tabulation furnished at page 15 of the writ petition, whereby the post of Senior Assistant as also Assistant Supervisor, Hospitality Department, State of Punjab had been granted equivalent scale of Rs. 600-1120 in the year 1989. Counsel would submit that according to the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission, the scale granted to the post of House Keeper has been revised to Rs. 1500-2640, whereas the posts in reference i.e. Senior Assistant and Assistant Supervisor, Hospitality Department were granted the higher scale of Rs. 1800-3200. It is further pleaded that such disparity continued in further subsequent revisions upon implementation of the recommendations of the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commissions, whereby the post held by the petitioner was granted the scale of Rs. 5000-8100 and further revised to Rs. 10,000-34,800/- + 3200 Grade Pay, whereas the posts in reference were granted the higher pay scale of Rs. 5800-9200 and further revised to Rs. 10,300-34,800 + 3800 Grade Pay.

(3.) Counsel would strenuously argue that the pay parity between the posts of House Keeper and the reference posts having been established in the year 1989 on account of grant of identical pay scale i.e. Rs. 600-1120/-, it was not open for the respondent-authorities to have broken such pay parity at the stage of subsequent pay revisions. Towards such assertion, reliance has been placed upon a Division Bench judgement of this Court in case of Haryana State Biologists Association v. State of Haryana, 1994 3 SCT 198 as also another Division Bench judgement dated 27.10.2010 rendered in L.P.A. No. 1000 of 2010 tided as State of Punjab and another v. Kewal Krishan Garg and others (Annexure P-8).