PUNJAB STATE CO Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners Nos. 2 to 14 are Inspectors Grade-II in the Audit wing of the Cooperative Department of the State of Punjab and petitioner No.l is the Association of the Inspectors Grade-II. The case of the petitioners is that in the Cooperative Department in the State of Punjab there are two Wings one is the Audit wing and the other is the General Wing. The Audit Wing is under the administrative control of the Chief Auditor Cooperative Societies while the General Line is under the administrative control of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies. In both the wings there are Inspectors Grade-I as also Inspectors Grade-II. In the cadre of Inspectors Grade-II there was a great stagnation. Chances of promotion were remote and by the time an Inspector Grade-II was promoted to the post of Inspector Grade-I he was already drawing an equivalent or higher pay and the benefit was totally illusionary. Further the work of the Inspector Grade-I had greatly mcreased over the years. Consequently, there was a move within the Government which has been eagerly pursued by all the Inspectors Grade-II that the cadre of Inspectors Grade-II should be merged with that of Inspectors Grade-I in the Cooperation Department. Ultimately, by a notification dated 19th July, 1992 (Annexure P1) the State of Punjab decided to merge the cadre of Inspectors Grade-II with Inspectors Grade-I in the Cooperation Department with effect from the date of the issuance of the notification and on the basis of the terms and conditions mentioned in the notification and as per that notification, Inspectors Grade-II were placed junior to the Inspectors Grade-I.

(2.) The petitioners alleged that the State of Punjab was aware that the Cooperation Department had two wings - one under the Registrar and the other under the Chief Auditor. Therefore, the copies of the notification (Annexure P1) were endorsed to both the supervisory officer. Unfortunately, the notification was implemented by the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Incharge of the General Wing, in the year 1963 but was not implemented in the case of the Inspectors, Cooperative Societies working in the Audit wing. Earlier the Inspectors Grade-I and Inspectors Grade-II, whether working in the Audit Wing or in the General Line of the Cooperative Department, used to perform identical duties and functions and there was complete parity of pay scales and designation and the recommendations of the Pay Commission have always been common for both these sets of employees, as is clear from the letter dated 30.11.1990 (Annexure P2). When the petitioners realised that the Department was only going to implement the notification (Annexure P1) in the case of General Line and not in the case of Audit Wing, they approached the Chief Auditor, Cooperative Societies, Punjab and impressed upon him that the State of Punjab had merged all the Inspectors Grade- II with Inspectors Grade-I and there was no justification for the State of Punjab only to implement the notification in piecemeal in the case of Inspectors of General Line and not in the case of Inspectors in the Audit Wing. Finding justification in the grievance of the petitioners, the Chief Auditor, Cooperative Societies, recommended the case of the petitioners to the State Government. It was clearly mentioned by the Chief Auditor that almost all the Inspectors Grade-II were already drawing pay in the pay scale of Rs.1640/-, which was more than the Basic Pay of Inspectors Grade-I and, therefore, even if they were upgraded there would be no financial loss to the State of Punjab. The recommendations of the Chief Auditor is Annexure P3. It is also stated by the petitioners that earlier the Chief Auditor sent a proposal on 11.3.1992 to the State Government as to why the cadre of Inspectors Grade-H in the Audit Wing should be merged with the Inspectors Grade-I. In spite of all this, the State Government has not implemented the notification (Annexure PI) in its letter and spirit. The petitioners through their Association had been repeatedly meeting the Officers of the State, yet no action had been taken to merge the cadre of Inspectors Grade-H of the Audit Wing with the Inspectors Grade-I. The action on the part of the respondents in not upgrading and merging the cadre of the Inspectors Grade-II in the Audit Wing is totally against the terms of the notification (Annexure P1) and this action is arbitrary, illegal and cannot be sustained. It was also pleaded that the Inspectors Grade-II in the Cooperation Department, whether they belonged to the General Line or in the Audit Wing, are governed by the same set of rules. The pay scale of the two posts is the same as also the designation. The nature of the duties of the two posts is also the same and the posts are at par with each other. Consequently, the action of the respondents in upgrading only the post of Inspector Grade-H in one wing, i.e. the General Wing, and not upgrading the post in the other wing, i.e., the Audit Wing, is absolutely discriminatory and cannot be sustained. This action of the Government is in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.

(3.) With the above allegations, the petitioners have prayed for the issuance of a mandamus directing the respondents to implement the decision taken vide notification (Annexure P1) to merge the Inspectors Grade -II of the Cooperation Department with the Inspectors Grade-I of the Cooperation Department, in the case of the Inspectors working in the Audit Wing of the Cooperation Department.