STATE OF PUNJAB Vs. KHUSHI RAM PACKER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The common question of law which arises for adjudication in L.P.A. No.416 of 1989 and C.W.P. Nos. 1717,7209 and 14105 of 1991 is whether the Packers employed in the printing and Stationary Department are entitled to be paid salary in the pay scale prescribed for the Packers employed in the Public Relations Department.

(2.) Shri Khushi Ram and 27 others (who are respondents in L.P.A. No. 416 of 1989) filed C.W.P. No.4829 of 1986 claiming parity in the matter of pay scale with the Packers employed in the Public Relations Department on the ground that they too are holding the posts of Packer and are discharging duties which are more onerous than the duties being performed by their counter parts in the Public Relations Department. They pleaded that the pay scales of the two posts were identical before 1.1.1978 but with effect from the date of implementation of the second Pay Commission's recmmendations, they are 'Being paid salary in a lower pay scale'resulting in violation of their fundamental right to equality. The respondents in the Writ petition (appellants herein) contested the claim of Khushi Ram and others by stating that the pay scale of the Packers of Public Relations Department was higher than the pay scale of the Packers of Printing and Stationary Department even before 1.1.1978 and as the channel of promotion of the two posts was also different, the grant of different pay scales was justified.

(3.) The learned Single Judge heard C.W.P.No. 4829 of 1986 along With similar writ petitions filed by the packers employed in the Printing and Stationary Department of Haryana and accepted the claim of the petitioners on the basis of the order passed in C.W.P No.7 of 1985, which was filed by the employees of the State of Haryana.