HEM RAJ Vs. STATE OF H. P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of instant petition, prayer has been made on behalf of the petitioner to issue directions to the respondents to grant pay band of Rs.10300-34800+3200 grade pay to him from the date said pay scale stood revised vide Notification dated 4.10.2012 by the Finance Department alongwith benefits incidental thereto.

(2.) Petitioner was appointed as a Patwari on daily wage basis and thereafter his services were regularised vide office order dated 17.3.2004 issued by Superintending Engineer, IPH Circle, Kullu in the pay scale of Rs.3120-5160, which was subsequently revised to Rs. 5910-20200 from the year 2006. Vide Notification dated 28.9.2012, Annexure P-2, Governor, Himachal Pradesh, exercising powers vested under rule-9 of HP Civil Services (Category/Post-wise Revised Pay) Rules, 2012 read with rule-3 of the Rules ibid, revised the pay scale of category of Patwari from Rs.5910-20200+1900 Grade Pay to Rs.10300-34800+3200 grade pay but since the aforesaid revised pay scale/band was not given to the petitioner, he approached erstwhile Himachal Pradesh Administrative Tribunal by way of OA No. 2706 of 2016, which now stands transferred to this Court and re-registered as CWPOA No. 7624 of 2019, praying therein for following main relief(s):

(3.) Having heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record, especially the reply filed by the respondents Nos. 1 to 5, this Court finds that there is no dispute inter se parties that the services of the petitioner stood regularised vide office order dated 17.3.2004 in the pay scale of Rs.3120-5160, which was further revised to Rs.5910- 20200 from the year 2006. Similarly, it is not in dispute that aforesaid scale of Rs. 5910-20200 was further revised by the Government of Himachal Pradesh by issuing Notification dated 28.9.2012 to Rs.10300-34800+3200 grade pay. Respondents, in their reply, while refuting the claim of the petitioner have made an attempt to make out a case that the issue with regard to grant of pay scale lies in the exclusive domain of the Government and in this matter, courts cannot interfere. Besides above, respondents, while placing reliance upon the judgments passed by Hon'ble Apex Court as well as this Court, have stated that no direction, if any, can be issued by courts to grant a particular pay scale to an employee, rather, only direction to consider case of an employee can be issued. There cannot be any quarrel with the aforesaid proposition of law that the State Government has the exclusive jurisdiction to grant pay scale to a particular category of employees and courts cannot interfere unless there is invidious distinction between similarly situate persons or there is arbitrariness as has been held by Hon'ble Apex Court in Shiba Kumar Dutta and others Vs. Union of India and others, 1997 3 SCC 545. Similar view has been taken in a judgment dated 28.5.2014 by this Court in LPA No. 146 of 2013 titled State of Himachal Pradesh and others vs. Navneet Gupta, wherein it has been held that the court cannot issue a writ of mandamus commanding authorities to give pay scale and at best direction can be issued to the authorities to consider the case of an employee for releasing a particular pay scale.