ASHOK TANDON Vs. HP STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners by way of this writ petition have assailed the judgment dated 16.4.1998 passed by H.P. State Administrative Tribunal (for short "Tribunal")in OA NO.879/97, rejecting the claim of the petitioners for grant of revised pay scales of Rs.1200-2200, Rs.1600-3000 ( after 9 years, 16 years of service) on the pattern of Punjab State Electricity Board ( for short "PSEB").

(2.) THE case of the petitioners is that they were recruited as Sub Station Attendants by respondent in the year 1977 and they were promoted as Junior Engineers in the year 1995. The respondent is following the Punjab (PSEB) pattern of pay-scales and On the revision of pay scales in the year 1986, the Sub Station Attendants in respondent-Board were granted the pay-scale of Rs.1200-2200 w.e.f. 1.1.1986. The PSEB has given the pay- scale of Rs.1600-3000 and Rs.2000-3500 to its Sub Station Attendants after the completion of nine years and sixteen years of service. There was demand of PSEB pattern of pay scales by the workman etc. of the respondent. The respondent-Board accepted the demand of the workmen etc. and they were asked to exercise their option whether they wanted PSEB pattern of promotional scale and were ready to surrender the excess amount which they had received on account of the higher pay-scales or not. This option was asked by respondent in May 1993. The petitioners and others who are shown in Annexure-P-2 have exercised their option for PSEB pattern of pay scale and at the same time they undertook to refund the excess amount. In all 41 Sub Station Attendants exercised option for PSEB pay scale . The respondent did not give them the scale on PSEB pattern. Therefore, the petitioners filed OA No.879/97 which was dismissed by Tribunal vide impugned order.

(3.) THE Chief Engineers were asked to send the options of the concerned employees cadre as a whole so that time bound promotional scales could be granted to all the categories including the category of Sub-Station Attendants who are drawing higher pay scale of Rs.1350-2400 w.e.f. 1.1.1986 in deviation to PSEB pattern and who are ready to accept PSEB scales in toto with retrospective effect. Only 41 out of 497 Sub-Station Attendants had opted for the pay scales of PSEB retrospectively. Thus majority of the Sub-Station Attendants wanted to retain the deviated pay scales of Rs.1350-2400 w.e.f. 1.1.1986 without time bound promotional scales instead of PSEB scales of Rs.1200-2200 with time bound promotional scales. The whole category of the Sub- Station Attendants has not opted for the PSEB pay scales as such time bound promotional scales for the benefit of only 41 Sub Station Attendants can not be introduced leaving 456 Sub Station Attendants in the scale of Rs.1350- 2400. Two different scales cannot be applied in the same organization for the employees having common seniority, similar duties and responsibilities, common cadre and governed under the same Recruitment and Promotional Regulations. On these facts the respondent submitted that the writ petition deserves to be dismissed.