UNION OF INDIA Vs. CHANDRA BHAN UPADHYAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Union of India through its General Manager East Central Railway, Hajipur and other officials of the East Central Railway have preferred this writ application putting to challenge a judgment and order dtd. 29/9/2021 passed in O.A. No. 050/0042/2019, whereby and whereunder, the Patna Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (for short 'the Tribunal') has quashed the orders dtd. 2/11/2018 and 5/12/2018 which were impugned before the Tribunal, and has accordingly directed the petitioners to revise the pay scale, pay and pension of the sole respondent, by extending him the benefit of ad-hoc promotion for the purpose of determination of pay scale, salary and retiral benefits.

(2.) The respondent had filed the aforesaid O.A. No. 050/0042/2019 assailing the aforementioned two orders dtd. 2/11/2018 and 5/12/2018, whereby the basic pay of the respondent, which he was getting against a Group-C post of Senior Store Issuer, was reduced to the pay scale admissible for the post of Khalasi, a Group-D post. Consequent upon re-fixation of pay at a reduced rate admissible to a Group-D post of Khalasi, the petitioners intended to recover a sum of Rs.11,41,125.00 (Eleven Lakh Forty One Thousand One Hundred Twenty Five Only) from the post retiral dues admissible to the respondent apart from fixation of pension and post retiral dues at a lower rate than what the respondent would have been entitled to, had he been treated to have retired holding the Group-C post of Senior Store Issuer.

(3.) The Central Administrative Tribunal, by its impugned judgment and order dtd. 29/9/2021 has allowed the respondent's Original Application under Sec. 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 by quashing the said orders dtd. 2/11/2018 and 5/12/2018 and has directed the petitioners to revise the pay scale, pay, and pension of the respondent by giving the respondent benefits of ad-hoc promotion, for the purpose of determination of pay and pay scale as well as retiral benefits. Certain recoveries in the light of the orders impugned before the Tribunal were effectuated by the petitioners. The amount so recovered has been directed by the Tribunal to be refunded to the respondent immediately. The Tribunal, while allowing the Original Application of the respondent has referred to and relied on a Co-ordinate Bench decision of this Court dtd. 22/8/2019 passed in CWJC No. 5401 of 2017 (The Union of India and Others Vs. S.S. Choubey), whereby in identical circumstance this Court had refused to interfere with the judgment and order passed by the Tribunal in O.A. No. 165 of 2013.