Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
R.D. GUPTA & ORS. ETC.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
LT. GOVERNOR. DELHI ADMN, & ORS. ETC.
DATE OF JUDGMENT07/08/1987
BENCH:
NATRAJAN, S. (J)
BENCH:
NATRAJAN, S. (J)
REDDY, O. CHINNAPPA (J)
CITATION:
1987 AIR 2086 1987 SCR (3) 808
1987 SCC (4) 505 JT 1987 (3) 259
1987 SCALE (2)226
CITATOR INFO :
RF 1989 SC 19 (27)
F 1990 SC 883 (7)
RF 1991 SC1173 (6)
ACT:
Civil Services--Pay Scales--Rates recommended for DESU
employees--Whether can be made applicable to NDMC
employees-Ministerial staff--All sections--To be treated
alike--Entitlement to same pay scales--Civil engineers in
Electricity wing--Whether can claim parity with electrical
engineers.
HEADNOTE:
In the Union Territory of Delhi there are two main civic
bodies viz. the New Delhi Municipal Committee and the Delhi
Municipal Corporation. The NDMC was constituted under the
Punjab Municipal Act, 1913 to discharge all civic functions
including supply of water and electricity in the area fall-
ing within its jurisdiction. The Delhi Municipal Corporation
was constituted in pursuance of the Delhi Municipal Corpora-
tion Act, 1957.
The NDMC forming a compact unit, had divided its civic
work into various departments. Besides technical staff, it
also engaged nontechnical staff such as Municipal staff,
clerks etc. The non-technical staff constituted one unified
cadre, liable to transfer from one department to another
with common seniority.
The set up of the MCD was, however, different consisting
of three separate and independent wings viz. the electrici-
ty, the general and the water, sewage and disposal wings.
The electricity wing was designated as the Delhi Electricity
Supply Undertaking and its employees were governed by a
separate cadre and seniority list, Similarly, the general
wing, performing other general civic duties and functions,
and the third wing concerning with distribution of water and
disposal of sewage etc.
To satisfy the demands of the employees of the MCD, NDMC
etc. the Government accepted the recommendations of the
Third Pay Commission. The New Delhi Municipal Committee as
well as the general wing of the Municipal Corporation, Delhi
accepted the pay scales recommended by the Third Pay Commis-
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sion. However, the tech-
809
nical staff of Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking were not
satisfied and claimed higher scales of pay. The Government,
therefore, constituted a Committee known as the Shiv Shankar
Committee to go into the question of revision of pay scales
etc. of the technical staff of the DESU. The Committee
submitted its report in 1973. Subsequently, the DESU agreed
to revise the pay scales of the non-technical staff also to
the level recommended by the S.S. Committee.
The New Delhi Municipal Committee, by its Resolution
dated 19.10.73, decided to give the benefit of the revised
scales to the technical and ministerial staff working in its
electricity wing as, in its view, such staff were performing
same or similar functions and duties performed by the staff
of DESU and hence parity should be maintained, and by Reso-
lution dated 7.1.1974, it decided to give the benefit with
effect from 1.4.72.
Two of the employees of the general wing filed a writ
petition before the High Court for quashing the Resolution
dated 7.1.1974 which sought to implement the earlier Resolu-
tion of 19.10.1973. The HighCourt-held that the Resolution
was discriminatory in nature, and restrained the implementa-
tion of the Resolution till the NDMC considered afresh the
question of revision of pay scales for all sections of the
ministerial staff after giving an opportunity to them.
In compliance with the above directions, the NDMC passed
a revised Resolution dated 25.6.1975 treating all the non-
technical staff as equal and granting uniform pay scales at
the rates recommended by the Third Pay Commission and not at
different rates for different wings. This Resolution was
again challenged by some of the affected members of the
electricity wing before the High Court, which disposed it of
on the assurance given by the NDMC that the whole position
would be reviewed after giving all the parties including the
ministerial staff of the electricity wing due notice of the
matter.
The Letters Patent Appeal, originally filed by the NDMC,
and in which some of the affected employees of the electric-
ity wing had got themselves impleaded as appellants, was
allowed and the judgment of the Single Judge was set aside
as it had been rendered without all the necessary parties
being before the Court. The Special Leave Petition filed in
the Supreme Court by two staff members of the general wing
was dismissed in limine.
The NDMC, after giving opportunity to all sections of the
emp-
810
loyees to make their representation passed a Resolution on
27.6.78 constituting the electricity wing w.e.f. 1.5.78
composed of pump drivers, welders, carpenters, mechanics and
496 posts of ministerial staff, carrying scales of pay as
per the S.S. Committee report and benefit of exgratia on
DESU pattern, and treated these as ex-cadre posts and to be
filled on deputation basis on rotation, for a period of
three years in one spell.
Three writ petitions were filed in the High Court con-
tending (a) that the ministerial staff should be treated on
par with their counterparts in the electricity wing in the
matter of pay and allowances, (b) that, as there was no
difference between the civil and electrical engineers, civil
engineers should be equated with the electrical engineers on
DESU pattern, and (c) that since the employees of DESU were
being paid ex-gratia amount the staff in the general wing
should also be paid likewise.
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The High Court, while upholding the order of the NDMC,
modified the placement of the ex-cadre posts in the overall
set-up. It evolved a Scheme according to which the S.S.
Committee scales were to be given only to those who opted to
work in the electricity department and the posts were to be
filled on the basis of seniority-cum-option. It further
directed that since higher scales of pay was linked with the
service rendered in the electricity wing, S.S. Committee
scales should be paid to all those who had worked in the
electricity wing during the period subsequent to June 1975
till 30th May, 1982, that such payment would not amount to
discriminatory payment and that after the 30th May, 1982 the
postings should be done in accordance with senioritycum-
option formula. It also held that the civil engineers could
not seek parity with electrical engineers in the electricity
wing in the matter of pay scales as the junior engineers
(Civil) had no common seniority with the electrical engi-
neers in the electricity wing, that the posts were not
interchangeable and that they could not draw comparison with
the employment pattern of DESU because it was a separate and
independent entity unlike the electricity wing of the NDMC
and that the nature of the duties performed by the electri-
cal engineers and civil engineers was different.
Upholding the refusal of the NDMC to grant ex-gratia
payment to the staff of the general wing, it directed the
NDMC to treat the amount already paid "as one-time special
ad hoc payment not serving as a precedent."
811
In the appeals before this Court it was contended on
behalf of the ministerial staff in the general wing that the
electricity wing was not a distinct and indepen‘dent unit
entitled to have its own scales of pay, that the ministerial
staff of the NDMC belonged to a unified cadre and the staff
members were liable to transfer from one branch to another
and, as such, the NDMC could not create a cadre within a
cadre and fix a different scale of pay for those in the
carved out cadre, that the nature of duties performed by the
ministerial staff in all the three units was more or less
similar, if not identical, and hence the well-established
rule of equal pay for equal work should govern the staff
members, that instead of restricting the payment of S.S.
Committee pay scales to the 496 ex-cadre posts in the elec-
tricity wing and directing the NDMC to fill up those posts
on the basis of seniority-cum-option, the High Court should
have directed the NDMC to give the S.S. Committee pay scales
to all the members of the ministerial staff and also pay
ex-gratia payment and should not have directed the NDMC to
treat the adhoc payment as one time special adhoc payment
and refrain from recovering the said amount.
The NDMC, in turn. filed two appeals against the High
Court judgment directing the payment at S.S. Committee
scales for the period from June 1975 to May, 1982 and fill-
ing up the ministerial posts in the electricity wing on
seniority-cum-option basis instead of a three years deputa-
tion basis on rotational system and payment of arrears of
pay etc. and for giving up the proceedings for recovery of
the adhoc payment towards ex-gratia payment and contending
that the Government or any State within the meaning of
Article 12 of the Constitution had a right under law to
create new departments or new cadres with different scales
of pay and hence the appellants could not impugn the action
of the NDMC in treating the ministerial staff in the elec-
trical wing differently and giving them pay scales as per
S.S. Committee Report.
On behalf of some of the staff members in the general
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wing, it was contended that since the NDMC constituted an
integrated unit with common fund, common budget etc., the
High Court ought not to have sustained the payment of ex-
gratia amount to only those persons working in the electric-
ity wing and water works wing and should have made the
payment applicable to all or to none.
In the writ petition and appeal filed on behalf of the
Assistant and Junior Engineers (Civil), it was contended
that there could not be any discrimination between civil
engineers and electrical engineers and since the NDMC fol-
lowed the pattern of scales of pay adopted by DESU
812
which paid the Civil Engineers according to S.S. Committee
pay scales they were as much entitled as the electrical
engineers to be paid according to the S.S. Committee pay
scales and also for payment of ex-gratia amount.
Allowing the appeals of the employees in the general
wing and dismissing the appeals and WP of NDMC and the
engineers (civil), this Court,
HELD: 1.1 All sections of the ministerial staff should
be treated alike and all of them should be entitled to the
same scales of pay for the work of equal nature done by
them. [825C]
1.2 Merely because a member of the ministerial staff had
been given a posting in the electricity wing either due to
force of circumstances or due to voluntary preferment, he
cannot stand on a better or higher footing or in a more
advantageous position than his counterparts in the general
wing. The ministerial staff in the NDMC constitute a unified
cadre with a common recruitment policy, a common recruitment
agency a common seniority list, and the posts in the three
wings are inter-changeable and postings are made from
the common pool according to administrative convenience and
exigencies of service and not on the basis of any distinct
policy or special qualification. [825B, 824H, 825A]
1.3 The only reason which prompted the NDMC to pass the
resolution was that since DESU had implemented the S.S.
Committee pay scales for its technical and non-technical
staff, the NDMC should also follow suit in so far as its
electricity wing is concerned. In doing so, the NDMC had
failed to bear in mind several distinguishing features
between its set up and the set up of the DESU and its staff
pattern and the staff pattern of DESU. [825G]
The NDMC is governed by the Punjab Municipal Act, while
the DESU is governed by the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act,
1957. The set-up of the NDMC is that of an integrated unit
comprising all the three wings while the set-up under the
Municipal Corporation Act of the MCD is that its three wings
have to function as distinct and independent units. Such
being the case, the DESU is a separate and independent unit
of MCD and constituted an independent body. The DESU has its
own budget and consequently it has freedom without reference
to the other units. In contrast, the NDMC’s revenue is the
income derived from all the three wings of it and the ex-
penses are governed by a common
813
budget. Apart from the diference in the set-up, the ministe-
rial staff in the NDMC are comprised in a unified cadre and
the posts in the three wings are transferable and inter-
changeable which is not so in the case of the staff of the
DESU. [825H, 826A]
1.4 There is no room whatsoever for treating the elec-
tricity wing of the NDMC on par with the DESU and adopting
the pattern of pay scales implemented by DESU and the deci-
sion taken by the NDMC originally to place the non-technical
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staff in the electricity wing on a higher footing and give
them alone the S.S. Committee pay scales cannot be legally
sustained. The action of the NDMC clearly suffered from the
vice of arbitrariness and discrimination. [826B-D]
2.1 The NDMC has no legal ground to project any justifi-
cation of its action in making the posts in the electricity
wing as ex-cadre posts and giving the benefit of S.S. Com-
mittee pay scales only to persons serving in those posts.
[828A]
2.2 The resolution only sought to provide all the mem-
bers of the staff the benefit of the higher scales of pay
for a period of three years at some point of time in their
service provided they opted to serve in the electricity wing
but it did not provide an answer for the criticism that
there was no justification to treat the ministerial staff in
the electricity wing on a higher footing than the rest of
the staff and give them a higher scale of pay. [826F-G]
2.3 The proposal would perpetuate the imbalance in the
pay scales between the different sections of the staff
working in the three wings of the NDMC. The system of depu-
tation would lead to a long period of wait for large sec-
tions of the staff before getting postings in the electrici-
ty wing on deputation basis. The staff members would have to
forego the higher scales of pay and come back to the lesser
scales when the period of deputation was over. The insist-
ence on the staff members being entitled to deputation
service in the electricity wing only if they exercised their
option to work in that wing introduces an element of compul-
sion among the members comprised in a unified cadre. These
factors vitiate the revised propsoal of the NDMC to make 496
posts as ex-cadre and to fill them up on deputation basis by
adopting a rotational cum option system. [826G-H, 827A-B]
3. The scheme formulated by the High Court cannot be
sustained or accepted. The High Court, apart from laying
itself open to the criticism that it had gone beyond its
power in formulating the scheme, has
814
failed to provide for equal benefits for all the members of
the ministerial staff. If the electricity wing is to be
filled up on the basis of seniority cum option, those who
had served earlier in the electricity wing would get a
distinct advantage over the rest of the ministerial staff
including the senior members in the matter of higher pay-
scales. Besides, the seniority cum option system would give
grater benefit to some and lesser benefit to some depending
upon their age etc. Moreover, the insertion of the option
clause would introduce an element of compulsion and make it
appear that the staff working in the electricity wing per-
form more onerous and more skilled duties and hence they
stand on a higher footing. It would also lead to packing all
the senior members of the staff in the electricity wing and
denuding the other two wings of the services of the senior
ministerial staff. [827C-F]
4. Merely because some of the Civil engineers are as-
signed to do civil engineers’ work in the electricity wing
it cannot be said that they are not different from the
electrical engineers and that they should be paid higher
scales of pay. In the matter of promotions etc., they are
governed by the common seniority list maintained for civil
engineers and their posting to the electricity wing cannot
make them a separate class by themselves. They cannot com-
pare themselves with the civil engineers working in DESU
because that is a separate and distinct unit, and all the
engineers working therein constitute a single unit. There is
no disparity of scales of pay between civil engineers work-
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ing in the electricity wing and those working in the other
wings. It cannot, therefore, be said that there is discrimi-
nation in the matter of pay scales. [828H, 829A-C]
5. The pattern of payment of ex-gratia payment adopted
by the MCD cannot have any binding force on the NDMC because
the three units of the MCD are different and distinct enti-
ties whereas the three wings of the NDMC are inter-dependent
wings of the integrated Municipal Committee. [830A]
6.1 In the absence of justifiable reasons of compulsive
nature, the payments whether as salary or as ex-gratia
amounts have to be on the same and equal basis and not
differently for the different wings. All the ministerial
staff working in the NDMC are entitled to get pay scales as
per S.S. Committee report and are also entitled to be given
ex-gratia payment likewise. The grant of S.S. Commitee pay
scales to only the staff working in the electricity wing or
the grant of ex-gratia payment to only the staff working in
the electricity wing and the water works wing cannot be
legally sustained as it suffers from the vice of discrimina-
tion. [830B, 831C]
815
6.2 There should be uniformity not only in payment of
S.S. Committee pay scales and the ex-gratia payment to the
staff working in all the wings or departments of the NDMC
but the payment should also be made from a date common to
all. [831D]
[In so far as payment of uniform salary to all the
ministerial staff as per S.S. Committee pay scales and
payment of ex-gratia payment is concerned, the NDMC will
give effect to this judgment with effect from 1st June,
1982. The amount involved should be distributed equally
amongst all the ministerial staff and not confined to the
ministerial staff of the electricity wing alone. In view of
the financial committment involved the NDMC is permitted to
pay the difference in scales of pay and ex-gratia amount
between June 1, 1982 to July 31, 1987 in three equal instal-
ments within a period of 15 months.] [831F-H]
Randhir Singh v. Union of India, [1982] 3 SCR 298;
Dhirendra Chamoli v. State of U.P., [1986] 1 SCC 637; P.
Ramachandra Iver v. Union of India, AIR 1984 SC 541, Reserve
Bank of India v.N.C. Paliwal, [1977] 1 SCR 377 and Reserve
Bank of India v.C.N. Sahasranaman, [1986] (Suppl.) SCC 143,
referred to.
JUDGMENT:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2969 of
1983 etc.
From the Judgment and Order dated 17.5. 1982 of the
Delhi High Court in Civil Writ No. 1231 of 1979.
G. Ramaswamy, Additional Solicitor General, Govinda
Mukhoty, Dr. Y.S. Chitale, V.D. Misra, M.K. Ramamurthi, N.C.
Talukdar, Mrs. C.M. Chopra, B.P. Maheshwari, R.S. Rama, M.A.
Krishnamurthy, N.L. Kakkar, Dr. Meera Aggarwal and R.C.
Misra for the appearing parties.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
NATARAJAN, J. The genesis for these appeals by special
leave, the special leave petition and the petition under
Article 32 of the Constitution is the grant of pay scales at
the rates recommended by the Shiv Shanker Committee for the
employees of the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking to
only a section of the ministerial staff of the New Delhi
Municipal Committee who happened to be working in the elec-
tricity wing of the said Committee at the relevant time.
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There is a good deal of factual material and historical
background to be covered
816
for a full and proper appreciation of the contentions of the
appellants and the petitioners on the one hand and the
respondents on the other in these appeals and petitions. We
will, therefore, concern ourselves with that exercise before
taking up the contentions of the parties.
In the Union Territory of Delhi there are two main civic
bodies viz. the New Delhi Municipal Committee (for short of
NDMC) and the Delhi Municipal Corporation (for short the
MCD). The NDMC comprises of New Delhi as it existed prior to
1947 and was constituted under the Punjab Municipal Act,
1911. The NDMC discharges all civic functions including
supply of water and electricity in the areas falling within
its jurisdiction. In 1957 the Delhi Municipal Corporation
Act came to be enacted and in pursuance thereof, the Delhi
Municipal Corporation was constituted amalgamating within
itself a few other smaller civic bodies which existed inde-
pendent of the NDMC and the resultant position was that the
rest of the areas fell within the jurisdiction of the Munic-
ipal Corporation of Delhi.
The NDMC, forming a compact unit, had divided its civic
work into various departments. Besides engaging technical
staff the NDMC engaged non-technical staff such as Municipal
staff, clerks etc, for working in the various departments
including the electricity and water supply departments. In
so far as the non-technical staff are concerned, they con-
stitute one unified cadre and are liable to transfer from
one department to another. They are governed by a common
channel of seniority. in respect of each class of employees
with common seniority list.
The set up of the MCD is, however, different since the
Delhi Municipal Corporation Act provides for the constitu-
tion of three separate and independent wings viz. the elec-
tricity, the general and the water. sewage and disposal
wings. The electricity wing came to be designated as the
Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (hereinafter referred
to as DESU) and is governed by an independent budget and
headed by a separate and independent General Manager and its
employees are governed by a separate cadre and a separate
seniority list. The general wing of the MCD performs the
other general civic duties and functions. The third wing is
concerned with the distribution of water and the disposal of
sewage etc. and it is also independent of the general wing.
To satisfy the demands of the employees of the MCD, NDMC
etc. the Government accepted the report of the Third Pay
commission
817
appointed by it and the pay scales, as recommended by the
Pay Commission were accepted by the NDMC as well as the
general wing of the MCD. The technical staff of DESU claimed
higher scales of pay as they were not satisfied with the pay
scales recommended by the Pay Commission. The Government,
therefore, constituted a Committee known as the Shiv Shanker
Committee (hereinafter the S.S. Committee for short) to go
into the question of revision of pay scales etc. of the
technical staff alone of DESU and the Committee submitted
its report in 1973. The non-technical or ministerial staff
of DESU who were not covered by the report of the S.S.
Committee demanded and agitated that they should also be
granted pay at the rates recommended by the S.S. Committee.
The DESU conceded the demand of the minisiterial staff at
its meetings held in May 1973 and decided to revise the pay
scales of the non-technical staff also working in DESU to
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the level recommended by the S.S. Committee.
Since the technical and ministerial staff working in
DESU were granted the SS Committee pay scales by the MCD,
the NDMC was of the view that the technical and ministerial
staff working in the electricity wing of NDMC should also
have the benefit of revised pay scales recommended by the SS
Committee. This view was taken on the assumption that the
staff working in the electricity wing of the NDMC were
performing the same or similar functions and duties as those
performed by the staff of DESU and hence parity of pay and
allowances should be maintained. Accordingly, the NDMC
passed a Resolution No. 154 on 19,10,1973 that the benefits
of pay and allowances as per SS Committee Report be given to
the staff of the electricity wing of NDMC. By another Reso-
lution dated 7. 1. 1974 the NDMC decided to give the benefit
of the revised pay scales with effect from i.4.72 to fall in
line with the actions of the DESU.
The grant of SS Committee pay scales to only those
members of the ministerial staff working in the electricity
wing brought about discontentment amount the staff working
in the general wing of the NDMC. They claimed they should
also be paid at the rates prescribed by the SS Committee and
not as per the scales of pay recommended by the Third Pay
Commission. Two of the employees of the general wing filed a
writ petition W. No. 307 of 1974 against NDMC and the Delhi.
Administration praying for quashing of the Resolution dated
7.1. 1974 for implementing the earlier Resolution passed in
favour of the staff 01 the electricity wing. Prakash Narain,
J. (as he then was) did not quash the Resolution but instead
issued. a writ of prohibition against the NDMC not to imple-
ment the Resolution. The learned Judge held that
818
the Resolution was discriminatory in nature but since the
staff working in the electricity wing had not been made
parties and furthermore the petitioners had not filed the
petition In a representative capacity, the proper course
would be to forbear the implementation of the Resolution by
the NDMC till such time the NDMC considered afresh the
question of the revision of pay scales for all sections of
the ministerial staff in accordance with law.
In compliance with the directions of the learned Judge
the NDMC considered the matter afresh and taking into con-
sideration its financial constraints. it passed a revised
Resolution on 25.6.75 which resulted in all the non-techni-
cal staff being treated equal and being granted uniform pay
scales at the rates recommended by the Third Pay Commission
and not at different rates for different wings. This resolu-
tion lead to discontent amount the ministerial staff of the
electricity wing since their pay scales were reduced to the
rates recommended by the Third Pay Commission. Consequently,
some of the affected members of the electrical wing filed a
writ petition CW No. 1388 of 1975 before the Delhi High
Court challenging the Resolution of the NDMC dated 25.6.75.
The High Court disposed of the writ petition on 18.2.77 on
the assurance given by the NDMC that the whole position
would be reviewed after giving all the parties including the
ministerial staff of the electricity wing due notice of the
matter. As against the judgment of Prakash Narain, J. the
NDMC also filed a Letters Patent Appeal. However, in view of
the subsequent Resolutions that had been passed the NDMC
withdrew itself from the appeal. But at the instance of some
of the affected employees of the electricity wing who had
got themselves impleaded as appellants, the appeal was
allowed on the short ground that the judgment of the learned
single judge could not be sustained as it bad been rendered
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without all the necessary parties being before the court.
The two staff members of the general wing who had origi-
nally filed CW No. 307 of 1974 filed a Special Leave Peti-
tion (SLP No. 3597 of 1978) against the judgment of the
Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in LPA No. 78 of
1975. This Court dismissed the special leave petition in
limine with an observation that it was hoped that the NDMC
would comply with the direction of the Delhi High Court that
it should evolve a formula satisfactory to all sections of
the ministerial staff working in the different wings of the
NDMC and if the revised scheme formulated by the NDMC was
not satisfactory to any section of the staff, it would be
open to the affected party to seek appropriate reliefs from
the High Court once again.
819
The NDMC after giving opportunity to all sections of the
employees to make their representations. passed a resolution
on 27.6. 1978 constituting the electricity wing with effect
from 1.5.78 or such subsequent date as may be fixed with 28
posts of pump drivers, two posts of welders. 3 posts of
carpenters and one post of pump mechanic and 496 posts of
ministerial staff and to give all of them scales of pay as
per SS Committee Report. The NDMC further resolved as fol-
lows:-
"D. 496 posts referred to above will be
treated as ex-cadre posts and will be filled
on deputation basis on rotation, the period of
deputation in one spell being three years.
These posts will be in SS Committee’s scales
and will carry the benefit of ex-gratia of
DESU pattern.
E. An equal number of posts may be created
in general wing to form deputation reserve.
F. The employees holding the ex-cadre posts
from the date of constitution of the wing will
be entitled to have their pay fixed in the SS
Committee scales or would draw deputation
allowance as permissible under normal rules.
During the period of deputation they will
continue to remain as members of the unified
cadre and will be eligible for promotion to
higher posts on that basis.
G. While the existing vacancies in the ex-
cadre categories will be filled straightaway
on seniority-cum-option basis, the existing
incumbents will hold the ex-cadre posts for a
period of three years from the date of consti-
tution of the wing on deputation basis. On
expiry of the three years, one third of them
with longest stay will be replaced every year
by transfer from the general wing on the basis
of seniority cum option. Such of the existing
incumbents who become due for promotion to
higher post will have to forego their deputa-
tion, if they accept the promotion and will be
transferred to general wing. "
The above resolution was not to the liking of the ministeri-
al staff working in the electricity wing and hence one Shri
R. Chaudhary and 190 other staff members in the electricity
wing filed a Writ Petition CW No. 4072 of 78 under Article
32 of the Constitution before this Court but withdrew the
same as the Court was not inclined to grant admission.
Thereafter three petitions under Article 226 of the
820
Constitution viz. CW Nos. 1231. 557 & 280 of 1978 came to be
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filed in the Delhi High Court. In CW No. 1231 of 1979, some
of the petitioners were Junior Engineers (Civil) some of the
petitioners were Assistant Engineers (Civil) and some of the
petitioners were Draftsman (Civil). While the grievance of
the ministerial staff among the petitioners was that they
should be treated on par with the ministerial staff of the
electricity wing in the matter of pay and allowances the
grievance of the Junior and Assistant Engineers (Civil) and
Draftsman (Civil) was that none of their posts was borne on
the cadre of the electricity wing albeit on a transferable
basis as there is no difference between the Civil Engineers
and the Electrical Engineers as they attend to the civil
engineering works in the electricity wing also and it is for
that reason the civil engineers in DESU have been equated
with the electrical engineers.
In so far as CW No. 280 of 1979 is concerned, the peti-
tion pertained to the grant of ex-gratia payment to only a
section of the NDMC employees. Ever since 1972, the employ-
ees and their unions were demanding ex-gratia payment on the
ground. that since the employees of DESU were being paid
-ex-gratia amount, they should also be paid likewise. The
Delhi Administration, by its letter dated 1.2.72 permitted
the NDMC to make ex-gratia payment to the employees of the
electricity wing on the same lines as was being followed in
DESU. Similarly, on 7.2.1973, the Delhi Administration
permitted the grant of ex-gratia payment to the employees
working in the Water Supply & Sewage Disposal wing of the
NDMC also on the ground their counterparts in the Water
Supply & Sewage Disposal undertaking in the MCD were being
paid ex-gratia amount. The ministerial staff in the general
wing who were not granted the ex-gratia payment raised a
protest. Eventually, the NDMC passed a resolution at its
meeting held on 25.7. 1977 that ex-gratia payment be made to
all employees of common categories such as clerks, superin-
tendents etc. and that the payment be made subject to the
conditions that the employees will refund the amount if the
proposal was not approved by the Delhi Administration.
Subsequently, it turned out that the Delhi Administration
did not approve the proposal of paying ex-gratia amount to
all the employees as the expenditure would cast a heavy
burden on the finances of the NDMC and furthermore it will
lead to similar demands being raised by employees in the
other local bodies of Delhi. Consequently, the NDMC called
upon the staff of the general wing to refund the ad hoc
payment of Rs.300 given by way of advance towards ex-gratia
payment. To challenge the negation of ex-gratia payment to
them CW No. 280 of 1978 was filed.
821
The High Court rendered a common judgment covering all
the three Writ Petitions. The High Court took the view that
the contention of the ministerial staff that all of them.
irrespective of the department of their work should be paid
as-per SS Committee Report failing which none should be paid
at that rate was an extreme stand and cannot therefore be
accepted. The High Court was of the opinion that the im-
pugned resolution of the NDMC was acceptable to the extent
it reflected the desire of the NDMC to grant SS Committee
scales of pay to as a large section of the staff as possible
and to that extent the resolution was a beneficial measure
for the ministerial staff. The High Court also held that
since the NDMC wanted to equate the electricity wing with
the DESU, it is but proper that only those members of the
ministerial staff who were prepared to work in the electric-
ity wing can be given the SS Committee pay scales and not
the others, who preferred to remain in the general wing
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itself. However, in so far as the decision of the NDMC to
introduce a system of deputation on rotational basis to the
electricity wing is concerned, the High Court was of the
view that the proposal may work hardship to the ministerial
staff both ways i.e. in seniority being overlooked at the
time of the deputation posting and secondly in the emolu-
ments getting reduced after the period of deputation was
over and as such a more fair and equitable formula in ac-
cordance with service jurisprudence should be evolved. In
accordance with that view, the High Court evolved the fol-
lowing formula to be adopted by the NDMC:-
"We, therefore, feel that in accordance with
the equality principle the proper approach
would be that SSC scale will be given amongst
the ministerial staff only to those persons
(a) who would opt to work in the electricity
department.
(b) it would be given strictly in accordance
with the seniority, i.e. to say the option
will first be asked from the senior persons
and if they are agreeable to work in the
electricity wing they will be posted there and
be eligible to get the higher SSC scale. If
and when any vacancy arises either because of
promotion or retirement or any other eventual-
ity the post will be filled up on the same
principle of seniority cum option. Thus a
unified principle and rule will apply to all
the ministerial staff, namely that the senior
most person working in the electricity cell
will be eligible to get the SSC scale. No
question of discrimination will thus arise,
because the electricity cell will be automati-
cally manned by the senior most of the minis-
terial staff. Thus no
822
ministerial staff is discriminated against
because each would be eligible in his own turn
of seniority. This would really amount to as
if a separate department of the electricity
wing has been constituted."
The High Court, while therefore upholding the order of the
NDMC modified the placement of the ex-cadre posts in the
over-all set up and also suggested the manner in which the
posts should be filled up viz. on the basis of seniority cum
option. Thereby, the High’Court has done away with the
rotational system every three years and further directed
that since the higher scale of pay was linked up with the
service rendered in the electricity wing, the SSC scales
should be paid to all those who had worked in the electrici-
ty wing during the period subsequent to June 75 till
30.5.82, that such payment will not amount to discriminatory
payment and that after 30.5.82 the postings should be made
in accordance with the seniority cum option formula.
In so far as the engineers (Civil) and draftsman (Civil)
are concerned, the High Court declined to sustain their
grievance. The High Court noticed that the Junior Engineers
(Civil) have no common seniority with the electrical engi-
neers in the electricity wing, that the posts are not inter-
changeable and that they cannot draw comparison from the
employment pattern of engineers in DESU because the DESU was
a separate and independent entity unlike the electricity
wing of the NDMC, that the nature of duties performed by the
electrical engineers and civil engineers was different and
for all these reasons the High Court held that the civil
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engineers cannot seek parity with the electrical engineers
in the electricity wing in the matter of pay scales.
The last question to be dealt with by the High Court
pertained to the refusal to grant ex-gratia payment to the
staff of the general wing. The High Court saw justification
in the payment of ex-gratia payments to the employees in the
electricity wing and the water supply and sewage disposal
wing alone because of the nature of their duties and because
of the precedent afforded by the MCD in granting such pay-
ment to the staff of the DESU and the Water Supply and
Sewage Disposal Department. However, the High Court took
into consideration the long delay that had occurred and the
hardship that would result to the employees of the general
wing by complying with the order of refund and therefore
directed the NDMC to treat the payment of Rs.300 "as one
time special ad hoc payment not serving as a precedent" and
refrain from recovering the said amount.
823
It is in this situation the appeals and petitions have
come to be filed. CA No. 2969 of 1973 has been filed by the
members of minisiterial staff in the general wing to contend
that instead of restricting the payment of SS Committee pay
scales to the 496 ex-cadre posts in the electricity wing and
directing the NDMC to fill up those posts on the basis of
seniority cure option, the High Court should have directed
the NDMC to give the SS Committee pay scales to all the
members of the ministerial staff. Likewise the appellants
would contend that the High Court should have directed the
NDMC to pay them also ex-gratia payment and should not have
directed the NDMC to treat the ad hoe payment "as one time
special ad hoc payment" and refrain from recovering the said
amount. The NDMC in turn has filed two appeals CA No. 2971
of 1983 and CA No. 2970 of 1983. The former appeal has been
filed against that part of the judgment relating to CW 1231
of 1979 wherein the High Court had directed payment at SS
Committee’s scales for the period June 1975 to May 1982 and
also directed ministerial posts in the electricity wing to
be filled up on seniority cum option basis instead of a
three years deputation basis on rotational system. Likewise
the direction of the High Court to give up the proceedings
for recovery of the ad hoc payment towards ex-gratia payment
is also impugned in the appeal. Civil Appeal No. 2970 Of
1983 is directed against that portion of the judgment relat-
ing to CW 557 of 1979 which has been filed by the non-tech-
nical staff of the electricity wing praying for payment of
arrears of pay for the total period subsequent to the sanc-
tion. CA No. 6074 of 1983 has been filed by the Assistant
Engineers (Civil) & Junior Engineers (Civil) to contend that
the High Court should have sustained their claim for parity
with the electrical engineers in the electricity wing and
directed the NDMC to pay them also at the SS Committee pay
scales and also to give them ex-gratia payment as in the
case of all the persons employed in the electricity wing.
SLP NO. 11270 of 1982 has been filed by some of the staff
members in the general wing to contend that since the NDMC
constituted an integrated unit with common fund, common
budget etc., the High Court ought not to have sustained the
payment of exgratia amount to only those persons working in
the electricity wing and should have made the payment ap-
plicable for all or to none. As common questions are raised
in this petition, special leave is granted and the appeal
shall be assigned a number. WP NO. 9256 of 1983 has been
filed by the Assistant & Junior Engineers (Civil) to contend
that there cannot be any discrimination between Civil Engi-
neers and Electrical Engineers and as such they are as much
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entitled as the electrical engineers to be paid according to
SS Committee pay scales and also for payment of ex-gratia
amount.
824
We will now take up for consideration the merit of the
contentions of the parties in the appeals and petitions. As
we propose to deal with the several contentions of the
parties in the course of our discussion in the judgment, we
do not think it necessary to set out the contentions of the
parties separately.
We will first take up for consideration the case of the
appellants in CA No. 2969 of 1983 viz. the ministerial staff
in the general wing of the NDMC. Mr. Mukhoty learned counsel
for the appellants urged before us that the electricity wing
of the NDMC is not a distinct and independent unit entitled
to have its own scales of pay and secondly the ministerial
staff of the NDMC belong to a unified cadre and the staff
members are liable to transfer from one branch of the NDMC
to another and as such the NDMC cannot create a cadre within
a cadre and fix different scales of pay for those in the
carved out cadre. It was further urged by him that the
nature of the duties performed by the ministerial staff in
all the three wings of the NDMC is more or less similar, if
not identical, and hence the well-established rule of equal
pay for equal work should govern the staff members. In
support of his argument the learned counsel relied on the
decisions of this Court in Randhir Singh v. Union of India,
[1982] 3 SCR 298; Dhirendra Chamoli v. State of U.P., [1986]
1 SCC 637 and P. Rarnachandra Iyer v. Union of India, AIR
1984 SC 541.
Controverting the arguments of Mr. Mukhoty, Mr. Misra,
learned counsel for the NDMC and Mr. Ramamurthy, learned
counsel for the non-technical staff working in the electri-
cal wing, argued that the Government or any State within the
meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution has a right under
law to create new departments or new cadres with different
scales of pay and hence the appellants. cannot impugn the
action of the NDMC in treating the ministerial staff in the
electrical wing differently and giving them pay scales as
per SS Committee Report. In support of their arguments, the
learned counsel placed reliance on the decisions in Reserve
Bank of India v. N.C. Paliwal, [1977] 1 SCR 377 & Reserve
Bank of India v. C.N. Sahasranaman, [1986] (Suppl.) SCC 143.
On a consideration of the matter we find the grievance
of the ministerial staff of the general wing to be well
founded. Admittedly, the ministerial staff in the NDMC
constitute a unified cadre. The recruitment policy for the
selection of the ministerial staff is a common one and the
recruitment is also done by a common agency. They are gov-
erned by a common seniority list. The ministerial posts in
the three
825
wings of the NDMC viz. the general wing, the electricity
wing and the water works wing are interchangeable posts and
the postings are made from the common pool according to
administrative convenience and exigencies of service and not
on the basis of any distinct policy or special qualifica-
tions. Therefore, it would be futile to say that merely
because a member of the ministerial staff had been given a
posting in the electricity wing, either due to force of
circumstances or due to voluntary preferment, he stands on a
better or higher footing.or in a more advantageous position
than his counter parts in the general wing. It is not the
case of the respondents that the ministerial staff in the
electricity wing perform more onerous or more exacting
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duties than the ministerial staff in the general wing. It
therefore follows that all sections of the ministerial staff
should be treated alike and all of them held entitled to the
same scales of pay for the work of equal nature done by
them. This Court has held in Randhir Singh’s case that the
mere fact that persons belong to different departments of
the Government cannot by itself be a sufficient circumstance
to justify different scales of pay and that "where all
things are equal, that is, where all relevant considerations
are the same, persons holding identical posts may not be
treated differentially in the matter of their pay merely
because they belong to different departments." In Dhirendra
Chamoli’s case, the principle was reiterated and it was held
that when "the persons engaged by the Nehru Yuvak kendras
performed the same duties as those performed by class IV
employees appointed on regular basis against sanctioned
posts, it is difficult to understand how the Central Govern-
ment can deny to those employees the same salaries and
conditions of service as class IV employees regularly ap-
pointed against sanctioned posts. To the same effect is the
decision rendered in P. Ramachandra Iyer’s case which relat-
ed to discriminatory treatment being meted out to three
Professors employed by the Indian Council of Agriculture
Research.
It is relevant at this juncture to scrutinise the reason
which impelled the NDMC to pass the resolution in 1973 for
giving the SS Commitee pay scales to the staff of the elec-
tricity wing alone. The only reason which prompted the NDMC
to pass the resolution was that since DESU had implemented
the SS Committee pay scales for its technical and non-tech-
nical staff, the NDMC should also follow suit in so far as
its electricity wing is concerned. In doing so, the NDMC had
failed to bear in mind several distinguishing features
between its set up and the set up of the DESU and its staff
pattern and the staff pattern of DESU. The NDMC, as already
stated, is governed by the Punjab Municipal Act while DESU
is governed by the Delhi Municipal
826
Corporation Act, 1957. The set up of the NDMC is that of an
integrated unit comprising all the three wings while the set
up under the Municipal Corporation Act of the MCD is that
its three wings have to function as distinct and independent
units. Such being the case, the DESU is a separate and
independent unit of MCD and constitutes an independent body.
The DESU has its own budget and consequently it has freedom
of action without reference to the other units. In contrast,
the NDMC’s revenues is the income derived from all the three
wings of it and the expenses are governed by a common budg-
et. Having regard to all these factors, there is no room
whatever for treating the electricity wing of the NDMC on
part with the DESU and adopting the pattern of pay scales
implemented by DESU. Apart from the difference in the set
up, it has also to be borne in mind that the ministerial
staff in the NDMC are comprised in a unified cadre and the
posts in the three wings are transferable and interchange-
able which is not so in the case of the staff of the DESU.
If regard is had to all these factors, the decision taken up
the NDMC originally to place the non-technical staff in the
electricity wing on a higher footing and give them alone the
SS Committee pay scales cannot be legally sustained. The
action of the NDMC clearly suffered from the vice of arbi-
trariness and discrimination.
That takes us to the validity of the further resolutions
passed by the NDMC. When it was directed by the High Court
to reconsider the matter in the light of the grievances
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expressed by the staff of the general wing, the NDMC decided
to make 496 posts in the electricity wing ex-cadre posts and
fill up those posts on deputation basis combined with a
rotational system to be enforced once in every three years.
By the revised resolution, fair distribution of higher pay
benefits was sought to be given to all the ministerial
staff, but nevertheless the vice of discrimination as be-
tween the staff of the electricity wing and the staff of the
general wing continued to persist. The resolution only
sought to provide all the members of the staff the benefit
of the higher scales of pay for a period of three years at
some point of time in their service provided they opted to
serve in the electricity wing but it did not provide an
answer for the criticism that there was no justification to
treat the ministerial staff in the electricity wing on a
higher footing than the rest of the staff and give them a
higher scale of pay. Secondly, the proposal would perpetuate
the imbalance in the pay scales between different sections
of the staff working in the three wings of the NDMC. Third-
ly, the system of deputation would lead to a long period of
wait for large sections of the staff before getting postings
in the electricity wing on deputation basis. Fourthly, the
staff members would have to
827
forego the higher scales of pay and come back to the lesser
scales when the period of deputation was over. Lastly, the
insistence on the staff members being entitled to deputation
service in the electricity wing only if they exercised their
option to work in that wing introduces an element of compul-
sion amont the members comprised in a unified cadre. These
factors vitiated the revised proposal of the NDMC to make
496 posts as ex-cadre posts and to fill them up on deputa-
tion basis by adopting a rotational cum option system.
The High Court realised in some measure the vitiating
features present in the revised scheme evolved by the NDMC.
However, instead of deprecating the scheme in its entirety,
the High Court has tried to formulate a scheme of its own.
The High Court has taken the view that the 496 posts ex-
caderised in the electricity wing can be treated as special
or senior posts which can be filled up on the basis of
seniority cum option. The High Court, apart from laying
itself open to the criticism that it had gone beyond its
powers in formulating a new scheme, has failed to provide
for equal benefits for all the members of the ministerial
staff. If the electricity wing is to be filled up on the
basis of seniority cum option, those who had served earlier
in the electricity wing would get a distinct advantage over
the rest of the ministerial staff including the senior
members of the matter of higher pay-scales. Besides, the
seniority cum option system would give greater benefit to
some and lesser benefit to some depending upon their age
etc. Moreover, the insertion of the option clause would
introduce an element of compulsion and make it appear that
the staff working in the electricity wing perform more
onerous and more skilled duties and hence they stand on a
higher footing. It would also lead to packing all the senior
members of the staff in the electricity wing and denuding
the other two wings of the services of the senior ministeri-
al staff. For all these reasons we find the scheme formulat-
ed by the High Court also cannot be sustained or accepted.
The NDMC itself had fully realised at one point of time
that its original resolution was not fair to all the members
of the ministerial staff and hence it reconsidered the
matter and resolved that the benefit of higher pay should
either be given to all the staff or to none and as its
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finances did not permit the former option, it was obliged to
adopt the latter option and hence all the staff members
would be uniformly paid at pay scales recommended by the
Third Pay Commission. The NDMC was however forced by the
Delhi Municipal Administration to treat the electricity wing
as a different unit and to restrict the grant of higher pay
scales only to that unit. In as much as the ground put
828
forward by the NDMC to discriminate between the ministerial
staff in the general wing and the electricity wing is lack
of funds and not on the ground of any distinction between
the two wings, the NDMC has no legal ground to project in
justification of its action in making the posts in the
electricity wing as ex-cadre posts and giving the benefit of
SS Committee pay scales only to persons serving in those
posts.
We are, therefore of the view that the appellants in CA
No. 2969 of 1983 are entitled to succeed in their appeal. We
will deal with the manner in which they should be given
relief, after considering the other appeals and petitions.
Our next concern will be to deal with CA No. 6074 of
1983 and WP No. 9266 of 1983 which have been filed by the
Junior Engineers (Civil) and Assistant Engineers (Civil).
Their grievance is that though they are on par with the
Electrical Engineers except that the nature of their techni-
cal services differ, their services are treated as inferior
or as less skillful and they are deprived the benefit of SS
Committee pay scales. They would contend that the civil
engineering works designed and executed by them constitute
an integral part of the work of the electrical wing and
hence they cannot be discriminated in the matter of fixation
of their scales of pay. The last contention is that since
the NDMC has followed the DESU pattern of scales of pay, the
Civil Engineers are also entitled to the SS Committee pay
scales because the DESU pays its civil engineers according-
ly. Dr. Chitale appearing for the Civil Engineers strenuous-
ly argued that since the Civil Engineers have been equated
with the Electrical Engineers by DESU, the NDMC also must
give parity of treatment for all the Civil Engineers and
give them the benefit of the higher scales of pay. We do not
feel persuaded to accept the contention of Dr. Chitale. The
case of the Civil Engineers does not stand on the same
footing as that of the ministerial staff. This is because of
several factors adverted to below. As has been pointed out
by the High Court the Civil Engineering department is a
separate and self-contained one and the civil engineers are
transferred within the civil engineering unit itself i.e.
from one division to another by the Chief Engineer (Civil).
The Civil Engineers posted in the water works division are
not paid according to the SS Committee pay scales. The
Junior Engineers (Civil) do not have any common seniority
with the electrical engineers and the posts are not inter-
transferable. All the engineers, in which ever wing or
department they are posted, are paid according to the pay
scales recommended by the Third Pay Commission. There is no
discrimination in payment of salary as between them. Merely
because some of the Civil Engineers
829
are assigned to do civil engineering works in the electrici-
ty wing they cannot be heard to say that they are not dif-
ferent from the electrical engineers and that they should be
paid higher scales of pay. In the matter of promotions etc.
they are governed by the common seniority list maintained
for Civil Engineers. As such their posting to the electrici-
ty wing cannot make them a separate class by themselves. It
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is of no avail to the Civil Engineers to compare themselves
with the Civil Engineers working in DESU because DESU is a
separate and distinct unit and all the engineers working
therein constitute a single unit. Unlike in the case of the
ministerial staff, there is no disparity of scales of pay
between Civil Engineers working in the electricity wing and
the Civil Engineers working in the other wings. Such being
the case the appellants and petitioners herein have no basis
to contend that they have been discriminated in the matter
of fixation of pay scales.
We are therefore of the view that C.A. No. 6074 of 1983
and W.P. No. 9266 of 1983 should fail.
We are lastly left with the controversy regarding the
payment of ex-gratia amount by the NDMC only to those em-
ployees who are working in the electricity wing and the
water works wing. We have already set out the history as to
how ex-gratia payment was sanctioned to the staff members of
the electricity wing and then the water works wing and why
it was not extended to the general wing etc. By way of an
adhoc arrangement, the NDMC had given an advance of Rs.300
for the period ending with 31.3. 1976 subject to the approv-
al of the Delhi Administration. As the Delhi Administration
declined to give its approval, the NDMC called upon the
concerned staff to refund the ad hoc payment of Rs.300 in
fifteen monthly instalments. To challenge the denial of ex-
gratia payment to them, the affected staff had filed CW No.
2807 of 1979. The High Court, it may be remembered, had
sustained the stand of the NDMC but nevertheless directed
the NDMC to treat the adhoc payment as a special payment and
to desist from recovering it.
We are unable to appreciate the reasoning of the High
Court and sustain its conclusion on this aspect of the
matter. The High Court has failed to see that no rational or
acceptable reason is put forward for justifying the ex-
gratia payment only to the ministerial staff working in the
electricity wing and the water works wing and denying the
same to the staff working in the general wing. The only
reason given is that the payment of ex-gratia amount is
patterned on the lines of the DESU and the Water Supply and
Sewage Disposal Undertaking of the MCD.
830
The pattern of payment adopted by the MCD cannot have any
binding force on the NDMC because the three units of MCD are
different and distinct entities whereas the three wings of
the NDMC are interdependent wings of an integrated Municipal
Committee. Therefore, in the absence of justifiable reasons
of a compulsive nature the payments, whether as salary or as
ex-gratia amount have to be on the same and equal basis and
not differently for the different wings of the NDMC. In
fact, what all we have said regarding the payment of uniform
pay at the scales recommended by SS Committee would squarely
apply to the payment of ex-gratia amount also. Hence CA No.
2969 of 1983 and SLP No. 11270 of 1982 (S.C.A. No. 1688 of
1987) deserve to succeed.
In the light of our conclusion, the two appeals CA NO.
2971 and 2970 of 1983 filed by the NDMC have to fail in so
far as the main issues are concerned. Mr. Misra, learned
counsel for the NDMC contended before us that it was open to
the NDMC to constitute different cadres among its employees
as laid down in Paliwal’s case and furthermore the grant of
SS Committee pay scales and ex-gratia payments to all the
employees would seriously affect the finances of the NDMC.
The decisions in Reserve Bank of India v. C. Paliwal (supra)
& Reserve Bank of India v. C.N. Sahasranaman (supra) relied
on by Mr. Misra are of no assistance in this case because
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what we are concerned is whether diferent pay scales and
allowances can be given to a section of the staff when they
belong to a unified cadre and are governed by common re-
cruitment policy, common seniority list and common transfer
policy. It was urged by the learned counsel that the High
Court was not justified in directing payment at the SS
Committee pay scales for the employees of the electricity
wing from June 1975 to May 1982 as that would result in the
NDMC paying Rs.51,98,079 and in addition the payment of the
arrears calculated on the difference in pay with reference
to the SS Committee pay scales for the period between
1.4.1972 to 30.9.1973 would cost another Rs.7,30,062 thus in
all casting a financial burden of more than Rs.50 lakhs on
the NDMC. In the view we propose taking of the matter in the
light of our conclusions, this grievance does not call for
discussion.
Mr. Ramamurthy, learned counsel appearing for the mem-
bers of the staff working in the electricity wing voiced
forth the grievance of those employees. The straight and
simple argument of the learned counsel was that in the
controversy between the ministerial staff of the general
wing on the one hand and the NDMC on the other, the staff of
the electricity wing who had been granted revised pay scales
at the SS
831
Committee rates have not been paid their due share of the
salary and that they are entitled to be paid salary at the
revised rate from 1.4.1972 failing which at least from 1982
onwards. The argument though appealing by itself cannot be
accepted because then it would mean that the staff members
of the electricity wing would be scoring an advantage over
their fellow employees in the general wing merely because
they were by accident or by compulsion working in the elec-
tricity wing at the relevant time the impugned resolutions
came to be passed by the NDMC.
In the result we hold that all the ministerial staff
working in the NDMC are entitled to get pay scales as per SS
Committee Report and likewise all of them are entitled to be
given ex-gratia payment. The grant of SS Committee pay
scales to only the staff working in the electricity wing or
the grant of ex-gratia payment to only the staff working in
the electricity wing and the water works wing cannot be
legally sustained as it suffers from the vice of discrimina-
tion. As a consequence of these findings it follows that
there should be uniformity not only in the payment of the SS
Committee pay scales and the ex-gratia amount to the staff
working in all the wings or departments of the NDMC but the
payment should also be made from a date common to all.
However, having regard to the long lapse of time and the
financial implications involved in the matter it will not be
fair and proper to direct the NDMC to pay all the members of
the staff at SS Committee rates from 1.4.72 to 30.9.73 and
from June 1975 to May 1982. But at the same time we cannot
also totally deprive the staff, particularly those who have
been looking forward to receiving higher scales of pay
granted by the NDMC, and the benefit of the ex-gratia pay-
ments. We, therefore, direct that the sum of Rs.59, 10,160
and the agreed amount of ex-gratia payment be equally dis-
tributed, among a11 the members of the staff, with such
adjustments by deductions as may be required to be made in
the case of persons who have received payment in excess of
their share under the above-said formula. In so far as
payment of uniform salary to all the ministerial staff as
per SS Committee pay scales and payment of ex-gratia amount
is concerned, the NDMC will give effect to our judgment with
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effect from 1st June 1982 since the High Court’s direction
for payment extends upto the end of May 1982 and in respect
of which payment we have directed the amount involved to be
distributed equally among all the ministerial staff and not
confine it to the ministerial staff of the electricity wing
alone. Taking into consideration the financial commitment
involved for the NDMC, it is permitted to pay the difference
in the scales of pay and ex-gratia amount between the period
1.6.82 to 31.7.87 in three
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equated instalments within a period of 15 months from the
date of our judgment. The Delhi Administration will give the
necessary sanction to the NDMC for disbursement of funds and
payment of arrears and future pay in accordance with our
judgment.
In the result CA No. 2969 of 1983 and (SLP No. 1127 of
1982) numbered as CA No. 1688. of 1987 will stand allowed to
the extent relief is given. CA Nos. 2970 of 1983 and 2971 of
1983 filed by the NDMC and CA No. 6074 of 1983 and WP No.
9266 of 1983 filed by the engineers (civil) will stand
dismissed.
There will be no order as to costs in all the appeals
and the writ petition.
N.P.V.
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