Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
NARENDRA KUMAR AND ANR. ETC.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
DHARAM DUTT AND ANR. ETC.
DATE OF JUDGMENT17/03/1993
BENCH:
KASLIWAL, N.M. (J)
BENCH:
KASLIWAL, N.M. (J)
KULDIP SINGH (J)
CITATION:
1993 SCR (2) 413 1993 SCC Supl. (3) 205
JT 1993 (2) 423 1993 SCALE (2)53
ACT:
Constitution of India, Article 39(d)--’Doctrine of equal pay
for equal work’--Implementation of--Shiv Shankar Committee’s
pay scales--Extension of to New Delhi Municipal Committee
staff--Technical staff in electricity wing and the
ministerial staff in general wing, electricity wing and
water works wing granted benefit--Employees in other
sections, departments--Whether entitled to equal pay.
HEADNOTE:
The New Delhi Municipal Committee by its resolution dated
19.10. 1973 extended the benefit of higher pay scales
recommended in the Shiv Shankar Committee Report, to its
staff working in the electricity wing. Following this, the
employees working in the general wing of the NDMC also
raised demand for granting them the benefit of those pay
scales. In the meantime, by its resolution dated 27.6.1978
the NDMC constituted, with effect from 1.5.1978, the
electricity wing composed of 28 technical and 496
ministerial posts and decided to give all of them scales of
pay as per S.S. Committee’s Report. In the writ petitions
filed in the High Court the ministerial staff failed to
receive full relief.
This Court in R.D. Gupta & Ors. etc. v. Lt. Governor, Delhi
Administration & Ors. etc., [1987] 3 SCR 808 found that the
entire ministerial staff in the NDMC constitutes a unified
cadre. The ministerial posts in the general wing, the
electricity wing and the water works wing are interchan-
geable posts 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 qualifications. It was thus held that all sections
of the ministerial staff should be treated alike and all of
them were entitled to the same scales of pay for the work of
equal nature done by them.
In order to extend the benefit of R.D. Gupta’s case, the
NDMC by its order dated 9.6.1988, revised the pay scales of’
18 categories of employees who constituted 496 posts forming
the electricity cell. By another order
414
dated 27.7.1988 the NDMC extended the benefit of S.S.
Committee’s scales to eight allied categories of sweepers,
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subsequently, all the drivers of the NDMC were extended
benefit of R.D. Gupta’s case.
On the question: whether the petitioners fall within the
cadre of ministerial staff or fall in similar cadres which
have already been granted the benefit of S.S. Committee’s
pay scales.
Disposing of the writ petitions, the Court,
HELD: 1. There is no valid justification for
discriminating the employees of the Auto Workshop which
forms a part and parcel of the electricity wing of the NDMC,
since the benefit of the pay scales recommended by the S.S.
Committee has been allowed by the NDMC to the 18 categories
of employees which include daftry, peon, chowkidar, sweeper
etc. [422D-E]
2. The NDMC having allowed the benefit of S.S. Committee’s
scales to rat catchers and dog catchers vide order dated
27.7.1988, there is no valid justification for denying such
benefit to duplicating machine operators and gunmen/dog
shooters. There is no essential difference in the job work
done by gunmen/dog shooters. The post of duplicating
machine operators in transferable and interchangeable from
other class IV employees of the NDMC who have already been
granted benefit of S.S. Committee’s pay scales vide order
dated 9.6.1988. [422E]
3. Both the posts of Junior Technical Assistant (Hindi)
and Assistant Store-Keeper are such posts which clearly fall
within the ministerial cadre. They are thus entitled to the
benefit of S.S. Committee’s scales. [423B]
4. The benefit of S.S. Committee’s pay scales having
already been extended to the pump drivers in the electricity
wing, there is no valid ground or justification to deny such
benefit to the pump drivers working in the water supply,
horticulture and civil wings of NDMC. [423C]
5. The employees of Junior Navyug School run by NDMC fall
in a different cadre altogether and-as such cannot claim the
benefit of S.S. Committee’s pay scales on the basis of R.D.
Gupta’s judgment. Their posts are not interchangeable or
transferable from any other post under the NDMC. The nature
and the duties performed by them are totally different and
they cannot be granted the benefit of the S.S. Committee’s
pay scales
415
on the basis of any equality with the other employees of
NDMC who have been granted such benefit. [423D-E]
6. The telephone operators working in the NDMC fall in a
separate cadre and their posts are neither interchangeable
nor transferable with the other members of the service in
the NDMC. That apart, the petitioners are trained Telephone
Operators and Senior Telephone Operators and as such do not
fall within the category of ministerial staff and are not
entitled to the benefit of S.S. Committee’s pay scales on
the basis of R.D. Gupta’s case. [423F]
7. The respondent-Delhi Administration and NDMC are
directed to take appropriate steps within three months and
make payment of the entire arrears and grant future benefit
in the pay scales as recommended by S.S. Committee. [424B]
JUDGMENT:
ORIGINIAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No.3 of 1990
etc. etc.
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India).
K.T.S. Tulsi, Addl. Solicitor General, M.K. Ramamurthy,
Govinda Mukhoty and N. Santosh Hegde, Ms. C. Ramamurthi,
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M.A. Krishna Moorthy, M.A. Chinnaswamy, H. Subramaniam, Ms.
C.M. Chopra, A Bhattacharjee, G.S. Chatterjee, H.K. Puri,
M.P. Jha, Serva Mitter, R.K. Maheshwari, Vineet Maheshwari,
Ms. Niranjan Singh, B.D. Prasad, K. Swamy and B.K. Prasad
for the appearing parties.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
KASLIWAL, J. All these cases are an upshot of the case R.D.
Gupta & Ors. etc. v. Lt. Governor, Delhi Administration &
Ors. etc., [1987] 3 S.C.R. 808. It is not necessary for us
to give the background and history of the constitution of
the two main civic bodies namely, New Delhi Municipal
Committee (in short ’MDMC’) and the Municipal Corporation of
Delhi (in short ’MCD’), in the Union Territory of Delhi as
the same has already been mentioned in detail in the above
R.D. Gupta’s case (supra). We would thus mention only such
details which are relevant and necessary for the purpose of
deciding the above cases. All the above cages relate to-
the employees of the NDMC who are claiming the benefit of
the report of Shiv Shankar Committee (in short ’SSC’) in
respect of the grant of pay scales
416
as allowed to other employees of NDMC in R.D. Gupta’s case.
The Government accepted the report of the Third Pay
Commission and granted pay-scales as recommended to the
employees of NDMC as well as to the MCD. The technical
staff of the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (in short
’DESU’) claimed higher scales of pay as they were not
satisfied with the pay-scales recommended by the Third Pay
Commission. The Government therefore constituted Shiv
Shankar Committee to go into the question of revision of
pay-scales of the technical staff of DESU. The SCC
submitted its report in 1973 according to which higher pay-
scales were allowed to the technical staff of DESU. The
non-technical/ministerial staff of DESU who were not covered
by the report of the SSC demanded that they should also be
granted pay-scales as recommended by the SSC. The DESU
considered the demand of the ministerial staff at its
meeting held in May 1973 and decided to revise the pay-
scales of the non-technical staff also working in DESU.
Since the technical as well as the ministerial staff working
in the DESU were granted the pay-scales recommended by SSC,
the NDMC also. by its resolution No.154 dated 19.10.1973
allowed the benefits of pay-scales as recommended by SSC to
its staff working in the electricity wing. In view of the
fact that the benefit of the SSC pay-scales was granted by
the NDMC to the ministerial staff working in the
electricity wing only, the employees working in the general
wing of the NDMC also raised a demand for granting them also the benefit o
f the pay-scales recommended by SSC. Many
orders were passed from time to time and writ petitions Were
also filed by the concerned parties, but we do not think it
necessary to give the details as the same have been narrated
in R.D. Gupta’s case and we come to the resolution of the
NDMC dated 27.6.1978 constituting the electricity wing with
effect from 1.5.1978 or such subsequent date as may be fixed
composed of 28 posts of pump drivers, two posts of welders,
three 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. Three petitions
under Article 226 of the Constitution viz. CW Nos. 1231,
557 and 280 of 1978 were filed in the Delhi High Court. We
are only concerned with the grievance of the ministerial
staff who were claiming to be treated at par with the
ministerial staff of the electricity win in the matter of
pay and allowances. The ministerial staff in the general
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wing having not received the full relief in the High Court
filed C.A. 2969 of 1973
417
before this Court. It was claimed in the said appeal 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-cum-option, the High Court should have directed
the NDMC to give the SS Committee pay-scales to all the
members of the ministerial staff. In R.D. Gupta’s case,
this Court decided many appeals by a common order, but we
are only concerned with the C.A. No. 2969 of 1983 which
relates to the ministerial staff in the general wing of the
NDMC. It was contended by the appellants in the said appeal
that the electricity wing of the NDMC was not a distinct and
independent unit entitled to have its own scales of pay and
secondly the ministerial staff of the NDMC belonged to a
unified cadre and the staff members were 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
also urged 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. This Court in R.D. Gupta’s case held
that the grievance of the ministerial staff of the general
wing was well founded. The ministerial staff in the NDMC
constituted 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
governed by a common seniority list. The ministerial posts
in three 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 qualifications. It was held that 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 its
counterparts in the general wing. It was thus held that all
sections of the ministerial staff should be treated alike
and all of them were entitled to the same scales of pay for
the work of equal nature done by them.
After the above decision in R.D. Gupta’s case, the employees
of NDMC working in different departments have filed the
above writ petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution or
Civil Miscellaneous Petitions in
418
R.D. Gupta’s case which have been directed by this
Court to be treated as Writ Petitions by order dated
17.11.1989. In all these cases the employees have prayed for
granting the same pay-scales including the ex-gratia
benefits as was recommended by SSC.
Writ Petition No.1 of 1990 has been filed by NDMC Workship
Employees Association on behalf of the employees of Auto
Workship of NDMC. In Writ Petition No.5 of 1990, the
petitioners are Class IV employees of NDMC holding the posts
of Duplicating Machine Operators and Gunmen/Dog Shooters.
In Writ Petition No.3 of 1990, the petitioners were
initially appointed as Junior Clerks and subsequently
promoted to the posts of Junior Technical Assistants (Hindi)
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also knows as Translator (Hindi). In Writ Petition No.13 of
1990, the petitioner is working on the post of Assistant
Store-Keeper. In Writ Petition No.292 of 1990, the
petitioners are pump drivers in the water supply,
horticulture and civil wings of NDMC. In Writ Petition
No.1109 of 1990, the petitioners are the employees of Junior
Navyug School run by NDMC. In Writ Petition No.409 of 1990,
the petitioners are working as Telephone Operators under the
NDMC.
The short controversy to be decided in the above cases is
whether the petitioners fall within the cadre of ministerial
staff or fall in similar cadres which have already been
granted the benefit of SSC pay-scales? It is no longer in
controversy now that the ministerial staff working in all
the wings are also entitled to the same benefit of SSC pay-
scales as has been given to the ministerial staff working in
the electricity wing of the NDMC. It has already been
decided in R.D. Gupta’s case that the entire ministerial
staff in the NDMC constitutes a unified cadre. The
ministerial post in the three wings of the NDMC viz., the
General Wing, the Electricity Wing the 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 qualifications.
It may be further noted that the NDMC itself in order to
extend the benefit of R.D. Gupta’s case in a meeting dated
9.6.1988 resolved as under:-
"IMPLEMENTATION OF BENEFIT OF S.S. SCALE
EXTENSION OF BENEFITS SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT
SLP. 11270 OF 1982 SHRI R.D. GUPTA
419
AND OTHERS VERSUS LG. DELHI AND OTHERS.
The Committee as per the advice of the Law
Deptt. and the opinion given by our counsel,
justice V.D. Mishra on 26.2.1988 had decided
that following categories of employees who
constitutes 496 posts created by the. NDMC
while forming the Electricity Cell vide Reso.
passed on 27.6.1978 should be extended the
benefits:-
1. Office Supdt.
2. HA/Accountant
3. Personal Asstt.
4.Sr. Clear
5. Stenographers
6. Jr. Clerk
7. Asstt. Storekeepers
8. Adrema Operators
9. Asstt. Adrema Operators
10. Asstt. Record Keepers
11. Daftry
12. Peon
13. Bill Collector
14. Sorter
15. Ferro Printer
16. Chowkidar
17. Sewerman
18. Sweeper
Accordingly, the Committee passed orders to
extend the benefits vide orders dated
26.2.1988 to all the above
420
categories. These employees have already been
paid a part of the arrears and salaries under
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S.S. Scale. The CAP while checking the pay
fixation have required a formal resolution of
the Committee for processing the cases.
Accordingly, this is noted to the Committee
for information in continuation of Reso.
No.26 dated 9.2.1988.
ADMINISTRATOR’S DECISION Information noted."
By another order dated 27.7.1988 the benefit of S.S.
Committee’s scales was extended to the following cadre of
employees:-
"NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE
DATED: 27.7.1988
OFFICE ORDER
Under the orders of the Administrator dated
18.7.1988 the following allied categories of
sweepers are extended the benefit of S.S.
Scales in terms of Reso. No.26 dated 9.2.1988 read
with Reso. No.52 dated 9.6.1988 as they form
the common cadre of sweepers.
1. Lorry Belders
2. Dumping ground beldars
3. Bhisties
4. Rat catchers
5. Verandha Beldars
6. Hawker Raid Van beldars
7. Sweepers-cum-chockidars
8. Dog catchers.
Sd/- Asstt. Secy. (Health)
421
Copy to:-
1. All Estts.: with the request to fix the
pay of the above mentioned categories in the
S.S. Scales.
2. DS (E)
3. A.S. (AIC)
4. P.A. to Secy. NDMC
5. C.A.0.
6. O.S. (CBS)
7. Supdt. A/Cs.
8. File
9. P.A. to F.A.
10. OS (CE-1)
The case is laid before the Committee of Officers presided
over by the Administrator for consideration and decision if
the benefit of Supreme Court Judgment dated 7.8.1987 be
extended to all the Drivers in anticipation of the approval
of the Lt. Governor, Delhi and in the anticipation of the
confirmation of the Minutes of the Committee.
ADMINISTRATOR’S DECISION
Resolved by the Committee of Officers and decided by the
Administrator that benefit of Supreme Court judgment dated
7th Aug. 87 is extended to all the Drivers of the Committee
in the anticipation of the approval of the L.G. Delhi. The
action be taken in anticipation of confirmation of the
minutes of the Committee.’
In Writ Petition No.1 of 1990, the contention of the
petitioners is that they are employees working in the Auto
Workshop of NDMC which is a part and parcel of the
electricity establishment and their duties are mini-,
sterial in nature. It has been further contended that the
Auto Workshop’
422
employees have to work throughout on the ground beneath the
vehicles belonging to all departments whether it belongs to
electricity, water or the administrative staff and they have
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to work for such time till a vehicle is fit for traffic and
have to maintain the vehicle not only for administrative
staff but also for the electrical, health, water etc. It
has been further urged that Auto Workshop employees are part
and parcel of electrical wing and their appointments,
promotions, pension, salaries, increments, transfers, main-
tenance of personal filing is done by the electricity
establishment. Moreover, their services are inter-
transferable such as drivers, cleaners, helper, peon,
chowkidar, sweepers, fitters, khalasis working in the Auto
Workshop can be and are transferred to other departments.
It has also been urged that a discriminatory treatment has
been given in the case of the petitioners inasmuch as a
fitter which is a promotional post from amongst peon or
chowkidar or sweeper is getting less pay-scale than the peon
or chowkidar and likewise clearner which is a promotional
post is getting less pay-scale than a chowkidar, peon and
sweeper.
We find force in the submission of the petitioners. As
already mentioned above the benefit of the pay-scales
recommended by the SSC has been allowed to the NDMC to the
18 categories of employees which includes, daftry, peon,
chowkidar, sweeper etc. and we find no valid justification
for discriminating the employees of the Auto Workshop which
forms a part and parcel of the electricity wing of the NDMC.
In Writ Petition No.5 of 1990, the petitioners are Class IV
employees of NDMC holding posts of Duplicating Machine
Operators and Gunmen/Dog Shooters. Needless to say that
NDMC has allowed the benefit of SS Committee’s scales to Rat
Catchers and Dog Catchers vide order dated 27.7.1978 as
already quoted above and we find to valid justification for
denying such benefit to Duplicating Machine Operators and
Gunmen/Dog Shooters. When such benefit has been allowed to
Rat Catchers and Dog Catchers, there is no essential
difference in the job work done by Genmen/Dog Shooters. The
Duplicating Machine Operators are also Class IV employees
and such post is transferable and interchangeable from other
Class IV employees of the NDMC who have already been granted
the benefit of SSC’s pay-scales vide order dated 9.6.1988
already mentioned above.
In Writ Petitoin No.3 of 1990, the petitioners are working
as Junior
423
Technical Assistants (Hindi) and are also known as
Translator (Hindi). In Writ Petition No.13 of 1990, the
petitioner is working on the post of Assistant Store-Keeper.
Both the above posts of Junior technical Assistants (Hindi)
and Assistant Store-Keeper are such posts which clearly fall
within the ministerial cadre. Learned counsel appearing for
the NDMC was unable to show any material on record for
taking a contrary view.
In Writ Petition No.292 of 1990, the petitioners are pump
drivers employed in the water supply, horticulture and civil
wings of NDMC. The benefit of SSC pay-scales has already
been extended to the pump drivers in the electricity wing
and there in no valid ground or justification to deny such
benefit to the pump drivers working in the water supply,
horticulture and civil wings of NDMC.
In Writ Petition No.1109 of 1990, the petitioners are the
employees of Junior Navyug School run by NDMC. In our view,
the employees of the school though run by NDMC fall in a
different cadre altogether and as such cannot claim the
benefit of SSC pay-scales on the basis of R.D. Gupta’s
Judgment. It is not their case that their posts are
interchangeable or transferable from any other post under
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NDMC. The nature and the duties performed by the
petitioners are totally different and they cannot be granted
the benefit of the SSC pay-scales on the basis of any
equality with the other employees of NDMC who have been
granted such benefit.
In Writ Petition No.409 of 1990, the petitioners are working
as Telephone Operators. The Telephone Operators fall in a
separate cadre and their posts are neither interchangeable
nor transferable with the other members of the service in
NDMC. That apart the petitioners are Trained Telephone
Operators and Senior Telephone Operators and as such do not
fall within the category of ministerial staff and’-as such
are not entitled to the benefit of SSC pay-scales on the
basis of R.D. Gupta’s case.
In the above cases we are only concerned with the granting
of benefit of SSC pay-scales on the basis of R.D. Gupta’s
case and as such we are holding that the petitioners working
in the Navyug School in Writ Petition No.1109 of 1990 and
Telephone Operators in Writ Petition No. 409 of 1990 are not
entitled to the benefit of the SSC pay-scales. These
petitioners are free to make their claim if any, for the
revision of their pay-scales to the competent authorities.
424
In the result, we allow Writ Petition Nos. 1, 3, 5, 13, and
292 of 1990 and grant them the benefit of SSC pay-scales in
the same manner as granted to other employees vide
Resolution No.26 dated 9.2.1988 read with Resolution No.52
dated 9.6.1988. The respondent-Delhi Administration and NDMC
shall take appropriate steps within three months of the
notice of this order and make payment of the entire arrears
and grant future benefit in the pay-scales as recommended by
SS Committee. The Writ Petition Nos.1109 of 1990 and 409 of
1990 are dismissed. No order as to
costs.
P.S.S. Petitions disposed of
425