Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
TELECOMMUNICATION RESEARCH CENTRE SCIENTIFICOFFICERS (CLASS
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS
DATE OF JUDGMENT16/01/1987
BENCH:
VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J)
BENCH:
VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J)
SINGH, K.N. (J)
CITATION:
1987 AIR 490 1987 SCR (1)1007
1987 SCC (1) 582 JT 1987 (1) 152
1987 SCALE (1)62
ACT:
Constitution of India, 1950: Articles 14 and 16: Civil
Services-Pay parity--Scientific and Technical Officers,
class I, Telecommunication Research Centre--Direct recruits
through Union Public Service Commission--Denied special pay
admissible to--Departmental Transferred Officers Class
I--Held discriminatory and ultra vires.
HEADNOTE:
The recruitment to Class I posts in the Telecommunica-
tion Research Centre of the Posts and Telegraphs Department
is made partly by direct recruitment through the Union
Public Service Commission and partly through transfer of
Group A and Group B Field Officers. The officers brought
into the Centre on transfer were being paid special pay in
addition to their pay. The direct recruits were denied this
privilege.
The petitioners 2 to 22, members of the first petition-
er-Association, who belong to the direct recruits category
and are working in the Centre on the same posts, and possess
same qualifications, discharge same functions and duties as
the transferred officers, and are in the same pay scales,
assailed the denial of special pay to them as discriminatory
and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
Their claim was contested by the Department and the discrim-
ination was sought to be justified on the ground that the
direct recruits were. specifically recruited to the Centre
for a limited purpose and their capability, as against
transferred officers, selected by the Union Public Service
Commission after rigorous competitive examination, of tak-
ing. over a complete group and directing them to fruitful
research was doubtful.
Allowing the writ petitions, the Court,
HELD: 1. Denial of special pay to Class I direct re-
cruits in the Telecommunication Research Centre amounts to
violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. They
are entitled to the special pay at the same rates at which
it is paid to the transferred officers working in that
Centre with effect from the date from which the latter have
been drawing it. [1013B-C]
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2.1 It is not the case of the Government that the peti-
tioners are not competent and are not able to discharge
their duties. All the relevant things such as qualifica-
tions, functions, duties and responsibilities are the same
as between the direct recruits and the transferred offi-
cials. Their scale of pay is also the same. [1011G-H]
2.2 The special pay is not being paid to the transferred
officials for compensating their displacement or for their
qualifications. It is not deputation allowance. It is paid
for the arduous and special nature of the functions to be
discharged in the Telecommunication Research Centre. The
rigorous test is applied while transferring them to the
Centre to prevent persons of inferior caliber amongst them
getting into it. It does not mean that persons who are
directly recruited and working in the Centre are inferior to
those who enter the Centre by transfer. Nor it could be said
that the transferred officials had to perform in the Centre
duties which were not in their general line. There was,
thus, no justification to deny the special pay at the same
rates to the direct recruits working in that Centre. [1011H;
1012A-B; 1013A]
Randhir Singh v. Union of India and Others, [1982] 3
SCR, 298 and M.P. Singh & Others v. Union of India, Writ
Petition Nos. 13097--13176 of 1984, decided on January 16,
1987, applied.
Union of India to pay special pay to the direct recruits
with effect from the date on which the transferred officers
commenced to draw it upto date and to continue to pay it in
future also as long as the transferred officers continue to
get it. [1013C-D]
JUDGMENT:
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition Nos. 3269-3290 of
1982
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India).
M.S. Ganesh for the Petitioners.
V.Kanth, C.V. Subba Rao, Ms. Halida Khatun, N.S. Das
Bahl and D.N. Misra for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
VENKATARAMIAH, J. The first petitioner in these peti-
tions is the Telecommunication Research Centre Scientific
Officers (Class I) Association. The petitioners 2 to 22 are
its members. They are working
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as officers in the Telecommunication Research Centre of the
Posts and Telegraph Department which is directly under the
control of the P&T Board of the Ministry of Communications,
Government of India. The Telecommunication Research Centre
is engaged in the research and development work concerning
the telecommunication equipment for the use of the Depart-
ment and in advising the P&T Board on relevant technical
matters relating to the introduction of new equipment and
technology in the existing public communication net work.
The recruitment to the different cadres in the Telecommuni-
cation Research Centre is now being made under the Scientif-
ic and Technical Officers Grade I (Telecommunications Re-
search Centre of the Posts and Telegraphs Department) Re-
cruitment Rules, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as "the
Recruitment Rules") framed by the President under the provi-
so to Article 309 of the Constitution of India. During the
period between 1956 and 1962 and further till 1965 all the
Class I posts of the Scientific and Technical Officers Grade
I namely Assistant Director and Deputy Director were manned
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by the Transferred Field Officers belonging to the Indian
Telecommunication Service Group A and Group B. For the first
time the Union Public Service Commission advertised for the
recruitment of 10 Scientific and Technical Officers Grade I
in the Telecommunications Research Centre under the
Recruitment Rules. These were General Central Service Class
I posts and they continue to be so till today. In response
to the said advertisement petitioners 2,3 and 4 applied for
recruitment and they were selected for appointment to the
posts of S&T.O. Grade I. At the time of the filing of these
writ petitions there were in all 21 officers who had been
recruited at the entry level of Junior Class I posts of S &
T.Os Grade I. They were recruited in four batches in 1965,
1967, 1970 and 1973.
The Class I posts in the Telecommunication Research
Centre consist of the following posts:
1. Director (Senior Adminstrative Grade Level I)
2. Additional Director (Senior Administrative Grade Level
II)
3. Deputy Directors (Junior Administrative Grade)
4. Assistant Directors (Senior Class I)
5. Scientific and Technical Officers Grade I (Junior Class
I).
The Posts of Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors and
S.T.Os Grade I are filled by the following methods:
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(a) by direct recruitment through the Union Public Service
Commission, (The petitioners belong to this category. They
are now holding the posts of Assistant Directors or Deputy
Directors since 1975. Direct recruitment to the Telecommuni-
cation Research Centre has been discontinued.)
(b) by transfer of Group A Field Officers recruited through
the Union Public Service Commission by written examination
followed by an interview, (These officers belong to the
Indian Telecommunication Service Group B) and
(c) by transfer of Group B Field Officers who are Posts and
Telegraphs departmental promotees belonging to the Telegraph
Engineering Service, Group.
The direct recruits to which category the petitioners
belong and the Transferred Field Officers Group A working in
the Telecommunication Research Centre discharge same func-
tions and duties. The qualifications for recruitment pre-
scribed in the case of both classes are the same. They are
in the same pay scales from 1.1. 1973 at the comparable
levels/grades, i.e., Scientific and Technical Officers Grade
I, Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors as recommended
by the Third Pay Commission and accepted by the Government.
In these petitions, the petitioners have raised two
grounds, namely, the first relating to the denial of promo-
tional opportunities to them on account of the irregular
implementation of the rules of promotion contained in the
Recruitment Rules and the second relating to violation of
Article 14 and Article 16 of the Constitution by not grant-
ing them the same special pay which is granted to the trans-
ferred officers who are working in the Telecommunication
Research Centre in the same posts and discharging the same
functions as the petitioners.
Having regard to the inadequacy of the material produced
by both the sides before us and to the fact that the offi-
cers who are likely to be affected by the decision are not
impleaded as parties by name to these petitions, we are of
the view that the first question should be left open to be
decided by the Central Administrative Tribunal. We accord-
ingly express no opinion on the said question.
The second question relating to the grant of Special Pay
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requires
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to be decided by us. It is seen that the Indian Telecommuni-
cation Service Officers who are working in the Telecommuni-
cation Research Centre are being given Special Pay of Rs.
300, Rs. 200 and Rs. 150 per month in addition to their pay
scales in the grades of Deputy Director, Assistant Director
and Scientific and Technical Officers Grade I respectively
with effect from 1.1.1973. The direct recruits to which
category the petitioners belong are not given any Special
Pay in these grades and they are given only the pay at the
pay scales prescribed for them. It is stated that the total
number of officers who are thus getting Special Pay is of
the order of 275 while only about 25 officers who are direct
recruits working in the Telecommunication Research Centre
are not given Special Pay paid to the others holding the
same posts. A number of representations had been made earli-
er by the direct recruits but all in vain. It appears that
at the official meeting held in May, 1979 with Shri J.A.
Dave Secretary, Communications, Government of India, there
was consensus on the question of granting of Special Pay to
the direct recruits as in the case of transferred officers
as can be seen from the letter written by the Association on
the petitioners (Annexure XIX) and that the Director, Tele-
communication Research Centre also recommended for granting
Special Pay accordingly. But nothing came out of all this.
Hence the petitioners have filed these petitions demanding
payment of Special Pay to them also.
The discrimination between the direct recruits and the
transferred officers regarding the payment of Special Pay is
attempted to be justified by the Government in the Counter-
affidavit filed by Shri C.L. Sumon, Assistant Director
General (P & T Directorate). It is stated that the petition-
ers (direct recruits) who are specifically recruited to the
Telecommunication Research Centre for a limited purpose are
not entitled to any Special Pay but the transferred officers
from the Indian Telecommunications Service who are selected
by the Union Public Service Commission after a rigorous
competition examination need to be paid Special Pay. It is
alleged that ’it is felt that most of the direct recruits
TRC officers may be good in small areas in which they are
working, but their capability of taking over a complete
group and directing them to fruitful research is doubtful’.
This statement is a vague one and has the effect of adding
insult to injury. This allegation appears to be a lame
excuse for denying what is legitimately due to the direct
recruits. It is not the case of the Government that the
petitioners are not competent and are not able to discharge
their duties. All the direct recruits are graduate engineers
and have been working throughout in the Telecommunication
Research Centre. They do the same job as the transferred
officials. The Special Pay is not being paid to the
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transferred officials for compensating their displacement or
for their qualifications. It is not deputation allowance. It
is paid for the arduous and special nature of the functions
to be discharged in the Telecommunication Research Centre.
The rigorous test is applied while transferring them to the
Telecommunication Research Centre to prevent persons of
inferior caliber amongst them getting into the said centre.
It does not mean that persons who are directly recruited and
working in the centre are inferior to those who enter the
centre by transfer. It is interesting to note that the
Minister of State for Communications answered the question
relating to non-payment of Special Pay in the Lok Sabha on
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March 30, 1982 thus:
"Question No. 5864--Wi11 the Minister of Communications be
pleased to state:
(c) whether it is a fact that Special Pay is not given to a
few graduate engineers recruited specifically for TRC when
the qualifications, functions, duties and-responsibilities
of these officers in TRC are the same as those of the field
officers transferred to TRC and what is the reason for not
doing so?"
Answer--Minister of State for Communications:
".....................................................
2. The officers specifically recruited for TRC through UPSC,
are performing functions for which they are recruited, while
on the other hand, the officers drawn from the ITS cadre,
when posted in TRC. are required to perform duties, which
are not in their general line."
It is seen from the above answer that the Government had
virtually admitted that all relevant things such as qualifi-
cations, functions, duties and responsibilities are the same
as between direct recruits and the transferred officials and
that the transferred officials had to be paid extra amount
by way of Special Pay in addition to their scale of pay
which is the same as the scale of pay of direct recruits
because the transferred officials had to perform in the
Telecommunication Research Centre duties which are not in
their general line. In another part of the same answer it
was also admitted that many such transferred officials were
in the Telecommunication Research Centre for more than six
years. Still the Government did not show any eagerness
1013
to grant special pay to the direct recruits also. We feel
that there is no justification to deny the Special Pay at
the same rates to the direct recruits working in the Tele-
communication Research Centre. Denial of Special Pay in the
above circumstances to the direct recruits amounts to viola-
tion of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
Following the decision of this Court in Randhir Singh v.
Union of India and Others, [1982] 3 SCR 298 and the decision
of this Court in M.P. Singh & Others v. Union of India,
(Writ Petition Nos. 1309713 176 of 1984 decided today) we
hold that the direct recruits (to which category the peti-
tioners belong) in the Telecommunication Research Centre are
entitled to the Special Pay at the same rates at which it is
paid to the transferred officers working in that centre with
effect from the date from which the transferred officers
have been drawing the Special Pay. We accordingly direct
’the Respondent No. 1--Union of India to pay the special pay
to the direct recruits with effect from the date on which
the transferred officers commenced to draw the Special Pay
upto date and to continue to pay it in future also as long
as the transferred officers continue to get it. The arrears
of the Special Pay upto date payable to the direct recruits
shall be paid within four months from today.
The above petitions are allowed to the above extent. The
question relating to the denial of promotional opportunities
to the petitioners according to the Recruitment Rules is
left open to be agitated before the Central Administrative
Tribunal. No costs.
P.S.S. Petitions
allowed.
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