ACP/MACP-upgraded Group B officers qualify for Grade Pay 5,400 NFU after four years at 4,800.

The applicant, a Protocol Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, received Grade Pay (GP) Rs. 4,800 in Pay Band-2 through MACP.

After completing four years of service in that GP, he sought non-functional upgradation (NFU) to GP Rs. 5,400, relying on the Ministry of Finance Resolution dated 29 August 2008 and judgments concerning officers whose GP Rs. 4,800 was obtained through ACP/MACP.

The respondents rejected his representation on the ground that his GP Rs. 4,800 arose from MACP rather than substantive promotion and that the applicable Recruitment Rules did not provide for NFU.

The applicant challenged the rejection order dated 1 July 2025.

1. Whether a Group-B officer who obtained GP Rs. 4,800 through ACP/MACP is entitled to NFU to GP Rs. 5,400 after completing four years of regular service in GP Rs. 4,800.

2. Whether the respondents’ rejection of the applicant’s claim was sustainable in light of the Resolution dated 29 August 2008 and the cited judicial decisions.

The Ministry of Finance Resolution dated 29 August 2008 provides that Group-B officers in specified departments are to receive GP Rs. 5,400 in PB-2 on a non-functional basis after four years of regular service in GP Rs. 4,800 in PB-2.

The Tribunal applied M. Subramaniam v. Union of India, W.P. No. 13225/2010 (Madras High Court, 6 September 2010), whose ruling that ACP-upgraded officers could qualify for the benefit was upheld when the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge and review petition.

It also relied on Sushil Kumar v. Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 690/2022 (Delhi High Court), which held that the Resolution did not exclude officers drawing GP Rs. 4,800 through ACP/MACP; the SLP was dismissed.

The Tribunal further applied the principle that similarly situated employees should be treated alike, drawing on State of Karnataka v. C. Lalitha and State of U.P. v. Arvind Kumar Shrivastava.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had received GP Rs. 4,800 through MACP and had completed four years of regular service in that grade pay.

The Resolution’s eligibility condition was service of four years in GP Rs. 4,800; it did not restrict NFU to officers who obtained that grade pay by promotion.

Consistent with M. Subramaniam and Sushil Kumar, the Tribunal held that the respondents could not impose such a restriction through clarification or administrative interpretation absent a corresponding amendment to the governing rules.

It also considered prior Tribunal decisions extending the benefit to similarly situated officers.

The respondents were directed to verify the applicant’s qualifying service and implement the order within three months; payable arrears were to be released within a further four weeks, with interest at applicable GPF rates in case of delay.

The OA was allowed, with no order as to costs.