Authority directed to decide claim for "equal pay for equal work" via reasoned and speaking order.

The five applicants are Nursing Officers (Group-B) serving on a contract basis at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, New Delhi, having joined between December 5 and December 21, 2015

Seeking the benefit of "equal pay for equal work" and arrears from their initial dates of appointment, the applicants filed the present Original Application (OA) under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985

Their claim is predicated on a prior judgment of the Tribunal in O.A. No. 1004/2021, which they assert has been implemented by the respondents

During the admission stage, the applicants requested the Tribunal to direct the respondents to treat the OA as a formal representation for a time-bound decision

Whether the respondents should be directed to consider the applicants' claim for "equal pay for equal work" and pass a reasoned and speaking order in a time-bound manner.

Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which provides the framework for applications to the Tribunal by persons aggrieved by service matters

administrative principle that authorities must dispose of representations via reasoned and speaking orders to ensure transparency and fairness

legal doctrine of "equal pay for equal work" as recognized in the precedent O.A. No. 1004/2021

The Tribunal did not adjudicate the substantive merits of the applicants' claim for pay parity or arrears

Instead, it adopted a procedural approach based on the applicants' modified request to treat the OA as a representation

Since the counsel for the respondents raised no objection to this proposal, the Tribunal found it just and proper to mandate an administrative review of the grievance

The court explicitly clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the applicants' legal entitlement to the reliefs sought under the principle of "equal pay for equal work"

It directed the respondents to treat the OA as a formal representation of the applicants and to pass a reasoned and speaking order regarding the claim for equal pay and arrears within a period of eight weeks from the receipt of the certified copy of the order

All pending Miscellaneous Applications (MAs) were disposed of accordingly