CAT Hyderabad Orders 10 Naval Armament Employees To Get ₹5,500–9,000 Pay Scale, Finding No Valid Difference From Earlier Beneficiaries

The applicants, employees in the Naval Armament Inspection Organisation, were placed in the pay scale of ₹5,000–8,000 following implementation of the Fifth Central Pay Commission.

They sought the higher scale of ₹5,500–9,000, relying on the Kerala High Court’s judgment dated 20 July 2017 concerning parity between similarly placed employees, and on subsequent proceedings in which benefits were extended to other employees.

The respondents opposed the claim, relying on differences in duties, the Anomaly Committee’s findings, lack of Ministry of Finance approval, and limitation.

The Tribunal noted that the applicants’ request remained under consideration and that comparable employees had received the benefit.

The Tribunal relied on the principle of equal treatment in service matters, citing State of Karnataka v. C. Lalitha, (2006) 2 SCC 747, and State of Uttar Pradesh v. Arvind Kumar Srivastava, (2015) 1 SCC 347: employees who are identically situated should ordinarily receive the same relief, and differential treatment without a valid distinction may violate Article 14 of the Constitution.

It also relied on the Kerala High Court’s judgment dated 20 July 2017, which directed reconsideration of the pay anomaly in light of the authorities’ earlier findings and financial implications.

The Tribunal treated the direction in O.A. No. 257 of 2023 as a further basis for granting the applicants the pay scale of ₹5,500–9,000.

The Tribunal found that the applicants were in the ₹5,000–8,000 pay scale and that the respondents had not established a material distinction between their cases and those of employees who had obtained the higher scale.

It considered the Ministry of Finance’s non-approval insufficient, by itself, to defeat the claim, particularly given the earlier decisions and the prolonged pendency of the matter.

It also declined to allow the limitation objection to defeat the substantive claim, reasoning that similarly situated employees had already received relief.

The applicable direction in that decision was to grant the applicants there the pay scale of ₹5,500–9,000 within three months of receipt of a certified copy.

The order in this case states that the present applicants’ relief is to be extended within the stipulated period; it refers to paragraph 12 of O.A. No. 257 of 2023, although the quoted three-month direction appears at paragraph 13 of that decision.

No order as to costs.