Employees completing four years in Grade Pay ₹4,800 after ACP/MACP are entitled to ₹5,400 non-functional upgradation.

The applicants, both retired officers, sought non-functional Grade Pay of ₹5,400 after completing four years in Grade Pay of ₹4,800.

They relied on M. Subramaniam v. Union of India, a Madras High Court decision affirmed by the Supreme Court, and the Jabalpur Bench’s decision in O.A. No. 200/24/2015 and connected matters.

The respondents opposed the claim, contending that the benefit was available only after regular promotion to Grade Pay ₹4,800, not where that grade pay arose from ACP/MACP, and that M. Subramaniam was a judgment in personam.

Whether the applicants were entitled to non-functional Grade Pay of ₹5,400 after four years in Grade Pay of ₹4,800, including where the latter grade pay was granted through ACP/MACP.

Whether the applicants, having retired, were entitled to consequential arrears and revision of their retiral benefits and PPO.

The Tribunal applied the principle governing grant of non-functional Grade Pay of ₹5,400 upon completion of four years in Grade Pay of ₹4,800, as reflected in M. Subramaniam v. Union of India, the Supreme Court’s affirmation of that decision, and the Jabalpur Bench’s ruling in O.A. No. 200/24/2015 and connected matters.

The respondents also relied on the CBEC clarification dated 11 February 2009, which they said limited the benefit to four years’ regular service in Grade Pay ₹4,800 following regular promotion, excluding financial upgradation through ACP/MACP.

The order does not identify any statute or set out the cited judgments’ detailed reasoning.

The Tribunal considered the applicants’ claim covered by the Supreme Court judgments and the Tribunal decisions cited before it.

It therefore rejected the respondents’ position that the benefit should be denied to these applicants on the basis of the ACP/MACP distinction or the asserted in-personam character of M. Subramaniam.

Finding the applicants similarly placed to those who had received the benefit in the cited cases, the Tribunal held that they were entitled to the same treatment.

The respondents were directed to grant the applicants Grade Pay of ₹5,400 on a non-functional basis from the date they completed four years of service in Grade Pay ₹4,800, with consequential benefits.

As the applicants had retired, the respondents were further directed—if the applicants were similarly placed—to pay arrears and revise their retiral dues and PPOs.

Compliance was ordered within 90 days of receipt of a certified copy of the order.