Entitlement to financial upgradation under MACP Scheme is restricted to the next immediate grade pay, not promotional hierarchy.

The petitioners were appointed as Assistant-cum-Typists in various State Government establishments between 2003 and 2006.

Following a prior litigation (CWJC No. 13577 of 2006), they were placed in the pay scale of Rs. 4000-6000/-.

Upon the implementation of the 6th Central Pay Commission and the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme, 2010, the petitioners (currently serving as Upper Division Clerks) claimed they were entitled to a 1st MACP Grade Pay of Rs. 4,200/-.

However, the District Magistrate, Patna, vide order dated 16.10.2014, granted them a Grade Pay of Rs. 2,800/-.

The petitioners challenged this order, arguing that their Cadre Rules and the presence of an Office Superintendent post necessitated the higher Grade Pay.

1. Whether an employee under the MACP Scheme is entitled to the financial upgradation in the immediate next grade pay in the hierarchy or the grade pay of the next promotional post as per Cadre Rules?

The Court primarily relied on the MACP Scheme, 2010, which superseded the previous ACP Scheme.

The fundamental legal principle applied was derived from the Supreme Court precedent Union of India v. M.V. Mohanan Nair (2020) 5 SCC 421, which established that MACP involves "next higher grade pay" in the hierarchy of recommended pay bands, rather than "the grade pay of the next promotional post".

Unlike the ACP Scheme (which granted promotional scales), the MACP Scheme is a non-functional financial upgradation that is personal to the employee and follows the immediate numerical hierarchy of Grade Pays (e.g., from Rs. 2,400 to Rs. 2,800).

The Court noted that the petitioners’ existing revised pay scale as Upper Division Clerks was in Pay Band-I with a Grade Pay of Rs. 2,400/-.

Under the MACP Scheme's Diluted rigour, financial upgradation is granted to the "immediate next grade pay" in the hierarchy.

The respondents argued, and the Court accepted, that the next numerical Grade Pay above Rs. 2,400/- in the schedule is Rs. 2,800/-.

The petitioners’ claim for Rs. 4,200/- was based on the "promotional hierarchy" logic of the old ACP Scheme, which the Supreme Court in M.V. Mohanan Nair explicitly rejected for MACP cases.

The Court further clarified that the specific higher scale of Rs. 5000-8000 (Grade Pay Rs. 4,200) mentioned in the Finance Department’s resolution applied only to specific conditions regarding Office Superintendents that did not justify jumping the standard MACP hierarchy for these petitioners.

The Court found no illegality or infirmity in the District Magistrate’s order dated 16.10.2014.

Consequently, the writ petition was dismissed on contest.