Entitlement to Revised Pay Scales Must be Granted from Date of General Pay Revision on Notional Basis

The applicants are retired and serving officers who held the posts of Inspector and/or Superintendent in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC). They were initially placed in the pay scales of Rs. 5,500 – 9,000 and Rs. 6,500 – 10,500

Via an Office Memorandum dated 21.04.2004, the respondents revised these scales to Rs. 6,500 – 10,500 and Rs. 7,500 – 12,000 respectively

the applicants challenged the O.M. dated 21.04.2004 and a subsequent letter dated 25.07.2023, contending that the revision should have been effective from 01.01.1996 to maintain parity with other departments, rather than from 2004

1. Whether the action of the respondents in restricting the benefit of revised pay scales for Superintendents/Inspectors of Central Excise with effect from 21.04.2004, instead of 01.01.1996, is arbitrary and discriminatory

2. Whether the applicants are entitled to the revised scales on a notional basis from 01.01.1996 and on an actual basis from 21.04.2004 with consequential benefits

The Tribunal applied the principle of parity and non-discrimination in pay scales for identically placed posts across government departments.

It relied heavily on the judicial precedents established in Srikant Kumar Mohapatra & Ors vs UOI & Ors (OA No. 1154 of 2025, CAT Kolkata Bench) and V S Deshwal & Ors vs UOI & Ors (OA No. 816 of 2025, CAT Allahabad Bench), which addressed the same controversy regarding the effective date of pay revision for the specified cadres

The Tribunal noted that the controversy regarding the effective date of pay revision (01.01.1996 vs. 21.04.2004) had already been adjudicated in favor of the employees in similar OAs before the Kolkata and Allahabad Benches

The court observed that the applicants in the current case were "identically placed" to those in the aforementioned precedents

Since the respondents had addressed the pay anomaly only partially by choosing 21.04.2004 as the start date, the Tribunal reasoned that consistency in judicial discipline required extending the same relief granted in previous identical matters to the current applicants

It held that the applicants are entitled to the revised pay scales effective from 01.01.1996 on a notional basis and from 21.04.2004 on an actual basis. The respondents were directed to provide all consequential benefits, including payment of arrears of salary and revisions of pensionary benefits, within three months of receipt of the order