Existing employees' revised pay cannot be less than entry pay of direct recruits upon upgradation.

The 100 applicants were appointed as Staff Nurses prior to 01.01.2006

Following the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations, the Government of India notified the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008. The pay scale for Staff Nurses was upgraded from the pre-revised scale of Rs. 5000-8000 to Rs. 7450-11500 (corresponding to S-13) in Pay Band-2 (Rs. 9300-34800) with a Grade Pay of Rs. 4600

The applicants contended that their pay should be fixed by multiplying the upgraded base of Rs. 7450 by the 1.86 factor (totaling Rs. 18460), rather than multiplying their actual pre-revised basic pay

After a series of litigations and a withdrawn order from Feb 2020, the Respondents issued an impugned order dated 15.01.2021, fixing the applicants' pay at the entry-level of direct recruits (Rs. 17140)

Whether the pay fixation for existing Staff Nurses (appointed prior to 01.01.2006) should be calculated by applying the 1.86 multiplication factor to the upgraded pay scale of Rs. 7450/- instead of their actual pre-revised basic pay.

Whether the applicants are entitled to a revised basic pay of Rs. 18460/- as on 01.01.2006 based on the principles of parity and the holding in Malbika Deb Gupta v. Union of India.

The court applied Rule 7 and Note 2A of the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, which mandates that for upgraded posts, pay fixation in the revised pay band is done by multiplying the "existing basic pay as on 01.01.2006" by a factor of 1.86

Ministry of Finance OM No. 8-23/2017-E.IIIA dated 28.09.2018, which stipulates that the pay of employees appointed prior to 01.01.2006 shall not be less than the entry pay prescribed for direct recruits of that post on or after 01.01.2006

Precedent in Malbika Deb Gupta v. Union of India (OA 98/2014), establishing that senior employees cannot draw less than the minimum entry pay of direct recruits (Rs. 17140) under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution

The Tribunal rejected the applicants' argument that the multiplication factor of 1.86 should be applied to the revised scale of Rs. 7450; as per Note 2A of the CCS(RP) Rules, the multiplier must be applied to the "existing basic pay" (the actual 5th CPC pay drawn by the employee)

The Tribunal noted that the 6th CPC upgraded the cadre by skipping intermediate scales, but the statutory rules did not provide for a "hypothetical" multiplicand of Rs. 7450 for existing staff

the court found the Respondents' impugned order dated 15.01.2021 insufficient because it "blindly" fixed pay at the entry level of direct recruits (Rs. 17140) without performing the specific comparison required by law

The Tribunal reasoned that the correct procedure is to calculate the product of (Existing Pay × 1.86) and then ensure it is not less than the direct recruit entry pay of Rs. 17140

A selective application of Part-A and Part-B of the Schedule by the applicants was deemed irrational and contrary to the holistic spirit of the Rules

The Tribunal partially allowed the OA and set aside the order dated 15.01.2021. The Respondents were directed to: (i) multiply the applicants' actual pre-revised basic pay as of 01.01.2006 by 1.86; (ii) compare the result with the entry-level pay of direct recruits (Rs. 17140); and (iii) fix the pay at Rs. 17140/- if the product is lower, or at the actual calculated product if it is higher.