Four years in Grade Pay ₹4,800 entitles employees to ₹5,400 NFU, regardless of promotion or MACP.

The applicant, a retired Superintendent in the Central GST Commissionerate, had received Grade Pay (GP) ₹4,800 through MACP and completed four years in that grade on 1 September 2012.

He claimed Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) to GP ₹5,400 under the Ministry of Finance Resolution dated 29 August 2008.

The respondents rejected his claim on 5 July 2022, reasoning that he had already received three promotions/financial upgradations and that NFU was to be counted against the MACP limit.

The applicant had previously approached the Tribunal in O.A. No. 561/2021, which directed consideration of his claim in light of earlier Tribunal decisions.

He then filed this application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, challenging the rejection.

Whether the applicant was entitled to NFU to GP ₹5,400 after completing four years in GP ₹4,800, where he attained the latter grade through MACP or promotion.

Whether the applicant’s prior promotions and financial upgradations barred the grant of NFU.

Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, provided the basis for the application.

The Tribunal applied the Ministry of Finance Resolution dated 29 August 2008, which provides for GP ₹5,400 for eligible officers on completion of four years in the relevant grade, and the Department of Revenue clarification dated 21 November 2008, under which the four-year period runs from placement in the relevant pay scale.

It followed the principle in M. Subramaniam v. Union of India, upheld by the Supreme Court, that a departmental clarification cannot restrict the governing resolution by excluding employees who attained GP ₹4,800 through financial upgradation.

The Tribunal also adopted the reasoning of its coordinate Bench in V. Balasubramanian v. Union of India & Ors., O.A. No. 138/2023, that NFU is distinct from MACP and is not barred merely because an employee has already received three financial upgradations.

The Tribunal found that the applicant’s claim was squarely covered by the coordinate Bench’s decision in V. Balasubramanian.

Applying that decision, it held that the governing resolution and clarification turn on completion of four years in GP ₹4,800, not on whether that grade was attained through regular promotion or MACP.

The respondents’ reliance on the applicant’s prior upgradations did not defeat his NFU claim, because NFU was treated as a separate benefit rather than an additional MACP upgradation.

The Tribunal accordingly set aside the rejection order.

It directed the respondents to grant the applicant NFU to GP ₹5,400 in PB-2, now Pay Level 9, with effect from 1 September 2012, and to issue revised pay fixation and pension orders within three months of receiving a certified copy of the decision.

The applicant was also held entitled to consequential benefits, including arrears of pay, allowances and pension.

No order as to costs was made.