Inspectors and Superintendents are entitled to notional revised pay from 1 January 1996 and monetary benefits from 21 April 2004.

The applicant, who had served as an Inspector and subsequently as a Superintendent, Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Director in the Central Excise and Customs Department, retired on 30 June 2020.

Before 1 January 1996, Inspectors/Preventive Officers/Examiners were placed in the pay scale of ₹1,640–2,900, while Superintendents/Appraisers were placed in ₹2,000–3,500. Pursuant to the Fifth Central Pay Commission, the corresponding revised scales of ₹6,500–10,500 and ₹7,500–12,000 were granted, but the respondents made the benefit effective only from 21 April 2004 instead of 1 January 1996.

The applicant sought refixation of pay in the revised scales from 1 January 1996, consequential arrears, revision of pension and other retiral benefits.

He relied upon decisions of the Hyderabad and Jaipur Benches of the Tribunal, which had been affirmed by the concerned High Courts and the Supreme Court, as well as earlier orders of the Chennai Bench granting similar relief to other officers.

Whether the applicant was entitled to notional fixation of pay in the revised scales of ₹6,500–10,500 and ₹7,500–12,000 with effect from 1 January 1996 under the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 1997?

Whether the applicant was entitled to actual monetary benefits from 1 January 1996, or only from 21 April 2004, along with consequential pensionary and retiral benefits?

The Tribunal applied the Central Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 1997, under which the revised pay fixation was required to be given effect from 1 January 1996.

It relied on the Hyderabad Bench’s decision in OA No. 1089/2019, which directed notional fixation from 1 January 1996 and actual monetary benefits from 21 April 2004; that decision was affirmed by the Telangana High Court and the Supreme Court.

The Tribunal also followed the Jaipur Bench’s decision in OA No. 154/2015, affirmed by the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, holding that denial of the revised scale from 1 January 1996 resulted in discrimination against similarly situated employees.

The doctrine of judicial consistency and parity required similarly situated Central Excise officers to receive the same benefit where the issue had already been conclusively settled and implemented in comparable cases.

The Tribunal found that the issue was no longer res integra, as the entitlement to revised pay had been conclusively determined in favour of similarly situated Inspectors and Superintendents.

Applying the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 1997 and the binding effect of the earlier Tribunal, High Court and Supreme Court decisions, it held that the applicant’s pay had to be notionally refixed from 1 January 1996.

However, consistently with the earlier Hyderabad decision and the applicable departmental arrangement, actual monetary benefits were confined to the period commencing 21 April 2004.

Since the applicant had retired, the revised fixation also required recalculation of pensionary and other consequential benefits.

The respondents were directed to refix the applicant’s pay under the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 1997, in the grades of Inspector and Superintendent with effect from 1 January 1996 on a notional basis, and to grant actual monetary benefits from 21 April 2004, together with all consequential benefits, including pensionary benefits.

The exercise was directed to be completed within two months from receipt of the Tribunal’s order.