LEGAL HEADLINE: Similarly placed government employees entitled to equal benefits of enhanced pay scale, regardless of 'in personam' orders.

The applicant, Mrs. Reena Anil Kumar, is the legal heir and wife of the late Shri Anilkumar K, a Superintendent of Central GST & Central Excise, who expired during service

She filed the Original Application (OA) challenging the denial of the benefit of an upgraded pay scale with effect from January 1, 1996

While similar claims of Inspectors/Superintendents for enhanced pay scales from January 1, 1996, instead of April 21, 2004, had been accepted by the respondents following judgments from the Hon'ble Apex Court, High Courts, and various coordinate Benches of the Tribunal

the respondents rejected her representation on December 31, 2025

The delay in filing the OA was condoned

Whether the applicant, as the legal heir of a similarly placed Superintendent, is entitled to the benefit of an enhanced pay scale with effect from January 1, 1996, despite the rejection of her representation by the respondents

The Tribunal applied the principle of equal treatment under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, emphasizing that benefits extended to similarly situated government employees based on judgments from the Hon'ble Apex Court and High Courts must be uniformly applied

Specifically, it relied on the Hon'ble Apex Court's order dated February 28, 2025, in SLP No. 59005/2024 (Union of India Vs. R Siva Shankara Sastry), which upheld the judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Telangana dated August 9, 2024, in Writ Petition No. 10490 of 2024, regarding the grant of enhanced pay scale from January 1, 1996

The Tribunal also acknowledged its own prior orders in identical matters, such as OA No. 411/2025 dated December 16, 2025

The Tribunal noted that the issue of granting enhanced pay scale from January 1, 1996, to Inspectors/Superintendents had attained finality, with various orders directing respondents to extend this benefit

The respondents themselves had complied with similar directions from coordinate Benches of the Tribunal by granting the enhanced pay scale to other similarly placed officers via orders dated December 17, 2025, and November 24, 2025

The learned counsel for the respondents also conceded that since the Tribunal had passed orders in other identical matters, the applicant's case should be similarly dealt with

The Tribunal found the applicant's claim to be undisputed and in line with the benefits already extended to others

Therefore, it agreed that equal treatment was required, especially in light of the Apex Court and High Court judgments

It directed the respondents to extend the benefit of enhanced pay scale to the applicant on a notional basis with effect from January 1, 1996, along with consequential benefits

This direction was to be implemented expeditiously, preferably within 60 days from the date of receiving a certified copy of the order, and the decision communicated to the applicant forthwith

The earlier rejection order dated December 31, 2025, was to be disregarded