Retrospective notional pay fixation in a prior post applies to subsequent appointments joined through technical resignation.

The applicant joined as a Commercial Instructor on September 30, 1986, and subsequently served as a Vocational Instructor (VI) across various centers under the Ministry of Labour, maintaining service continuity via technical resignations under Rule 26(2) of the CCS (Pension) Rules.

In 1999, he was appointed as a Training Officer through the UPSC.

Following a Bombay High Court judgment in WP No. 6690/2005, the pay scale for Vocational Instructors was upwardly revised from Rs. 1400–2600 to Rs. 1640–2900 with retrospective effect from January 1, 1986.

Consequently, the Ministry of Labour issued an OM on March 25, 2021, directing notional pay fixation from 1986 until December 12, 2017 (the date of the judgment), with actual financial benefits accruing from December 13, 2017.

The applicant’s former employer (NCSC) notionally revised his pay to Rs. 7,250 as of June 30, 1999.

However, the respondents refused to use this revised notional figure to refix his pay in the subsequent post of Training Officer, arguing that the court order did not apply to him as he had moved to a different cadre before the judgment.

1. Whether the applicant is entitled to have his pay refixed in the post of Training Officer based on the retrospective notional pay revision granted to his previous cadre (Vocational Instructor) by the Bombay High Court.

2. Whether the applicant’s technical resignation and transition between departments (Ministry of Labour to Ministry of Skill Development) disentitle him from the benefits of past service pay revision.

Rule 26(2) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, which stipulates that a technical resignation to take up another government appointment does not entail forfeiture of past service.

Principles established in the Bombay High Court judgment in WP No. 6690/2005, which mandated pay parity for Vocational Instructors effective from January 1, 1986.

Ministry of Labour and Employment OM dated March 25, 2021, which implemented the judicial mandate by allowing notional fixation from 1986 and actual financial benefits from December 13, 2017.

The Tribunal observed that the applicant's technical resignations were accepted under Rule 26(2), thereby protecting his past service benefits throughout his career transitions within the Ministry of Labour and the subsequent Ministry of Skill Development.

Since the Bombay High Court ordered a retrospective pay revision for VIs starting from 1986, the applicant’s pay at the time of his 1999 promotion must be calculated using the revised (notional) scale.

The Tribunal rejected the respondents' contention that the judgment only applied to those serving as VIs in 2017, noting that the order specifically mandated parity from 1986.

Because the applicant's previous employer had already recognized the notional fixation up to June 30, 1999, at Rs. 7,250, this figure must form the basis for his pay fixation in the Training Officer cadre to ensure the "notional" benefit is meaningful.

The court emphasized that while the fixation is notional for the period before the 2017 judgment, it must be used to determine the correct pay level for actual disbursements post-December 2017.

It held that the applicant is entitled to notional pay fixation in the post of Training Officer up to December 12, 2017, and actual financial benefits from December 13, 2017, based on the revised scales.

As the applicant retired on January 31, 2024, the respondents were directed to grant all consequential and retiral benefits within three months, failing which an interest rate of 8% per annum would apply.