Timekeepers entitled to restructuring benefits from date similar cadres received them, not later merger date.

The applicants, Timekeepers in Eastern Railway's Kanchrapara Workshop, sought restructuring benefits under RBE No. 177/2003 and RBE No. 102/2013 from 01.11.2003 and 01.11.2013 respectively, arguing they should be treated at par with Time Keeping Office Cadres of other Railways which received these benefits without merger with Ministerial Cadre.

They also sought to quash Railway Board Office Orders dated 01.12.2023 and 11.01.2024, which merged Time Keeping Office Cadre with Ministerial Cadre effective 01.01.2024 and restricted restructuring benefits to this merger date.

Historically, Timekeepers were treated as 'Workers' under the Factories Act from 1970.

Early efforts to gain parity with Clerks led to T.A. No. 41 of 1986 and T.A. No. 1489 of 1986, where the Tribunal directed Eastern Railway to treat Timekeepers as a separate cadre for seniority, promotion, and transfer, affording them Factories Act benefits at par with Kharagpur Workshop, Diesel Locomotive Workshop/Varanasi, and CLW.

The Time Office cadre of Kanchrapara underwent restructuring acknowledged in 1996.

A later dispute regarding 5th CPC benefits for Timekeepers led to O.A. No. 1458 of 2000 being allowed, directing benefits from 01.01.1996, a decision upheld by the Hon'ble High Court and the Hon'ble Supreme Court (Civil Appeal No. 7353-7354 of 2008).

The respondents contended that the RBEs were not for standalone Time Keeping staff and that restructuring benefits were applicable only after merger with the Ministerial Cadre from 01.01.2024.

The Railway Board's letter dated 11.01.2024 explicitly stated that restructuring benefits would be applicable to the merged Time Office Cadre from the date of merger, i.e., 01.01.2024.

1. Whether the respondents should extend restructuring benefits under RBE No. 177/2003 and RBE No. 102/2013 to the applicants without giving effect to the merger of the Time Keeping Office Cadre with the Ministerial Cadre from 01.01.2024.

2. Whether the Railway Board Office Orders dated 01.12.2023 and 11.01.2024, to the extent of merging the Time Keeping Office Cadre with the Ministerial Cadre and granting restructuring benefits only from 01.01.2024, should be quashed.

The Tribunal primarily applied the principle of parity and non-discrimination under Article 14 of the Constitution of India, as established by its previous order in O.A. No. 227/2013, which directed equal treatment for Time Office cadres across various railway workshops.

This principle was affirmed by the Hon'ble High Court in WPCT No. 166/2015, which held that once parity is established, it should exist from the date the Tribunal ordered it, not a belated date chosen by the administration.

The court also invoked the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, Section 19, under which the O.A. was filed.

The Tribunal noted that the issue of restructuring for Time Office Cadre had been previously considered in O.A. No. 227/2013, which was allowed on 23.04.2015.

In that case, the Tribunal found that the contention of the respondents that the Time Cadre of Liluah Workshop was distinct from its ministerial cadre was diluted, as other workshops had granted 5th CPC scales and consequent restructuring benefits to Time Keeper cadres, even when maintained separately from Ministerial Cadre.

This deprivation was deemed arbitrary and discriminatory, violating the principle of treating equals equally.

The Hon'ble High Court, in WPCT No. 166/2015, upheld this finding, explicitly stating that "parity is established between the cadre of Liluah Workshop and other workshops for the purpose of restructuring" and "once the parity is established in the matter of restructuring, no fault can be found in the impugned order of the Tribunal".

The High Court further clarified that even though the Railway Board decided restructuring from 01.01.2024, "Once the parity exists, it should exist from the date Tribunal ordered".

The Tribunal's reasoning in the present case directly relied on the precedential force of this High Court judgment, which squarely covered the same issue of restructuring benefits for Time Office Cadres based on the principle of parity.

The Tribunal, therefore, quashed the Railway Board Office Orders dated 01.12.2023 and 11.01.2024 (wrongly mentioned as 11.02.2024 on p.12) to the extent they restricted the benefits, and directed the respondents to extend the benefits of restructuring under RBE No. 177/2003 and RBE No. 103/2013 to the applicants within a period of four months from the date of receipt of the order.

The O.A. and M.A. were disposed of accordingly, with no costs.