Veterinary surgeons cannot be denied career-progression benefits granted to similarly placed medical and dental surgeons.

The respondents, working as Veterinary Assistant Surgeons/Veterinary Surgeons in the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department of Madhya Pradesh, sought the benefit of time-scale pay/Assured Career Progression (Kramonnati) on the same basis as Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons.

Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons were granted time-scale benefits on completion of 5, 10, 15 and 30 years of service, whereas Veterinary Surgeons received such benefits only after 8 years of service.

The respondents challenged this disparity in W.P. No. 23100 of 2024. The learned Single Judge allowed the writ petition on 7 January 2026 and directed the State to extend the corresponding time-scale benefits to the respondents from the dates on which such benefits were granted to Dental Doctors.

The State preferred the present writ appeal with a delay of 13 days.

Whether the 13-day delay in filing the writ appeal should be condoned under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

Whether Veterinary Assistant Surgeons/Veterinary Surgeons are entitled to time-scale pay or Kramonnati on the same basis as Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons, notwithstanding that they belong to different departments and are governed by different service rules.

Whether denial of the corresponding time-scale benefits to Veterinary Surgeons constitutes impermissible discrimination under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

The Court applied Section 5 of the Limitation Act, under which delay may be condoned where sufficient cause is shown.

The appeal was maintainable under Section 2(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Uchcha Nyayalaya (Khand Nyaypeeth Ko Appeal) Adhiniyam, 2005.

On the merits, the Court applied the constitutional principles of equality and non-arbitrariness under Articles 14 and 16, including the principle that similarly situated employees should not be denied equivalent service benefits without a rational basis.

It relied on South Malabar Gramin Bank v. Coordination Committee of South Malabar Gramin Bank Employees’ Union, AIR 2001 SC 1028, as discussed in Dr. Chandra Shekhar Sahukar v. Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 2780 of 2011 (Delhi High Court, 14 October 2014), for the principle of parity in career-progression benefits.

The Court distinguished State of Gujarat v. Dr. P.A. Bhatt, (2023) 15 SCC 257, because that case concerned the validity of different pay scales based on educational qualifications, rather than differential entitlement to higher pay-scale or career-progression benefits where the services otherwise carried equivalent pay and benefits.

The Court also considered the principles referred to in Motilal Songara v. Prem Prakash alias Pappu, (2013) 9 SCC 199; Sheo Raj Singh v. Union of India, (2023) 10 SCC 531; and Vishnu Vardhan @ Vishnu Pradhan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1501, in relation to condonation of delay.

The Court found sufficient cause for the 13-day delay because the State had sought legal opinion, processed the matter through the Law Department, and thereafter prepared and filed the appeal; the delay was therefore condoned.

On merits, the Court noted that although Veterinary Surgeons and Medical/Dental Officers served in different departments, the State itself treated them at par in matters such as pay scales and other service benefits.

The Court further considered the professional nature of veterinary service, including the specialised and difficult conditions in which Veterinary Surgeons work, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Since the State had not established a rational basis for granting Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons earlier time-scale benefits while denying equivalent benefits to Veterinary Surgeons, the differential treatment was held unsustainable.

The Court treated the issue as one concerning parity in career progression rather than merely classification for prescribing initial pay scales, and accordingly distinguished Dr. P.A. Bhatt.

On admission and merits, it upheld the Single Judge’s direction requiring the State to grant Veterinary Assistant Surgeons/Veterinary Surgeons time-scale pay or Kramonnati on par with Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons upon completion of 5, 10, 15 and 30 years of service, with the benefit operating from the corresponding dates on which it was granted to Dental Doctors.

The writ appeal was dismissed as devoid of merit.