- (1.) THE common complaint of the petitioners herein is that their juniors who have been appointed subsequent to them are getting one additional increment consequent upon interpreting a Board Order to the disadvantage of the petitioners. Hence, they have prayed for quashing of Annexure-C.
(2.) THE facts of the case, briefly stated, are as under: the first petitioner joined service in Karnataka Electricity Board ('k. E. B. ' for short) as Assistant Engineer on 2nd September, 1977 and the second petitioner joined service of the Board also as Assistant Engineer on 4th September, 1977. Their pay was fixed in the scale of Rs. 720-1405 which was subsequently revised from time to time. Both the petitioners are at present working as Assistant Executive Engineers. The last revision of the pay scale was done on 6-2-1999 fixing the scale at Rs. 8550-18550 for Assistant Executive Engineers. The grievance of the petitioners is that, in applying these scales of pay to the Assistant executive Engineers of the Board, by virtue of the Board Order Annexure-C, an anomaly has crept in by which the persons who are very much junior to the petitioners are made entitled to one additional increment resulting in these petitioners drawing less salary than their juniors. Hence, the present petitions.
(3.) I have heard the learned Counsels on both sides.;