SANTOSH KUMAR SAMANTRAY Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioners are Salaried Amins. Being aggrieved by the Government decision fixing their scale of pay in the pay scale of regular Amins they have approached this Court. According to the Petitioners case the qualification prescribed for a Salaried. Amin is higher than that of a regular Amin. The nature of duties of the Petitioners is different from the nature of duties of the regular Amins and they were getting all along higher salary than the regular Amins. But the Government illegally treated them at par with regular Amins and, therefore, this Court should interfere with the Government decision. It has been averred by the Petitioners that pursuant to an advertisement for recruitment of 13 Salaried Amins in the scale of pay of Rs. 320-450/- the Petitioners were selected and were appointed on different dates in the year 1981. They were attached to the different District Judges and they perform the duties of a Civil Court Commissioner in pending disputes in different Courts Their pay scale was same as that of Grade-II Assistant which post was subsequently re-designated as Senior Assistant.' In fact, in June. 1979, when Government in the. Finance Department created posts of Salaried Amins in the pay scale of Rs. 240-315/- the Law Department wanted sufficient justification from the Orissa High Court for creation of posts in the pay scale of Rs. 320-450/- and the Registrar of the Court replied vide letter dated 16th July, 1979, as to why the pay scale should be Rs. 320-450/-. The said letter of the Registrar has been annexed as Annexure-3. Ultimately, Government in the Law Department communicated the sanction of the Governor for creation of 13 posts of Salaried Amins in the pay scale of Rs. 320-450/- in the different judgeships in the State. The said letter has been annexed as Annexure-4. The High Court then fixed the guidelines to be followed for recruitment to the post of Salaried Amin. In the meantime, the pay scales of all State Government employees were revised under the Orissa Revised Scales of Pay Rules, 1981, but the case of the Salaried Amins was not taken into consideration by the Pay Commission possibly because the posts had been created shortly before the Commission considered the cases of all State Government employees. But under the Orissa Revised. Scales of Pay Rules, 1981, the scale of pay of Grade-II Assistants was revised to Rs. 320-750/-. The subsequent Pay Commission considered the case of Salaried Amins in par with the general Amins and recommended the revision of their pay scale to Rs. 62,940/- which was accepted by the Government under the Orissa Revised Scales of Pay Rules 1985. The Petitioners, therefore, made a grievance in this Court that the Government having sanctioned the posts of Salaried Amins in the scale of pay of Rs. 320-450/- prior to the revision of scales of pay of all State Government employees in 1981, their pay scale should have been revised along with other employee's in 1981 and that not having been done and in 1985, the Government having fixed the same scale of pay for them as has been fixed for the general Amins have acted with hostile discrimination by making inequals as equals and, therefore, they are entitled to the same scale of pay as had been given to Grade-II Assistants which was similar to the scale of pay of the Salaried Amins when the posts of Salaried Amins were created. In other words, the Petitioners claim the pay scale of Rs. 890-1830/-.

(2.) The stand of the State Government in the counter affidavit filed is that the post of Salaried Amin had never been made equivalent to the post of Grade-II Assistant although it is not denied that prior to the revision of pay scales in the year 1981, Grade-II Assistants were in the scale of pay of Rs. 320-450/- and the posts of Salaried Amins were also created in the same pay scale. It has been further averred in the counter affidavit that while creating 13 posts of Salaried Amins in the pay scale of Rs. 320- 450/- Government through oversight created the posts in that scale though the posts should have been created in the pay scale of Rs. 240-350/- which was the pay scale of Amins in different departments. It is also denied in the counter that the scale of pay of Rs. 320-450/- had not been revised to Rs. 320-750/- as averred but the Pay Rationalisation Committee suggested merger of Grade-II Assistants and Grade-I Assistants and recommended a revised scale for both in the pay scale of Rs. 320-750/- and they were nomenclatured as Senior Assistants. Therefore, the Salaried Amins cannot claim to get that salary. It has further been averred that the Pay Commission in 1983 duly considered the case of these Salaried Amins and keeping in view the qualification and job contents with reference to their comparable posts on the basis of the recommendation received the Government have rationalised and fixed their pay scale at Rs. 625-940/- with effect from 1-1-1985 and further they have been allowed corresponding revised pay scale of Rs. 320-490/- with effect from 1-1-1981. Therefore, there has been no arbitrariness in fixing the pay scale and the Petitioners' grievance is wholly unjustified.

(3.) In the aforesaid premises, the questions that arise for our consideration are: