VENKATACHALA, J. - (1.) IN these Special Leave Petitions, we are concerned with the grievance of the employees belonging to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of INdia, working in the Railway Audit Department. These employees who were Section Officers prior to 1/03/1984, got promotion from that day as Assistant Audit Officers on a pay scale of Rs. 650-30-740-35-800-EB40-650 and were designated as Officers 'Group-B Gazetted'. On the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission, the said pay scale of Assistant Audit Officers was revised to Rs. 2,000-3,200 from 1/01/1986. The grievance of the Assistant Audit Officers - Group B Gazetted is that the INdian Railways should not have denied to them the benefits, such as, issue of Railway Travel Passes/ P.T.Os., allotment of Railway Quarters, giving of accommodation in Rest Houses/ Retiring Rooms, taking of family members While on tour, etc. - admissible to Group B Gazetted Officers of the Railways.
(2.) THE Principal Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, to be referred to hereinafter as "the Tribunal", which examined the said grievance, rejected it by order dated 13/03/1992. THE grievance, so rejected by the Tribunal, is again ventilated in these Special Leave Petitions, seeking redressal therefor. Since the facts which have given rise to the grievance, furnish the background, for examining its merit, it would be advantageous to advert to them at the outset. The Railway Board in its letter No. E(G)58PS5-20/1 dated 14/04/1960, addressed to the General Managers of the Indian Railways, spelled out its policy in the matter of issuance of Railway Passes/ P.T.Os. to the staff of the Railway Audit Department including the Indian Audit and Accounts Service Officers (IA & AS Officers) of that Department, thus: - i. The scale of passes/ P.T.Os. and the rules governing their issue will be the same as applicable to Railway servants from time to time. ii. Passes/ P.T.Os. to IA & AS Officers, if are to be issued when they are proceeding on leave exceeding four months, they should have completed one year's service in the Railway Audit Department and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India ought to assure by declaring that the Officers concerned will return to Railway Audit Department on the expiry of such Officers' leave. iii. IA & AS Officers working in the Railway Audit Department will not be entitled to grant of certificates which would entitle them to obtain travel concessions on Railways outside India. iv. Passes/P.T.Os. will be issued by the Chief Auditors irrespective of home or foreign line.
(3.) IT was mentioned in the above letter that the same was issued with the sanction of the President of India. The policy contained in the above letter was followed by the Indian Railways for several years. In the meantime, the Director of Audit, Central Railway, by his notice dated 19/12/1983, made it known that the Central Government had, on the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, sanctioned higher scale of pay of Rs. 650-30-740-35-800-EB-40-1040 to 80 per cent of Section Officers on the staff of the Railway Audit Department and that scale of pay would become effective from 1/03/1984. It was indicated in that notice that the Section Officers on the staff of the Railway Audit Department getting such higher scale of pay will have their designation as Assistant Audit Officers (Group-B Gazetted). Similar notice, it is said, was issued by the concerned Director of Audit of every other Zone of the Indian Railways. The said scale of pay of the Assistant Audit Officers (Group-B Gazetted) came to be revised as Rs. 2,000-3,200 from 1/01/1986 as per the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission. Even then, the Assistant Audit Officers who were designated as 'Group-B Gazetted' continued to have the privileges and facilities of 'Group-B Officers' of the Indian Railways.;