- (1.) The appellants joined the clerical cadre of the respondent bank against the posts reserved for Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidates sometime between 1974 and 1977. As the bank felt the paucity of finding Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members to man its managerial cadres, it issued a Circular No. 386 dated 30/05/1978 inviting Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe employees working in the clerical cadres to appear at the test for selection of Management Trainees. In response to this circular the appellants appeared at the test and were selected as Management Trainees, intimation whereof was conveyed to them by the letter dated 30/10/1978. While giving the intimation of their selection as Management Trainees, the said letter conveyed the terms and conditions which would apply to them. The relevant terms and conditions with which we are concerned have been set out in paragraph I as under: "Pay and Allowances: Your pay and allowances will be as under: First Year : Consolidated emoluments of Rs. 700. 00 p. m. Second Year : Total emoluments payable to an officer placed in 'c' Grade at its initial stage i. e. Rs. 700. 00 basic p. m. plus other allowances admissible under the rules, Third Year : You will draw a basic pay of Rs. 760. 00 p. m. in the pay scale of Rs. 700-30-790-35-930-40-1050 EB-40-1090-45-1315 provided you have passed bank's confirmation test. However, in the event of your failure to pass bank's confirmation test, you will continue to draw the same salary as in the second year of your service i. e. Rs. 700. 00 basic pay plus other allowances. The commencement of the second year and third year of service would be extended by the period of leave availed without pay. You will be considered for confirmation/promotion subject to your qualifying bank's confirmation test, passing Part I of Institute of Bankers Examination and satisfactory performance during training/probation. "it was clearly indicated in the said letter that the selected candidates will be on training for two years and would be considered for confirmation thereafter on their (a) getting satisfactory report about their training, (b) passing bank's confirmation test, and (c) passing Part I of the Indian Institute of Bankers'examination. They were not to be considered for promotion until confirmation. These were the broad terms on which the appellants were selected as Management Trainees. It would be seen from the above terms that for the first year they were to receive consolidated emoluments of Rs. 700. 00 per month and in the second year they were to be paid total emoluments admissible to a 'c' Grade Officer at the basic or initial stage of Rs. 700. 00 and certain allowances admissible under the Rules. In other words although they were to be placed in the time scale of Grade 'c' at the basic minimum of the scale and were to be entitled to certain admissible allowances, they were not to be allowed the scale and annual increments till they entered the third year of training when they were to be placed in the time scale and granted two advance increments i. e. they were to begin at the basic salary of Rs. 760. 00 per month provided they successfully cleared the confirmation test. Now pursuant to their selection they commenced the training w. e. f. 13/11/1978. They were, therefore, entitled to consolidated emoluments of Rs. 700. 00 per month from 13/11/1978 to Nov 12/11/1979; total emoluments admissible to an officer placed in 'c' grade at the minimum of the scale plus admissible allowances from 13/11/1979 to November 12, 1980 and on their successful clearance of the confirmation test they would have been placed in the regular scale of Rs. 700-1315 at the basic of Rs. 760. 00 from 13/11/1980 and onwards. These were the terms on which they were selected as Management Trainees.
(2.) By a resolution dated 19/07/1973 the government of India had appointed a Committee consisting of five members with Professor V. R. Pillai as its Chairman to standardise the pay scales, allowances and perquisites of the officers working in the 14 Nationalised Banks. This Committee, popularly known as Pillai Committee, submitted its report in May 1974. The central government thereafter appointed a Study Group of Bankers sometime in September 1976 to study the report and make suggestions for its implementation. This Study Group suggested certain modifications in the method of implementation of the recommendations made by the Pillai Committee in its report submitted in January 1977. The government accepted the report as modified by the Study Group of Bankers. The standardised pay scales suggested by the Pillai Committee in paragraph 5.13 of its report were as under:these scales are linked to the quarterly average of 200 in the All India Working Class Consumer Price Index (base 1960=100 and it was decided that while the amount of neutralisation may continue to be 3% of pay for every 8 points rise till the index level rises to 272 with certain maxima fixed at each level, it was decided that the neutralisation may be limited to 2.5% for every 8 points rise thereafter subject to a maximum of Rs. 20. 00 as obtaining in the central government. On the acceptance of the recommendations of the Pillai Committee as modified by the Study Group of Bankers, the respondent-bank in exercise of powers conferred by Section 19 read with Section 12 (2 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 formulated regulations in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and with the previous sanction of the central government known as Punjab National Bank (Officers) Service Regulations, 1979. In continuation thereof the respondent-bank issued a Circular No. 492 dated 16/01/1980 prescribing the grades and categorisation of scales for its officers as extracted earlier. In the regulations framed by the respondent-bank no provision was made in regard to Management Trainees. Therefore, provision was made in regard to Management Trainees in paragraph 7 of the aforesaid circular in the following terms: "Fitment in case of Management Trainees. The Management Trainees who were drawing consolidated emoluments of Rs. 700. 00 per month as on 30/06/1979 will be placed in the Junior Management scale at basic pay of Rs. 700. 00 with effect from 1/07/1979. They will also be eligible to draw DA, HRA and other allowances as admissible in terms of the Service Regulations with effect from the appointed date. In the case of Management Trainees who were placed in Grade 'c' before the appointed date, their basic pay will be refitted as in the case of other officers of the bank. "the appointed date according to the regulations was 1/07/1979. Therefore, since the regulations came into force w. e. f. 1/07/1979, the managerial cadres of the bank were brought over to the revised pay structure according to the fitment formula evolved under the regulations. Regulation 13 provided that if any officer was aggrieved by the fitment accorded to him in the new scales of pay, he may prefer an appeal to the Committee constituted by the Board for this purpose. It may here be mentioned that the appellants had preferred an appeal before the said Committee but the same was rejected whereupon the appellants filed a Writ Petition No. 1337 of 1981 in the High court of Delhi which was summarily rejected by a division bench of that High court after hearing senior counsel for the petitioners. Feeling aggrieved by the summary dismissal of their petition the original petitioners have preferred this appeal by special leave.
(3.) The grievance of the appellants is that they should have been fixed in the revised scale applicable to the Junior Management Cadre and should have been granted the advantage of fitment like any other employee belonging to the managerial cadre. According to them if they had beengranted the benefit of the fitment formula evolved under the regulations, they would have been placed at Rs. 950. 00 in the scale of Rs. 700-1800 prescribed for the Junior Management Cadre. However, the respondent-bank did not give them the benefit of the fitment formula admissible to the managerial cadres of the bank and instead fixed them at the minimum of the basic scale of Rs. 700. 00 without granting them the benefit under the fitment formula. On account of this they suffered in two ways; firstly, they were not given the benefit of fitment formula and their salary was not fixed at Rs. 950. 00 under that formula and secondly their dearness allowance which would have been admissible to them at 93% of the basic wage shrunk to 51% under the revised DA formula, thereby resulting in a loss of over Rs. 300. 00 per month. In this way, contend the appellants, the Circular No. 492 dated 16/01/1980 providing for the fitment of Management Trainees in the revised scale has prejudiced them and being arbitrary, unreasonable and discriminatory it is hit by Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.;