Jagannatha Shetty, J. - (1.) This appeal by Special Leave arises out of a Judgment of the Gujarat High Court dismissing the appellants Special Civil Application No. 1222 of 1973. The appellants are employees of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. They were appointed in the basic pay scale of Rs. 120/- as Technicians Grade III. Respondents 3 to 9 are also employees in the same establishment but in Grade II. Their basic pay scale was Rs. 175/-. The contention of the appellants is that there is practically no difference in the nature of duties and responsibilities of Technicians Grade II and Grade III. and therefore, they are entitled to be treated and paid as Technicians Grade II. The management refused to accede to their request. They approached the Gujarat High Court for a direction against the management to treat them on equal terms with respondents 3 to 9 from the date of their respective appointments. There also they could not succeed. So they are now before us.
(2.) It is not in dispute and indeed cannot be disputed that the appellants were recruited as Technicians Grade III. Respondents 3 to 9 were recruited as Technicians Grade II. It is the case of the management that there is difference between Technician Grade II and Grade III on qualifications as well as on recruitment policy. But it is the case of the appellants that they do the same job as technicians Grade II.
(3.) The nature of work and responsibilities of the posts are matters to be evaluated by the management and not for the Court to determine by relying upon the averments in the affidavits of interested parties. We have stressed this point in a recent judgment (in Civil Appeal No. 56 of 1987, State of U. P. and Ors. v. J. P. Chaurasia and Ors. disposed of on 27 September, 1988). There we said: "the question depends upon several factors. It does not just depend upon either the nature of work or volume of work done by Bench Secretaries. Primarily it requires among others, evaluation of duties and responsibilities of the respective posts. More often functions of two posts may appear to be the same or similar, but there may be difference in degrees in the performance, The quantity of work may be the same, but quality may be different. That cannot be determined by relying upon averments in affidavits of interested parties. The equation of posts or equation of pay must be left to the Executive Government. It must be determined by expert bodies like Pay Commission. They would be the best judge to evaluate the nature of duties and responsibilities of posts. If there is any such determination by a Commission or Committee, the Court should normally accept it. The Court should not try to tinker with such equivalence unless it is shown that it was made with extraneous consideration.";