- (1.) DELAY condoned and leave granted in the SLPs. The question involved in these appeals filed by the state of Madhya Pradesh, relates to the quantum of Non-Practicing Allowance ('npa' for short) payable to certain categories of Medical Officers belonging to the state Insurance service.
(2.) THE Madhya Pradesh Employees State Insurance service (Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 1981 (in short 'the Rules') framed by the State Government came into force in the year 1982. Rule (5) of the Rules provides that classification of the service, the scales of pay attached thereto and the number of posts included in the service shall be in accordance with the provisions contained in Schedule I thereto. The scales of pay and npa payable to different categories of Medical Officers, other than the Director of the Service, are extracted below from Schedule I to the Rules: JUDGEMENT_1198_TLPRE0_2009Html1.htm Non-Practising Allowance is paid to Medical Officers when private practice by medical officers was prohibited and abolished. Even though the rules specified that the aforesaid categories of Medical Officers were entitled to NPA linked to their pay (that is 25% of the basic pay), the letters of appointment issued to them specified that the npa payable to them would be a fixed lump sum approximately equal to 25% of the initial (minimum) pay in the pay scale applicable to them, (as contrasted from a variable linked to the quantum of their pay provided under the Rules ). As a result, whenever there were increases in their pay on account of annual increments, npa was not correspondingly increased so as to maintain it at 25% of basic pay, but continued to be paid at the fixed lump sum rate. The state Government was however revising the fixed lump sum NPA, whenever there was revisions in the pay scales, by issuing executive orders. The respondents in these appeals as also several other medical officers brought this anomaly to the notice of the department and requested that the NPA should be paid to them at 25% of the pay in accordance with the rules, as was done in the case of Medical officers working in the Public Health and Medical education departments. As their request was not acceded, the respondents approached the Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal seeking a direction for payment of NPA in accordance with the Rules. They contended that whenever there was an increase in their basic pay, either on account of annual increments in the pay scale or on account of revision of pay scales, there should be corresponding automatic increase in the NPA in terms of the Rules which required payment of "npa @ 25% of the pay". The tribunal accepted the contention and allowed their applications and directed the appellant to calculate and pay NPA at the rate of 25% of the pay from the respective dates of their joining service. The State government filed writ petitions challenging the orders of the Tribunal. The High Court dismissed those petitions, upholding the orders of the Tribunal. The said orders of the High Court are under challenge in these appeals by special leave.
(3.) IT should be noted here that as there was no stay, the state government instructed the Director of employees State Insurance Services, to give effect to the orders of the Tribunal affirmed by the High Court and pay the respondents NPA @ 25% of their salary from the respective dates of their appointment, subject to the final decision of this Court, with a condition that if the matters were decided in favour of the appellants, recovery of the excess payment would be made. The appellant State also amended the Madhya Pradesh employees State Insurance Service (Gazetted) Rules 1981 (by notification dated 20. 3. 2003) and substituted the words "npa at such rate as may be fixed by state government from time to time by orders issued in this behalf" in place of the words "npa at 25% of pay" wherever they occurred in the Rules, with retrospective effect from 14. 10. 1982.;