- (1.) Heard Mr. Chandra Bhushan Pandey, learned counsel for the petitioners as well as learned Standing Counsel.
(2.) The petitioners are serving as Group-B officers being posted as Regional Audit Officers in Cooperative Societies and Panchayats. Twenty one posts out of fifty three posts of Regional Audit Officers were upgraded to the post of Deputy Chief Audit Officer, whereas remaining thirty two posts were merged with the District Audit Officers. In the result, the post of Regional Audit Officer was abolished.
(3.) It has been submitted that the post of District Audit Officer are the post of lower cadre, whereas the post of Regional Audit Officer is the post of higher cadre, therefore, the post of Regional Audit Officer cannot be merged into the lower post of District Audit Officer. The said merger has also been claimed to be against the spirit of the Government Orders dated 14.06.2012 and 16.11.2012. The chart mentioned in paragraph-8 of the writ petition indicates the cadre as well as grade pay and its strength, which shows that the post of Regional Audit Officer bears the Grade Pay of Rs.5400/-, whereas the post of District Audit Officer/Officer Grade-II bears the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/-. The pay scale of Deputy Chief Audit Officer, which is upgraded post naturally bears higher Grade Pay i.e. Rs.6600/-. That is also fortified by the Government Order dated 14.06.2012. The petitioner is aggrieved with the change of designation of Regional Audit Officer to District Audit Officer as also to lower down the pay scale.;