- (1.) The appellants herein were initially employed in the Food & Supplies Department, Government of West Bengal and thereafter sent on deputation to Food Corporation of India in the year 1966 pursuant to an agreement executed between Food Corporation of India (hereinafter referred to as FCI) and State of West Bengal dated 26.11.1966. The relevant extracts from the aforesaid agreement dated 26th November, 1966 are set out hereunder :- "a) To facilities smooth transfer of functions under this arrangement by the State Government to the Corporation, the latter shall take over all the officers and the staff of the State Govt. actually engaged on these functions at present under the State Government, unless for special reasons any of such officers and staff are not made available by the government for being to taken over. The corporation shall have the right to review its staffing pattern in the light of its experience and absorb such of the officers and staff as were taken over by it initially and as may be found suitable for such absorption by a committee consisting of officers of the corporation and the State Government. b) Till such time as the employees of the State Government taken over by the corporation are absorbed by the corporation they will be on deputation. Such officers and staff on deputation shall continue to be governed by the same pay and scales of pay as under the State Government. The other terms and conditions of their deputation will be settled by mutual consultation between the Corporation and the State Government which in any case shall not be less favourable then what is admissible under the West Bengal Government rules. The Corporation shall bear leave salary and pensionary contribution for the staff that would be on deputation to it. c) In respect of officers and staff that will be eventually absorbed by the Corporation in its service the Corporation shall make regulation under the Food Corporation Act in such manner as the confirm to as far as possible to the conditions of service that governed such officers and staff at present under the Government. The Corporation shall also relax if necessary its rules of recruitment in order to enable it to absorb the officers and staff that will be eventually absorbed in its service.
(2.) On 19th March, 1984 FCI issued a circular being circular no. 21 of 1984 regarding absorption of West Bengal State Government deputationists in the regular service of the Food Corporation of India. The appellants herein opted for absorption in FCI by filing prescribed option forms and eventually they were absorbed in FCI with effect from 1st July, 1984 pursuant to the office orders issued from time to time from 1985 onwards. The said appellants also specifically claimed pay scale of Rs. 380-640 in the option form since according to the appellants aforesaid scale of pay would conform to their conditions of service as far as possible.
(3.) The respondent FCI authorities however, did not pay any heed to the aforesaid demand of the appellants regarding pay scale of Rs. 380-640 which was specifically mentioned in the option form by the said appellants. The appellants herein therefore, filed writ petition and the said writ petition was dismissed by the learned Single Judge by the judgment and order under appeal. The learned senior counsel of the appellants submitted that the circular no. 21 of 1984 issued by the FCI regarding absorption of the West Bengal State Government deputationists in the regular service of the FCI did not authorise the FCI authorities to withdraw any existing benefits of the depuationists but the FCI authorities by not granting the pay scale of Rs. 380-640 curtailed the existing benefits of the said deputationists namely, the appellants herein.;