M.R. Agnihotri, J. - (1.) THE Petitioners, who are Labour and Welfare Inspectors, employed in the Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala, have invoked the writ jurisdiction of this Court for the removal of anomalies in their pay scale by granting to them the scale of pay of Rs. 700 -1200 with effect from 1st January, 1978, on which date the pay scales of employees belonging to certain other categories who were earlier at par with the Petitioners, were revised to Rs. 700 -1200 without revising the pay scale of the Petitioners.
(2.) BEFORE 1st January, 1978, the pay scale of the Petitioners who are holding the posts of Labour and Welfare Inspectors with the Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Board'), was Rs. 210 -480. The qualifications for this post, as prescribed by the Board, were as under: Graduate with Diploma in Labour Laws or LL.B with Labour Laws as one of the subjects. There were a number of other posts which were grouped together and classified along with the posts of Labour and Welfare Inspectors at the time of revision of pay scales with effect from 1st January, 1978. A number of such posts as Sports Assistant. Assistant Librarian, Sub Fire Officer, Head Office Assistant, Artist -cum -Photographer, Instrument Technician, Research Assistant, Divisional Head Draftsman, etc. carried higher pay scale than that of the Labour and Welfare Inspector, that is, the pay scale of Rs. 210 -480. However, the pay scales of all these posts were revised to 570 -1080. The grievance of the Petitioners is that as the workload and type of their work is comparable to the Personnel Officer, Bhakra Beas Management Board Law Officer, 'H.S.E.B.; Assistant Personnel Officer. B.B.M.B.; Assistant Director Attorney of Director Prosecution Department, Punjab (both Grade I and Grade II); Legal Advisor of Pepsii Roadways Transport Corporation; and Law Officer, Labour Department, Punjab, the pay scale of the Petitioners 'post should also have been revised to at. least Rs. 700 -1,200, if not higher. The nature of duties required to be performed by the Petitioners is almost similar to the duties of Law Officers who have to draft pleadings and conduct cases before the Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal, etc. Therefore, applying the Principle of "equal pay for equal work", as enshrined in Article 39 of the Constitution, the Petitioners were entitled to draw the pay scale of Rs. 700 -1,200. In reply to the writ petition, the Respondent -Board has pleaded that no case had been made out by the Petitioners for the revision of their pay scale at Rs. 700 -1,200. According to the Board, the nature of duties required to be performed by the Petitioners are different from the duties of Law Officers of other Departments. In fact, Labour and Welfare Inspectors need not necessarily be Law Graduates which is the basic qualification of a Law Officer. A Graduate with Diploma in Labour Laws is also eligible for the post of Labour and Welfare Inspector, but he is not eligible for the post of Law Officer, Strong reliance has also been placed by the Board on the Division Bench judgment of this Court in C.W.P. No. 2896 of 1982 filed by Baldev Singh and others of the Board, in which S.S. Sandhawalia, CJ. and S.S. Sodhi, J., while dismissing the writ Petition on 14th September, 1982, observed as under: Different pay for different posts provides no occasion for invoking the writ jurisdiction of this Court even if at one time they may have happened to be in the same scale of pay. The challenge here is to the different scales of pay for Under Secretaries and Accounts Officers. Both these posts belong to different administrations, namely, the Secretariat Administration and the Accounts Administration. The duties, responsibilities, qualifications and experience to these two posts are clearly different and distinct from each other. In the matter of pay scales, the Respondent -Punjab State Electricity Board has broadly followed the pattern accepted by the Punjab Government, particularly in respect to corresponding categories of posts. There is thus no warrant for granting to the Petitioners the relief claimed. This writ petition is accordingly dismissed in Limine: ' it has further been stated by the Board that it is strictly following the State of Punjab in the matter of grant of pay scales to is employees and there is no valid ground with the Respondent -Board to deviate from the policy of Government of Punjab for granting the pay scale of Rs. 700 -1,200 to the category of Labour and Welfare inspectors, as the similar corresponding category (Labour inspector Gr. -I) has been sanctioned revised scale of Rs. 570 -1080 by the State Government. Further, the pay scale of Rs. 700 -1200 has been sanctioned to the categories of establishment who were at par with the pay scale of Line Superintendent/Section Officer (Civil) of the Government.
(3.) RELIANCE has also been placed by the learned Counsel for the Respondent -Board, Mr. M. S. Kang, on the Single Bench decision of this Court in (, decided on 22nd February, 1989, in which A. L. Bahri, J., while dismissing the writ petition of Shift Chemists/Laboratory Assistants on 22nd February, 1989, has held that, - on the ground that pay scales of other posts were revised, the Petitioners could not ask for mandamus directing the Respondent -Punjab State Electricity Board to revise the pay scales of Laboratory Assistants.;