BIRENDRA KUMAR BARTHAKUR Vs. GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. U. Bhuyan, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. S.N, Sarma, learned Standing counsel for the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, hereinafter referred as "the Corporation" and Mr. D. Das, learned Advocate for the private respondent No. 4 to 12.

(2.) The case of the petitioners is that the petitioners as well as the private respondent No. 4 to 12, hereinafter referred to as the "private respondents'" are all employees of the Corporation and at the relevant time they were all serving with a identical pay scale of Rs.670-1500/-. Thereafter the Corporation considered the question of promotion vide the impugned order dated 28.8.97. The petitioners as well as the private respondents were all promoted and posted to different posts. The grievance of the writ petitioner is that vide Annexure-C, they were posted to post, carrying basic pay of Rs.1635-3950/- whereas the private respondent No. 4 was given a pay scale of Rs.1835-4325/- and the other private respondents were given the pay scale of Rs.1785-4200/-. The case of the petitioners is that they are senior in service to the private respondents and as such they could not have been denied or deprived of the higher pay scale. The petitioners also filed representation in the matter but as no action was taken they have approached this Court in this application under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(3.) The case of the respondents is that the Guwahati Municipal Corporation has got no Service Rules governing the sendee condition of their employees. They have also no gradation List or different grades of service in the Corporation. Hence, while the matter for promotion of the writ petitioners as well as the private respondents came up for consideration, a committee was constituted and the said committee was of the view that for some higher posts, minimum educational qualification is to be fixed. Moreover, considering the fact that usually promotions are made to the next higher scale but in this case certain employees may get promotions by jumping some scales. The Standing Finance Committee (SFC) of the Corporation therefore accepted the proposals for promoting persons having higher educational qualification (in non-technical posts) by promoting persons having educational qualification of having a minimum Bachelor Degree or Graduate. Accordingly, the petitioners who are all under-graduates were promoted and posted to posts carrying lower pay scales, whereas the private respondents who are all graduates were given higher pay scales and were posted to different posts. It is submitted by the respondents that the private respondents were promoted on the basis of educational qualification, suitability and merit.