Different pay scales in the same cadre now permissible

Sridhruti Chitrapu | 8^th October 2019

Punjab State Electricity board and anr. v.Thana Singh and ors. (2019) 4 SCC 113

Facts of the case

The respondents were employed by the Punjab State electricity board since the year 1978 and they are currently working as Sub Fire Officers in the board. The pay scale in 1978 was Rs. 225 – 500 over the years they have revised the pay even in other categories. By an order dated 3-10-1990 the pay scale of head clerks, head clerk cum divisional accountants and internal auditors was revised from Rs. 1640-2925 to Rs. 2000-3500 upon the recommendation of the Pay anomaly committee. Through the same order the pay of Internal auditors was also revised from Rs. 1800-3200 but the pay of Sub Fire Officers was not revised on par with the other officials. The Sub Fire Officers have filed various representations to the appellant board requesting for a higher pay, in par with the other employees.

Respondents Contention’s

It was contented that the act of granting them a pay scale less than the State Government employees is illegal, unjustified, discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. According to them since there is no qualification difference nor recruitment process difference there should not be any pay scale difference between them. The applicant filed a counter affidavit stating that, it is a statutory body constituted by the Electricity Supply Act governed by its own regulations. They contended that the Sub Fire Officers cannot claim the same parity as they belong to different cadre from that of the other officials. Even though the qualifications and recruitment process may be the same the nature of work, their duties and responsibilities differ.

Procedural History

The Single judge of the High Court ordered that Sub Fire officers and all of the other listed officials belong to Group XII so they are of the same cadre and they cannot be denied their claim for parity. The appeal filed before the Division Bench was dismissed holding that there is no basis for differentiation in the same cadre.

Held

The Supreme Court held that merely because the posts belong Group XII does not mean that they have to be treated the same since their nature of work and responsibilities are different. Providing parity would also have huge financial implications on the board. The apex court held that the grant of pay is purely an executive function, and that it is up to the Government and, the experts to decide the pay scales and the courts are not to interfere with it. It was opined that fixing pay scales by courts by applying the principle of equal work upsets the high constitutional principle of separation of powers between the three organs of the State. The court further held that the functions may be the same but the skills and responsibilities are substantially different and so parity cannot be claimed merely on the ground that they are categorized in one group