Supreme Court of India was dealing with the petition challenging the judgment and order dated 05.10.2021 passed by the High Court of Delhi by which the High Court has allowed the said writ petition preferred by the respondent herein and has held that the respondent being retired Army Force Personnel upon reappointment in the government service, would be entitled to his basic pay being fixed at par with his last drawn pay, the Union of India and others have preferred the present appeal.
Brief Facts:
The respondent was a Major in the Indian Army and was discharged from service. He was appointed as an Assistant Commandant (Medical Officer) in the Central Reserve Police Force, in the pay scale of Rs.15600 39100 with grade pay of Rs.5400. The respondent claimed that as on the date of his discharge from the Indian Army, he was drawing pay of Rs.28340 with grade pay of Rs.6600, the same was entitled to be protected in terms of Para 8 of the Central Civil Services (fixation of Pay of Reemployed Pensioners) Order, 1986. The original writ petitioner made a representation which came to be rejected by an order dated 24.04.2019. Thereafter the original writ petitioner preferred the writ petition before the High Court claiming that he would be entitled to his basic pay being fixed at par with his last drawn pay. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has allowed the said writ petition.
Appellant’s Contention:
Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is on a misreading of Para 8 of CCS Orders. It was submitted that Para 8 of the CCS Order does not speak about retaining of the last drawn basic pay or fixation at the rate of last drawn pay. It was submitted that if the claim made by the respondent is allowed and it is held that on reemployment his pay fixation should be the last drawn pay in that case it violates the statutory provision of Para 8 of the CCS Order.
Respondent’s Contention:
Learned Counsel for the respondent submitted that the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is absolutely in consonance with Para 8 of the CCS Order. It was submitted that as per Para 8 of CCS Order, though the appellants granted six increments i.e., for the number of years the respondent served in the Indian Army, however, the same was granted on the pay wrongly fixed by the appellants which ought to have been fixed at Rs.28340 i.e., the pay last drawn by the respondent in the rank of Major in the Army.
SC’s Observations:
The question before the SC was whether on reemployment in the government service, an employee who was serving in the Indian Army/in the Armed Forces shall be entitled to his pay scales at par with his last drawn pay?
SC further stated that Para 8 of the CCS Order makes a reference to two rates of pay in case of emergency commissioned officers and short service commissioned officers being appointed in the government service: First, they may be granted advance increment equal to the completed years of service rendered by them in the armed forces on a basic pay equal to or higher than the minimum of the scale attached to the civil posts in which they are employed. The pay is to be fixed with reference to the scale attached to the civil posts in which they are employed; Second, while computing the pay in the aforesaid manner it should not exceed the basic pay last drawn by them in the armed forces.
SC stated that Para 8 of the CCS Order does not indicate that the pay last drawn by the respondent in the armed forces should be the pay to be computed when he joined the civil post. There is no entitlement of pay protection under para 8 of the CCS. The manner of computation of pay as envisaged under para 8 also clearly stipulates that the pay so arrived at should not exceed the basic pay last drawn by the respondent in the armed force. That does not mean that the respondent is entitled to a pay equal to what was last drawn by him in the armed force.
SC Held:
After evaluating submissions made by both the parties the SC held that “Para 8 does not provide that on reemployment in Government Services a retired Armed Force personnel would be entitled to his basic pay being fixed at par with his last drawn pay. Holding so will violate para 8 of the CCS Order. Under the circumstances the High Court has committed a grave error in observing and holding that the retired Armed Forces personnel on reappointment in the government service would be entitled to the last drawn pay as Armed Forces personnel. Therefore, the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is unsustainable being contrary to para 8 of the CCS Order, 1986. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is hereby quashed and set aside.”
Case Title: Union of India & Ors. v. Anil Prasad
Bench: J. M. R. Shah and J. B.V. Nagarathna
Citation: CIVIL APPEAL NO. 4073 OF 2022
Decided on: 20th May, 2022
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