A Division Bench of Justice M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna by observing that an Emergency Commissioned Officer and a Short Service Commissioned Officer working in the Armed Forces on his employment to a civil post shall be entitled to advance increments equal to the completed years of service rendered in the Armed Forces, allowed the present appeal instituted by the Union of India and Others against the judgment and order passed by the Delhi High Court wherein the High Court observed that the original petitioner upon re- appointment in the government service shall be entitled to his basic pay fixed at par with his last drawn pay.
Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied by the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court of Delhi dated October 5, 2021 whereby the High Court allowed the writ petition preferred by the original writ petitioner and held that the petitioner being a retired Army Force Personnel, upon re- appointment in the government service shall be entitled to his basic pay fixed at par with his last drawn pay.In pursuance of the same, the Union of India and others preferred the present appeal.
Facts in brief of the case were that the original petitioner was a Major in the Indian Army and was discharged from service on July 15, 2007. He was appointed as an Assistant Commandant in the Central Reserve Police Force. It was the case of the petitioner that on the day of his discharge, 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 Re-employed Pensioners) Order, 1986. Thereafter, he made a representation which was rejected by an order dated April 24, 2019.
Consequently, he preferred an appeal before the High Court claiming that he was entitled to his basic pay being fixed at par with his last drawn pay. The High Court allowed the writ petition by passing the impugned judgment and order of reworking on the pay fixation of the petitioner and stated that the petitioner being a retired Armed Force Personnel shall be entitled to basic pay being fixed at par with his last drawn pay.
It was this impugned judgment and order that was assailed by the Union of India and others by way of appeal before this Court.
After hearing the submissions of both the parties, the Court noted that the question that was posed before it for consideration was whether on re-employment 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.
To answer the same, the Court took into consideration Para 8 of CCS order. In view of the same, the Court observed that Para 8 of the CCS Order stipulates that an Emergency Commissioned Officer and a
Short Service Commissioned Officer working in the Armed Forces on his employment to a civil post shall be entitled to advance increments equal to the completed years of service rendered in the Armed Forces on a basic pay equal to or higher than the minimum of the scale attached to the civil post in which they are employed. However, the pay arrived at should not exceed the basic pay last drawn by them in the Armed Forces, the Court remarked.
It did not mandate 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 was 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 (including the deferred pay but excluding other emoluments) last drawn by the respondent in the armed force, the Court noted.
Adverting to the facts of the present case, the Court noted that the respondent was in the pay scale of Rs.15600 – 39100. The post on which he was re-employed in the government service also carries the pay scale of Rs.15600 – 39100 and he was allowed advance increments of six years as he completed six years of service in the Armed Forces. However, his grade pay has been fixed at Rs.5400 being the grade pay which is available for the civil post. Thus, the pay fixation of the respondent in the government service was absolutely in consonance with para 8 of the CCS Order 1986, the Court observed.
In view of the aforesaid observations, the Court further stated that the High Court ruled wrongly that the retired Armed Forces personnel on re-appointment in the government service would be entitled to the last drawn pay as Armed Forces personnel.
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 would indeed run in complete contradiction to the same, the Court opined.
Thus, the impugned order passed by the High Court was set aside and quashed on account of being unsustainable and contrary to Para 8 of the CSS Order, 1986. Accordingly, the appeal was allowed.
Case name: UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.Vs. ANIL PRASAD
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