CAT calls out bias, orders justice for clerical cadre

Srinagar, Dec 14: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar directed the government to grant within six weeks benefits of pay upgradation to the clerical cadre as per SRO 333 of 2018 from January 1, 1996, notionally and from February 19, 2003, monetarily as has been granted to other sister cadres.

A division bench of D S Mahara, Member (J), and Prasant Kumar issued the direction while allowing a petition by Jammu Kashmir All Departments Clerical Staff Association (Ministerial Federation) through its president, Ghulam Jeelani Naik and others.

The tribunal quashed SRO 333 dated August 2, 2018, to the extent of granting prospective benefits of pay upgradation to the aggrieved members of the association after observing that the government, without assigning, adopted pick and choose the path to grant benefits of pay up-gradation to some cadres and left out some others.

The court also scrapped the “withdrawal of two increments” that were given to the clerical cadre after passing Secretariat Assistant training and directed the authorities to restore the two increments in favour of the aggrieved employees.

The association through its counsel, Faizan Majid Bhat contended that it was aggrieved by SRO 333 of 2018 dated August 2, 2018, to the extent of granting prospective effect only to pay upgradation of the clerical cadre in various departments.

The association said that “they are holding the clerical cadre posts like junior assistant, senior assistant, head assistant, Section Officers (SOs) outside the secretariat in various government departments”.

Their further contention was that they in terms of the pay rules in vogue and also in terms of the pay revision affected in 1973 and 1982 by the government were holding the pay scale held by various other posts like steno typists, accountants, patwaris, poultry assistants, technical assistants, stock assistants, village level workers (VLWs).

The association said that the government upgraded the pay scales of the other posts to a higher pay scale but they were left out of such treatment and were thus discriminated against.

According to the association’s plea, the government continued to issue SROs granting special treatment to the other posts one after the other but the clerical cadre was always “discriminated against”.

The plea underscored that even while implementing the recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission, the government issued SRO 18 of 1998 dated January 19, 1998, placing the junior assistants in the pay scale of 3050-75-4590.

For other identical posts like teachers, patwaris, and others, SRO 75 of 1992 was issued granting special treatment and placing them in the pay scale of Rs 4000 to Rs 6000, it said.

The aggrieved association also referred to various orders and SROs issued in 2005 and 2007 wherein, it said, again the higher pay grade benefits were granted to other sister cadres leaving out the clerical cadre.

“The perusal of the record before us shows that the applicants and various other cadres fell in the same pay scale earlier, however, the government without assigning, adopted pick and choose the path to grant benefits of pay up-gradation to some cadres and left out some other,” the bench said after hearing the association and the government.

The tribunal observed that when the matter was agitated by the left-out employees, the government issued various SROs granting pay upgradation retrospectively to various cadres including Section Officers, Accounts Cadre, and patwaris.

“Those actions of the government make it evident that the applicants have (not) been dealt with fairly in comparison to other cadres who have been granted retrospective up-gradation while the applicants have been granted prospective upgradation by the impugned SRO,” the tribunal said.

The tribunal noted that the case of the applicants had also been under the consideration of the government right from 2007 and committees were constituted from time to time without granting any relief to them.

After an inordinate delay which the tribunal said was also in violation of the order of the High Court dated November 21, 2015, the government finally issued the impugned SRO, which was again discriminatory as the clerical cadre had not been granted retrospective up-gradation of their pay as has been granted to other cadres.

“More so, even the benefits of increments granted on passing the Secretariat Assistant Training have also been taken away without citing any reason and justification as the said increments are granted on passing of a training that imparts skills of higher responsibilities and not otherwise,” the tribunal said. “This makes the applicants a special class for increments.”