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PETITIONER: HARKANT HIRALAL VOHRA (DEAD) BY L.RS.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       08/09/1998

BENCH: K.  VENKATASWAMI, A.P.  MISRA.

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT: JUDGMENT K. VENKATASWAMI, J. ----------------- The legal representatives of the deceased  appellant are  prosecuting this appeal. In this judgment, wherever the word  ’appellant’  is  used,  it  will  mean  the   deceased appellant. The  appellant  was  aggrieved  by  the  Order dated 1.3.82 which denied the benefit of  Railway  Board’s  Letter No.   (ES)-61-CC-176  dated  9.8.6  under which he was to be granted four advance increments from 1.5.61.  The  appellant joined the  then  B.B.   & C.I Railway Company as a Clerk in the grade of Rs.  55-130.  After the taking over of the said Railway Company by the  Central  Government  of  January  1, 1942,  the appellant was confirmed as a Clerk by the General Manager, Western Railway, on 12.3.43.   After  crossing  the efficiency  bar  test in 1955, he was promoted and confirmed as a  Senior  Clerk  in  the   Grade   of   Rs.      80-220. Subsequently,  he  was  confirmed  as  Cleark Grade-I w.e.f. 1.4.56 in the payscale of  Rs.    130-300.    Some  time  in August,   1958,  he  was  transferred  from  the  Mechanical Department to the Accounts Department  in  the  interest  of Railway Administration. The  Railway  Board’s  Letter  dated  9.8.61, on the basis of which the appellant claimed four advance increments from 1.5.61, reads as  follows  (relevant  portion  only  is extracted):-         "(1)  In  the  case  of Clerks Grade-II promotion as         Clerks Grade-I on  or  after  1.5.61  by  virtue  of         either passing App.  II-A examination or having been         permanently exempted   from   passing   App.    II-A         examination their pay should be fixed at  the  stage         that  would  be  arrived at by grant of four advance         increments for grade of Clerks Grade-I after  normal         fixation, subject to  a  minimum  of  Rs.  150/-.  A         statement showing the  fixation  of  pay  of  Clerks         Grade-II   on   promotion  as  Clerks  Grade-I  with         reference to their pay as  Clerks  Grade-II  at  the         time of promotion is attached herewith for guidance.         (2)  In  the  case of Clerks Grade-I promoted before

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       1.5.61, the pay of all such staff whether working in         a  permanent  or  officiating  capacity,  should  be         refixed on 1.5.61 as (1) above,  with  reference  to         the  pay  to  which they should be entitled as Clerk         Grade-II, but for their promotion as Clerks  Grade-I         and they should be allowed either the pay so refixed         on  1.5.61  or their existing pay, whichever is more         beneficial to them." According to the appellant, he was entitled  to  get the  benefit  of  the  said  four increments in the light of Clauses (1) and (2), extracted above,  as  he  was  promoted before    1.5.61,   namely,   on   1.4.56.   In   spite   of representations, the relief was denied  by  an  Order  dated 1.3.82.  Hence,  he  moved  the  Gujarat  High  Court, which transferred  the  matter  to  the   Central   Administrative Tribunal  and  the  Tribunal  in  the order under appeal has dismissed the  claim  of  the  appellant  for  four  advance increments  w.e.f.  1.5.61.  Aggrieved  by that, the present appeal has been preferred by special leave. Learned  counsel appearing for the appellant invited out attention to a number of  documents  to  show  that  the appellant  was  entitled  to  the benefit of Railway Board’s Letter dated 9.8.61.  One such document was paragraph 644 of the Indian Railway Establishment Manual.  It is the  further case  of  the  learned  counsel  for  the appellant that the Tribunal, by mentioning only Clause (a)  of  Paragraph  644, rejected  the  claim  of  the appellant without referring to Clause (b) of the same paragraph, which is relevant for  his claim.   He also invited our attention to the seniority list of the category of ’CGIS’, which, according to  the  learned counsel  for  the  appellant,  exempted  the  appellant from appearing in the Appendix-IIA examination.  He also referred to two other documents dated 22.7.59 and 23.11.60 to further support his contention that the appellant was exempted  from appearing in  the Appendix IIA examination.  In the light of the documents brought to the notice of this  Court,  learned counsel  for  the  appellant submitted that the order of the Tribunal has to be set aside and the relief prayed  for  has to be granted. Learned   counsel   appearing   for  the  respondent railways submitted  that  the  document  relied  on  by  the learned   counsel  for  the  appellant  will  not  help  the appellant to get the increments, but will help him  only  to get promotion. Before discussing the matter further, we would  like to  point  out  that  having  regard  to  the  fact that the appellant retired and died pending appeal, we  had  directed the learned counsel appearing for the respondent to find out from  the  Railway whether they can settle the matter out of Court. Learned counsel  for  the  respondent,  after  taking several  adjournments, informed us that the respondents were not willing to settle the matter out of Court. The learned counsel for the appellant was right when he contended that the Tribunal went wrong  in  deciding  the issue  against  the appellant by noticing only Clause (a) of Paragraph 644 of the Manual without referring to Clause  (b) of the same Paragraph. The relevant documents read as follows:- 1) The relevant portion of Paragraph 644 (a) and (b) of the Manual is given below:-         "644. Clerks Grade II on promotion to post of Clerks         Grade I in the Accounts Department:         (a) Clerks Grade II promoted as Clerks Grade I on or         after  1.5.61  by  virtue of either passing Appendix         II-A Examination or having been permanently exempted

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       from passing that examination,  will  have  the  pay         fixed  at stage that would be arrived at by grant of         four advance increments,  in  the  grade  of  Clerks         Grade  I after normal fixation, subject to a minimum         of Rs.150/- as indicated below.         (b)  In  the  case of Clerks Grade I promoted before         1.5.61, the pay of all such staff,  whether  working         in  a  permanent  or officiating capacity, should be         refixed on 1.5.61 as (a) above,  with  reference  to         the  pay  to  which they would be entitled as Clerks         Grade II, but for their promotion as Clerks Grade  I         and they should be allowed either the pay so refixed         on  1.5.61  or their existing pay, whichever is more         beneficial to them:         2)   Seniority List of Category  of  CGIS  is  given         below:-         Ref:      FA     &     CAO(Adm)     CCG’s     No.ADM         IV/A2083/E-1030/10/0/Vol-III dated 24.11.69. 3)    Copy  of  Item  No. 359 of Minutes of the Meeting with G.M. Held on 21st and 22nd July, 1959, is given below:-         "359.  Graded staff transferred from Mech.    Deptt.         to Accounts Deptt.         G.P.O.   explained  that  according  to the accounts         memorandum of 18.9.1958 issued with the approval  of         GMS.   The  staff who were willing to go on transfer         to the Accounts Deptt.  were taken over  permanently         by  the  Accounts  treating their transfer as in the         interest of service thereby causing no loss  in  the         seniority.   He  also  stated  that the staff of the         Mech.  Deptt.  will get seniority in that  grade  in         the Accounts  Deptt.    without  having  to pass any         examination." 4)   The   document  dated  23.11.60  was  one  relating  to Sub-graduation List of Staff as  on  1.9.60.  This  document gives  the seniority list of Clerks Grade-I and there is one column saying that the appellant was exempted from appearing in the Appendix-IIA examination.         A careful persual of Paragraph  644  (b)  of         the Manual and the other documents, extracted above,         namely  seniority  list  of  the  category  of  CGIS         exempting  the  appellant  from   the   departmental         examination, etc.        will   support   from   the         departmental examination, etc.    will  support  the         case of  the  appellant.   It is not in dispute that         had the Appellant been exempted  from  appearing  in         Appendix  IIA  examination, he was entitled to get 4         advance  increments  as  provided  in  the   Railway         Board’s letter  dated  9.8.1961.    Railway  Board’s         letter’s paragraphs 1 and 2 are in  identical  terms         with  paragraph  644  (a)  &  (b)  of Indian Railway         Establishment Manual.  After perusing the  documents         produced  before us, we are unable to agree with the         learned  counsel  for  the  respondents   that   the         documents referred to and relied upon by the learned         counsel  for the appellant, relate only to promotion         and not to grant of increments.  A conjoint  reading         of  the  above  referred to documents will show that         the appellant was exempted  from  appearing  in  the         Appendix IIA examination not only for the purpose of         seniority  but  also for the purpose of getting four         advance increments under the Railway Board’s  Letter         dated 9.8.61. In  the  result,  the  appeal   succeeds   and   the respondents  are  directed  to recalculate the salary of the deceased appellant after giving four increments from  1.5.61

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and  also the pensionary benefits. The additional amount now to  be  paid,  as  a  result  of   re-calculation   by   the respondents,   to   the   legal   representatives   of   the deceased-appellant, will bear interest at the  rate  of  12% p.a. The  appeal is accordingly allowed with costs, which we quantify at Rs. 5,000/-.