ALL
INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL TAX
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
(Earlier
known as All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers)
Patron
Chief Patron Patron
A. Venkatesh Ravi Malik
C. S. Sharma
Mob. 7780255361 Mob. 9868816290 Mob.
9313885411
President:
Address for communication: Secretary
General:
M.
Loganathan Flat
No. 6, SE 11, Shastri Nagar, Ghaziabad Harpal Singh
Mob.8758262698 mail
Id:aiacegeo2019@gmail.com Site:cengoindia.blogspot.in Mob.9717510598
Vice Presidents: B C Khatik, V
Pagare (Central) Diwakar Sahai, Sanjoy
Gupta (East) Ashish Vajpayee, Amadul Islam (North) G Srinivas Reddy, P
Ravichandran (South) R Keny, J B Parmar (West) Joint Secretaries: S P
Pandey, T J Manojumon (Central) Subrata Adhikari, SiddharthTewari (East)
Ramkesh Meena, S Sahai (West) Atul Kumar, R B Sahu (North) Bhoopesh, R V
Raghunandan (South); All India Convener:
A K Meena All India Coordinator: B L Meena Office Secretary: B C
Gupta Treasuer: M Kumar Organising Secretary: M Bajpai Liaison
Secretary: N S Maheshwari North Zone
Coordinator: Prabhakar Sharma Legal Coordinator: S Sabarwal
Vigilance Coordinator: R K Singh South
Zone Coordinator: U Sharma
(Recognised
vide F.No.B-12017/17/2022-AD-IV A dt. 14.07.23 of CBIC, Govt. of India)
Ref. No. 07/AIB/P/24 Dt. 24.01.24
COURT MATTER
To,
1. The Secretary, 2.
The Secretary,
Department of Expenditure, Ministry
of Finance, Department of Revenue, Ministry
of Finance,
North Block, New Delhi. North
Block, New Delhi.
3. The Chairman,
Central Board of Excise and
Customs (now Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs),
North Block, New Delhi.
Subject: Implementation of the common
order of the Hon’ble High Court of Ernakulum delivered in OP (CAT) NO. 1 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 139 OF
2023, OP (CAT) NO. 132 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 133 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 167 OF
2023, OP (CAT) NO. 173 OF 2023 & OP (CAT) NO. 175 OF 2023 and common
order of the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal of Hyderabad in OA- No. 21/1089/2019,
1088/2019, 987/2019, 1026/2019, 1027/2019, 1084/2019, 1085/2019, 1086/2019, 1087/2019,
212/2020 & 213/2020 regarding retrospective implementation of the pay scale
revision.
Sir,
It is submitted with due regards
that the pay scale of the Superintendents of Central Excise (now CGST),
Superintendents of Customs, Appraisers of Customs and Income Tax Officers was
revised to Rs. 7500-12000/- from Rs. 6500-10500/- and also of Inspectors of
Central Excise, Preventive Officers of Customs, Examiners of Customs and Income
Tax Inspectors to Rs. 6500-10500/- from Rs. 5500-9000/- prospectively w.e.f.
21.04.04, i.e., from the date of the issuance of the common order vide OM No. 6/37/98-IC Dt. 21.04.04 of the
Department of Expenditure. Needless to say that all officers affected by the OM
F. No. 6/37/98-IC Dt. 21.04.04 are equally positioned.
2. It is worth to mention that the said order should have
been implemented w.e.f. the date of the implementation of the Central Civil
Service, Revised Pay Rules, 1997, i.e., w.e.f. 01.01.96, since when the
recommendations of the 5th Central Pay Commission were implemented
and disparity in comparison to other counterparts occurred.
3. Income Tax Gazetted Officers
Association filed OA No. 86/2008 in the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal
of Bombay challenging the OM F. No. 6/37/98-IC Dt. 21.04.04. The Administrative
Tribunal found the above referred OM Dt. 21.04.04 “arbitrary and illegal” and gave order in favour of the employees.
Based on it, total 13 applicants also approached the Hon’ble Central
Administrative Tribunal of Kolkata and got the order in their favour. The govt. filed an appeal in the Hon’ble High
Court of Kolkata vide WPCT No. 21 of 2015 against the order of the Hon’ble
Central Administrative Tribunal of Kolkata.
Hon’ble High Court of Kolkata vide order Dt. 03.05.23 directed to form a
special anomaly committee to decide the issue. Based on the report/decision of
the said committee, the benefit of the OM F. No. 6/37/98-IC Dt. 21.04.04 has
been granted retrospectively from 01.01.96 to 13 Income Tax Officers.
4. Your kind attention is also
invited to the common order given in OA No. 323/2012 and 345/2021 by the Hon’ble
Central Administrative Tribunal of Bombay filed by the Central Excise
Inspectors Association and Central Tax Superintendents Association (order
already communicated to your goodself by the Association). The Hon’ble Tribunal
ordered to refer the matter for grant of benefit on actual basis to the already
constituted special anomaly committee and decide the same based on judicial
pronouncements and law and also the judgements given by the Hon’ble Tribunal
and other courts wherein the actual benefits have already been extended w.e.f.
01.01.96 to the employees.
5. The govt. also filed WP No. 9649
against the order of the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal of Bombay in
OA No. 86/2008 which has been dismissed by the High Court of Bombay vide order
Dt. 08.12.23. The Hon’ble High Court ordered as below (order already
communicated to your goodself by the Association)-
“16. In the light of the abovementioned facts, the
appropriate course of action is to dispose of this Writ Petition directing the
Petitioner to adopt the same course of action as has been done in respect of
the Original Applicants who had approached Calcutta Bench of the Tribunal that
is acceptance of the report of the Special Anomaly Committee and subsequent
orders giving effect thereto.
17. Accordingly the impugned order passed by the
Central Administrative Tribunal dated 17 January 2012 in Original Application
No.86/2008 stands substituted/modified Petitioner will give the benefits as has
been given to the Applicants before the Tribunal in Calcutta in Original
Application No.397/2009 in Writ Petition No. (CT)21/2015.
18. Considering that this Writ Petition remained
pending and the Applicants before the Calcutta Bench of Tribunal who had relied
upon impugned order in this Petition have been granted relief earlier than the
present Petitioners, the necessary action be taken by the Petitioners as early
as possible, preferably within three months from today subject to procedural
requirements.
19. Rule is disposed of in the above
terms.”
6.
The Hon’ble High Court of Ernakulum vide common order delivered in OP (CAT) NO. 1 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 139 OF
2023, OP (CAT) NO. 132 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 133 OF 2023, OP (CAT) NO. 167 OF
2023, OP (CAT) NO. 173 OF 2023 & OP (CAT) NO. 175 OF 2023 (copy of order
enclosed) has also given the retrospective benefit of pay scale to the
employees.
7.
Your kind attention is also invited to the common order given by the Hon’ble
Central Administrative Tribunal of Hyderabad in OA- No. 21/1089/2019, 1088/2019,
987/2019, 1026/2019, 1027/2019, 1084/2019, 1085/2019, 1086/2019, 1087/2019, 212/2020
& 213/2020 (copy of order enclosed). The Hon’ble Tribunal has also ordered in
favour of the Central Excise (now CGST) Inspectors and Superintendents to give the
retrospective benefit of pay scale.
8.
There exist so many orders of so many courts including the Hon’ble Supreme
Court that the benefit of such matters is to be given to all similarly
positioned persons. Same has been intended in the National Litigation Policy to
minimise the litigations and not to force all equally placed/positioned persons
to approach the legal courts on the same matter. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has
also ordered the govt. on various occasions to issue the circular to this
effect to minimize the litigations to save the precious time of the Hon’ble
courts and not to force the similarly situated persons to approach the courts.
9.
Your kind attention is also invited to the order on the issue given by the
Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi in O.A. No. 2544/2015. In this order, the
Hon’ble CAT has specifically ordered that the benefit of upgraded pay scales is
to be given to all eligible employees with effect from 01.01.96 irrespective of
the fact whether they have approached an appropriate judicial forum for the
same or not as under-
“Before
parting we would also express a hope that the competent authority shall on its
own extend the benefit of upgraded pay scales to all eligible employees with
effect from 01.01.1996 irrespective of the fact whether they have approached an
appropriate judicial forum for the same or not so that unnecessary litigation
is avoided.”
10.
The issue of extension of benefits granted by the courts including Apex Court
in service matters to similarly situated persons has been settled in various
cases including the following-
(i) In the case of State of
Karnataka v. C. Lalita (2006) 2 SCC 747, it was held that service jurisprudence
evolved by the courts from time to time postulates that all persons similarly
situated should be treated similarly. Only because one person has approached
the court would not mean that persons similarly situated should be treated
differently.
(ii) In the judgment given by the full Bench of Central
Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore in the case of C. S. Elias Ahmed and others
v. UOI & others (O.A. Nos. 451 and 541 of 1991), it was held that the
entire class of employees who are similarly situated are required to be given
the benefit of the decision whether or not they were parties to the original
writ. This principle has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in this case
as well as in numerous other orders like G. C. Ghosh v. UOI, [(1992) 19 ATC 94
(SC)] dt. 20.07.98; K. I. Shepherd v. UOI [(JT 1987 (3) SC 600)]; Abid Hussain
v. UOI [(JT 1987 (1) SC 147], Order dt. 17.10.14 in the Civil Appeal No. 9849 of 2014 in the matter of State
of Uttar Pradesh & Ors v. Arvind Kumar Srivastava & Ors, SLP No.
77457/2017 filed against the order dt. 23.03.17 given by the Hon’ble High Court
of Delhi in WP No. 2634/2017, Order dt. 08.12.21 in Civil Appeal No(s). 5966,
5967, 5968 and 5969 of 2021 etc.
11. In view of
the above, it is very much requested to kindly implement the common OM F. No.
6/37/98-IC Dt. 21.04.04 w.e.f. 01.01.96 at an early date with all consequential
benefits to all the affected persons.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Encls: As above.
(HARPAL SINGH),
Secretary General.
Copy to the Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of
India: With the request for necessary action.
