ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL
EXCISE
GAZETTED
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
President: Address for communication:
Secretary General:
A. Venkatesh 240, Razapur,
Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty
(west); Ashish Vajpayee, Pranave Shekhar (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy, M.
Jegannathan (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J. Manojuman (Central) Joint
Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra (East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai
(West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava (North); M. Nagraju, P. Sravan Kumar
(South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar (Central) Office Secretary: C.
S. Sharma Treasuer: N. R. Manda Organising Secretary: Soumen
Bhattachariya
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide
letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 102/AIB/M/19 Dt.
16.05.19
To,
The Secretary, DOPT,
North Block, New Delhi.
Sub: MACP upgradation in the promotional hierarchy.
Sir,
Kindly refer to the letter Ref. No. 306/AIB/M/18 Dt.
22.11.18 of the Association.
2. Your
kind attention is invited to the verdict given by the Hon’ble Apex Court in SLP
No. 77457/2017 in r/o the order Dt. 23.03.17 given by the Hon’ble High Court of
Delhi in WP No. 2634/2017 in which the Apex Court said,“Once the question,
in principle, has been settled, it is only appropriate on the part of the
Government of India to issue a circular so that it will save the time of the
court and the Administrative Departments apart from avoiding unnecessary and
avoidable expenditure.” The Hon’ble Court further directed the Government of
India to immediately look into the matter and issue appropriate orders so that
people need not unnecessarily travel either to the Tribunal or the High Court
or the Supreme Court.
3. Your kind
attention is also invited to the orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court in P.K. &
Ors. V. K. Kapoor & Anr. JT 2007 (12) 439, Inderpal Singh Yadav & Ors.,
State of Maharashtra Vs. Tukaram Trymbak Choudhary by order dated 20.02.2007, Dt.
17.10.14 in the Civil Appeal No. 9849 of 2014 in the matter of State of Uttar
Pradesh & Ors Vs. Arvind Kumar Srivastava & Ors etc. mandating to
give the benefit of court verdict to all equally placed persons. The
Hon'ble Supreme Court in the judgment Dt. 17.10.14 in the Civil Appeal No. 9849
of 2014 in the matter of State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors Vs. Arvind Kumar
Srivastava & Ors held as under:
“Normal rule is
that when a particular set of employees is given relief by the Court, all
other identically situated persons need to be treated alike by extending that
benefit. Not doing so would amount to discrimination and would be violative of
Article 14 of the Constitution of India. This principle needs to be
applied in service matters more emphatically as the service jurisprudence
evolved by this Court from time to time postulates that all similarly situated
persons should be treated similarly. Therefore, the normal rule would be that
merely because other similarly situated persons did not approach the Court
earlier, they are not to be treated differently.”
4. Despite of the above
verdicts, the officers are forced to go to the CAT/High Court even in same
matters which have already been finalized/settled by the Hon’ble High
Courts/Apex Court. The verdicts, in which no appeal has been made, are also not
being implemented. The benefit of the court verdicts in the settled issues is
being given only to the petitioners/applicants instead of implementing these
verdicts in rem.
5. Your kind attention is
also invited to the order Dt. 27.09.18 of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi
in W.P.(C) 11277/2016 taking serious note against the CBIC letters
like F. No. A-18013/3/2007-Ad.IV(A) Dt. 05.09.07 and F. No.
A-32022/26/2013/-Ad.IIIA Dt. 13.12.13. These letters say, “in cases where the
Court orders are adverse to the interest of the department/Government, such
orders should not be implemented without clearance of the Board”. The Hon’ble
High Court took strong exception to these letters and was prima facie of the
opinion that such letters invite contempt of Court. However, at the request of
the ASG, the Hon’ble Court refrained from passing further orders and offered an
opportunity to the CBIC to withdraw the letter. Thus, it is very clear
that any government department including nodal departments like DOPT &
Expenditure is never above the Hon’ble Court and it is contemptuous not to
follow the court orders. No need also to say that the issuance of any
communication like letter Dt. 05.09.07 and 13.12.13 of CBIC (now withdrawn vide
F. No. C-18012/3/2015-Ad.II B Dt. 12.10.18 of CBIC in compliance of the
directions of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi) amounts to be contempt of the
legal court.
6. The DOPT OMs issued
vide No. 28027/9/99-Estt.(A) Dt. 01.05.2000, F. No. 28027/1/2016-Estt.A-III Dt.
26.03.16, F. No. 28027/1/2016-Estt.A-III Dt. 09.12.16 etc. also contain the
contemptuous content like the above referred CBIC letters Dt. 05.09.07 and
13.12.13 of the CBIC. So, needless to submit that the said letters of the DOPT
or any other letter/s of DOPT/any other department containing the contemptuous
matter to the Hon’ble courts is/are also required to be withdrawn.
7.
Further, your kind attention is invited to the verdict given by the Hon’ble High Court of Chandigarh/Punjab & Haryana in
CWP No. 19387/2011 confirming the order Dt. 31.05.11 of Chandigarh CAT for
grant of MACP upgradation in the promotional hierarchy. The
Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has also dismissed the SLP No. 7467/2013 filed by the
Government against the above judgement settling the issue as the law of land. The Grade Pay of Rs.
5400/- in PB2 (Level-9) being a new pay slab and not being existed in the
promotional hierarchy, the para 8.1 of the MACP instructions is also
automatically amounts to be scrapped based on the said verdict of the Apex
Court.
8. Thus, the government is
supposed to issue the appropriate order as per the verdict given in SLP No.
77457/2017 without forcing every employee to approach the legal court as
mentioned under very IInd para and also in view of the IIIrd para above. If
every employee is forced to go to the legal court on an already settled issue,
no need to say that it would not only be the wastage of the precious time of
the Hon’ble courts but it would also be the wastage of the precious time and
money of the government and also inappropriate use of the manpower. If the
officers are not forced to go for unwarranted litigations, their hard
earned money, energy and time will be saved enabling their energy and time to
be utilized in a positive manner for Nation building. It would also save the
huge litigation cost being incurred by the Govt. on such legal cases.
9.
Further, your kind
attention is also invited to the verdict given in the Contempt Petition (C) No. 928 of 2016 on
26.04.19 by the Apex Court. The Apex Court has established the law in the said
order that any person aggrieved with the violation of general directions issued
in a judgement can file contempt petition. It is also reiterated that any direction/order is
said to be general until not specifically directed to be implemented in person.
10.
In view of the above, it is requested that the due circular may kindly be
issued-
i)
to grant MACP upgradation in the promotional hierarchy.
ii)
to scrapthe para 8.1 of the MACP
instructions.
iii)
to withdraw the DOPT OMs issued vide No. 28027/9/99-Estt.(A) Dt. 01.05.2000, F.
No. 28027/1/2016-Estt.A-III Dt. 26.03.16, F. No. 28027/1/2016-Estt.A-III Dt.
09.12.16 etc. or any such OM/letter/order/instruction/direction of the Govt. of
India.
Otherwise it is
requested to consider this letter as a notice for contempt of the Hon’ble Apex
Court and also of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana as per the legal advice
given by the legal expert.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
Copy with the request of necessary action
to:
1. The Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of India,
President House, New Delhi.
2. The Secretary, Department of Revenue,
North Block, New Delhi.
3. The Secretary, Department of
Expenditure, North Block, New Delhi.
4. The Secretary, Department of Legal
Affairs, New Delhi.
5.
The Chairman, CBIC, North Block, New Delhi.
ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL
EXCISE
GAZETTED
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
President: Address for
communication: Secretary General:
A. Venkatesh 240, Razapur,
Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty
(west); Ashish Vajpayee, Pranave Shekhar (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy, M.
Jegannathan (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J. Manojuman (Central) Joint
Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra (East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai
(West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava (North); M. Nagraju, P. Sravan Kumar
(South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar (Central) Office Secretary: C.
S. Sharma Treasuer: N. R. Manda Organising Secretary: Soumen
Bhattachariya
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide
letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 103/AIB/M/19
Dt.
16.05.19
To,
The Secretary,
DOPT,
North Block, New
Delhi.
Sub: Date of the implementation of MACPS.
Sir,
Kindly refer to the earlier requests
including the letter Ref. No. 279/AIB/MACP/18 Dt. 24.10.18 of the Association.
2. It is to submit with due regards
that the MACP Scheme was notified on 19.05.09 but was implemented w.e.f.
01.09.08.
3. As per the verdict given by the
Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal Diary No. 3744 of 2016, the MACP Scheme
is to be implemented w.e.f. 01.01.06 being the part & parcel of the pay.
The said verdict has already been implemented for PBOR of Army vide Ministry of
Defence letter No. 14(1)/99-D(AG) Dt. 25.07.18.
4. However, as per the verdict given by the Hon’ble High
Court of Madras in Writ Petition Nos. 33946, 34602 and
27798 of 2014, the MACP Scheme is to be implemented w.e.f. the date of its
notification, i.e., 19.05.09. Against this verdict, the Govt. of India is
already in SLP Diary No. 41910 of 2017 in the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
5. It is also worth to mention that
the applicants of both of above cases have different circumstances. The
implementation of the MACP Scheme is beneficial for some w.e.f. 01.01.06
whereas w.e.f. 19.05.09 for others. So, the employees are required to be allowed
to opt for the advantageous date to give effect to the MACP Scheme as
applicable to them.
6. In case of implementation of the
MACP Scheme w.e.f. 01.01.06, there may be many officers who are eligible to get
the benefit of 4 years time scale/NFG as well as the MACP upgradation on the
same day, i.e., 01.01.06. It has already been settled that the time scale/NFG
and MACP upgradation can’t be offset with each other vide the verdicts given by
the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the SLP(C) No. 029382/2011, SLP(C) No. 010607/2013
and SLP (C) 15396/2015
and also in the W.P.(C) No. 9357/2016 by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. So, the employee is required to be given the benefit of both in the event of being eligible for
time scale/NFG and MACP upgradation on the same day. Thus, he/she should be
given the benefit of both simultaneously by granting time scale/NFG first and
then MACP upgradation on the same day to protect him/her from any loss. Such
protection has always been given to the employees against any loss at the time
of the implementation of the recommendations of the pay commissions in the
event of the date of increment being fallen on Ist January upto 01.01.06 and
also the date of increment being fallen between 01.01.16 and 31.06.16 at the
time of the implementation of the recommendations of VIIth CPC.
7. In view of the above, it is
requested that-
i) The MACP Scheme may kindly be implemented w.e.f. 01.01.06.
ii) The employees may kindly be given the benefit of time
scale/NFG first and then MACP upgradation on the same day in the event of both
being fallen on the same date and
iii) The employees may kindly be allowed to exercise the
option to get the benefit of MACP Scheme from the advantageous date to rule out
any grievance arising out of the date of its implementation.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
Copy with the request of necessary action
to:
The
Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of India, President House, New Delhi.
ALL INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL
EXCISE
GAZETTED
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
President: Address for
communication:
Secretary General:
A. Venkatesh 240, Razapur,
Ghaziabad-201001 (U.P.)
Ravi Malik
Vice Presidents: Apurba Roy, P. C. Jha (East); A. K. Meena, Somnath Chakrabarty
(west); Ashish Vajpayee, Pranave Shekhar (North); B. Pavan K. Reddy, M.
Jegannathan (South); K.V. Sriniwas, T. J. Manojuman (Central) Joint
Secretaries: Ajay Kumar, R. N. Mahapatra (East); B. S. Meena, Sanjeev Sahai
(West); Harpal Singh, Sanjay Srivastava (North); M. Nagraju, P. Sravan Kumar
(South); Anand Kishore, Ashutosh Nivsarkar (Central) Office Secretary: C.
S. Sharma Treasuer: N. R. Manda Organising Secretary: Soumen
Bhattachariya
(Recognised by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide
letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Ref. No. 104/AIB/M/19
Dt. 16.05.19
REMINDER
COURT MATTER
To,
Sh.
Pranab Kumar Das,,
Chairman,
CBIC,
North
Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Verdict given in OA No. 828/2013
by the Principal Bench of Hon’ble CAT.
Sir,
Kindly refer to the verdict given in OA No. 828/2013 by the
Principal Bench of Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal and letter Ref.
No. 265/AIB/MACP/18 Dt. 09.10.18 of the Association.
2. It is to submit with due regards that the non-functional time scale/NFU has
been granted in PB3 as part of the pay scale to other counterparts of Central
Excise/CGST Superintendents including CSS, CSSS, Railways, DANICS, DANIPS, MEA,
MPA etc. while it is merely in PB2 for Central Excise/CGST Superintendents. It was granted to
CSS officers since 1996 in PB3/equivalent scale even without the
recommendations of any pay commission whereas since 2006 in PB2 to Central
Excise Superintendents in a very discriminatory manner despite of
there being historic parity in their initial pay scales since very beginning.
3. The Superintendents of Central Excise
were placed under the pay scale of Rs. 7500-12000/- w.e.f. 21.04.04 while the
officers of CSS (Central Secretariat Service) & CSSS (Central Secretariat
Stenographer Service) were placed under the equivalent scale later than the
Central Excise Superintendents w.e.f. 01.01.06 to bring these categories at
par. No need to say that it justifies even stronger claim for the Superintendents
to be placed under a time scale/NFU in PB3 even in higher scale w.e.f. the date
since when the officers of CSS & CSSS were placed under the Group ‘A’ time
scale of Rs.8000-13500/- or even earlier. The claim of the Superintendents
becomes even stronger on account of the judicial responsibilities granted to
them to adjudicate the relevant cases and recording statements like a
Magistrate having validity even before the Supreme Court. Not only it, the
Adjudication Orders are also being prepared by them for the Commissioner level
officers. No such responsibilities have been conferred upon any Group ‘B’ gazetted
officer of the Govt. of India including CSS.
4. The above anomalous situation relating
to the time scale in different pay bands gives rise to the disparity and
discrimination. The executive field officers of equal rank and status of the
Department of Revenue working in CBIC have not been treated at par with the
officers of equal status and rank belonging to the Central Secretariat Service
working in headquarters offices despite of 6th CPC recommendations
for the equal treatment to Hqrs and field officers vide chapter 3.1 of its
report. The same recommendations have also been made by the VIIth CPC.
5. Due to the above disparity &
discrimination, the officers joining as the Inspector of Central Excise/CGST
get the first MACP upgradation in the grade pay of Rs.4800/- (in PB-2). They
get the 2nd upgradation or time scale in the grade pay of Rs.5400/-
in PB-2. After completion of 30 years of service, they get the 3rd MACP
upgradation merely in the same grade pay of Rs.5400/- in PB-3 without any
financial enhancement while they were able to get the same only after the
completion of 24 years of service under the original scheme of ACP. On the
contrary, their common entry counterparts of CSS and other organisations
including CPWD are able to get the higher grade pay of Rs. 6600/- or 7600/-
under MACPS after completion of 30 years of service.
6. Due to the above disparity &
discrimination, our Group ‘B’ gazetted officers getting time scale in PB-2 are
also not eligible to get other benefits meant for the officers with grade pay
of Rs. 5400/- in PB3 & above including the performance based higher rate of
annual increment as recommended by the VIth CPC.
7. The Central Excise
Superintendents/Inspectors remain in the same grade pay of Rs. 5400/- itself on
the grant of 2nd MACP upgradation/time scale and 3rd MACP
upgradation. If the said discrimination
and disparity are removed by placing them at par with the CSS and other
counterparts in the matter of time scale, they will also be able to get a grade
pay of Rs. 6600/- or above to undo the discrimination in comparison to other
counterparts.
8. If the above
disparity/discrimination is undone, the anomalous & discriminating
situation may be rectified as the counterparts of CPWD, MEA, MPA, Railway
Board, AFHQ, CSS & CSSS etc. have already got a grade pay of Rs. 7600/-
after completion of 30 years of service {clarification point No. 3 in OM No.
35034/3/2008-Estt. (D) Dt. 09.09.10 of DOPT}. It is also mention-worthy that
there was no provision of time scale in PB-2 prior to the 6th CPC.
It was only in a scale equivalent to Rs. 5400/- in PB3, i.e., in a Group ‘A’
pay scale.
9. The counterparts of the
Central Excise Superintendents/CGST in State GST already being placed in an
initial pay scale of Level-10 under the present scenario of GST and a pay scale
of Level-10 at par with the DSP of CBI already being recommended by the CBIC
for our Superintendents through OM issued vide F.No. A-26017/154/2015-Ad.IIA
Dt. 22.02.16 and also the Subramanium issue being finalized at the level of the
Apex Court, the Central Excise Superintendents/Inspectors are required to be
granted even higher time scale/NFU after the completion of 4 years of service
in Level-10 (or equivalent pay scale) at least w.e.f. the date since when their
counterparts of CSS were granted the time scale.
10. It is also worth to mention
that the pay scale of the Assistants of the CSS was enhanced to Rs. 1640-2900/-
from Rs. 1400-2600/- to grant them parity in pay scale with the Central Excise
Inspector since 01.01.86 after IVth CPC giving due consideration to the
historic parity of both categories in the pay scales. It is also worth to
mention that the pay scale of the Section Officers of the CSS was enhanced to
Grade Pay of Rs. 4800/- (equivalent to Rs. 7500-12000/-) from Rs. 6500-10500/-
to grant them parity in pay scale with the Central Excise Superintendents since
01.01.06 after VIth CPC giving due consideration to the historic parity of both
categories in the pay scales.Now, it will be gross injustice to the Central
Excise Superintendents/Inspectors, if they are not granted the time scale at
least at par with the counterparts of the CSS since the same date to maintain
the historic parity between their pay scales.
11. In view of the above, it is
requested to kindly expedite the action to be taken on earlier representation
Dt. 09.10.18 of the Association submitted based on the verdict given in
OA No. 828/2013 by the Principal Bench of Hon’ble CAT to grant the
Superintendents/Inspectors of Central Excise also the non-functional time scale
in PB3 after completion of 4 years of service in the scale of Superintendent at
least from the date of the grant of the time scale to the counterparts of CSS.
It is also requested that a speaking order may kindly be passed giving due
consideration to the submissions made by the Association on the issue including
the earlier as well as current representation. As per the directions of the
Hon’ble CAT, the speaking order was to be passed within six months on the
representation Dt. 09.10.18 whereas a period of more than seven months has
already expired.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(RAVI MALIK),
Secretary General.
Copy with the request of necessary action
to:
1. The Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of India,
President House, New Delhi.
2. The Secretary, Department of Revenue,
North Block, New Delhi.
3. The Secretary, Department of Personnel
& Training, North Block, New Delhi.
4. The Secretary, Department of
Expenditure, North Block, New Delhi.
5. The Secretary, Department of Legal
Affairs, New Delhi.
