HC QUASHES ‘ARBITRARY’ GOVT RESOLUTION DEPRIVING PUBLIC SERVANTS OF ‘HIKED’ SALARIES

In a major setback to the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court has quashed its Government Resolution (GR) which ‘arbitrarily’ deprived thousands of public servants of their rights to increment in their pay scale under the Assured Career Progress (ACP) Scheme.

The scheme, which was introduced in April 2010, was enforced with a retrospective effect from October 2006. Under this scheme, an eligible employee is entitled for the pay scale of next promotional post twice in his service career, i.e., he/she is eligible for two financial up-gradations on completion of 12 years and 24 years of service.

In other words, the scheme promised hike in salaries of the public servants twice i.e. after completing 12 years and 24 years. However, the government by a GR dated July 2011 clarified that the benefit of this scheme would not apply to those employees who may have retired from service between the period October 2006 and March 2010.

The GR was quashed by the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) by dubbing it arbitrary and the same was then challenged by the government before a division

bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Vijaya Tahilramani and Justice Mahesh Sonak.

Having considered the facts of the case, ACJ Tahilramani said, “The impugned clarification has effected an artificial classification amongst the set of employees similarly placed and such classification has no nexus whatsoever with the objective of the ACP scheme, which is to relieve the employees from baneful effects of stagnation in service.”

“One of the notorious features of Government service is that several employees, though eligible and ever willing to be promoted, do not actually secure such promotions, sometimes, during the entire tenure of their service. This stagnation, naturally leads to frustration,” ACJ Tahilramani observed.

The judges junked the argument of the government that it has ‘unfettered’ discretion in extending such policies. “Although, the formulation and extension of ACP scheme may be in realm of policy, nevertheless, once such scheme is formulated and implemented by the State of its own accord, there is no question of State practising discrimination, as between the class of persons, otherwise uniformly entitled to benefit of such scheme. Once, the State has taken a decision to formulate and implement the ACP Scheme, Article 14 of the Constitution will ensure that such scheme is not implemented with an unequal hand and that the employees who are otherwise entitled to avail the benefit of such scheme, are left out on basis of irrational or unreasonable parameters,” ACJ Tahilramani ruled in her judgement.