LexMAHESHKUMAR CHANDULAL PATEL & ANR. versus THE STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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[2024] 8 S.C.R. 472 : 2024 INSC 608 Maheshkumar Chandulal Patel & Anr. v. The State of Gujarat & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 9059 of 2024) 14 August 2024 [Vikram Nath* and Prashant Kumar Mishra, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Applicability of the Rule of Stepping up of pay of a Government employee on the basis of the pay of his junior. Headnotes† Gujarat Civil Services (Pay) Rules, 2002 – Rule 21 – Stepping up of pay – Assistant Professors in Government Colleges in Gujarat – Applicability of: Held: Rule of stepping up shall apply only if the anomaly is the direct result of the application of Rule 21 and only if the conditions specified therein are fulfilled – One of the condition stipulates that if even in the lower post, the junior Government employee draws a higher rate of pay than the senior, by way of fixation of the pay or by grant of advance increments, the same shall not be applicable to step up the pay of the senior Government employee – In the present case, the anomaly in pay is not a direct result of Rule 21 – Rather, the anomaly arose because of the fact that the Junior employees were granted the benefit of Senior Scale/Selection Grade Pay by taking into account the ad hoc services that they had rendered in the past – Hence, Rule 21 became inapplicable in the present case – Stepping up of pay in the present case would go against the principle of equity as the benefit cannot be given to those who were not even born in the cadre, for claiming benefits for the service that they have not actually rendered. [Paras 31, 32, 33] Case Law Cited Union of India v. R. Swaminathan [1997] Supp. 4 SCR 94 : (1997) 7 SCC 690; Union of India v. M. Suryanarayana Rao [1998] 3 SCR 1060 : (1998) 6 SCC 400 – relied on. Union of India & Ors. v. C.R. Madhava Murthy & Anr. [2022] 3 SCR 22 : (2022) 6 SCC 183; Ashok Ram Parhad & * Author [2024] 8 S.C.R. 473 Maheshkumar Chandulal Patel & Anr. v. The State of Gujarat & Ors. Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. [2023] 2 SCR 900 : (2023) SCC Online 265; Gurcharan Singh Grewal v. Punjab SEB (2009) 3 SCC 94 – distinguished. Union of India v. Sushil Kumar Paul (1998) 5 SCC 268; ESI Corporation v. P.K. Srinivasmurthy (1997) 11 SCC 533 – referred to. List of Acts Gujarat Civil Services (Pay) Rules, 2002. List of Keywords Service Law; Stepping up of pay. Case Arising From CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTIONL: Civil Appeal No.9059 of 2024 From the Judgment and Order dated 28.12.2017 of the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in LPA No.1311 of 2017 With Civil Appeal Nos. 9060, 9061, 9062-9081, 9082-9101, 9102-9121, 9122-9152 and 9153-9167 of 2024 Appearances for Parties Shyam Divan, Sr. Adv., Ms. Charu Mathur, Nachiketa Joshi, Ms. Sucheta Joshi, Ms. Himadri Haksar, Narayan Dev Parashar, Ms. Karishma Rajput, Advs. for the Appellants. Kanu Agarwal, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Madhav S, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Kanu Agrawal, Advs. for the Respondents. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Judgment Vikram Nath, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. These appeals assail the common impugned order dated 28.12.2017 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat in LPA No. 765/2017 in Special Civil Application No. 3210/2016 along with other allied appeals. The LPA was preferred by the respondent State of Gujarat against the order of Single Judge dated 19.04.2017 474 [2024] 8 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports directing the State of Gujarat to remove the anomaly in the pay of the appellants Petitioners qua their juniors by stepping up their pay. The Division Bench allowed the LPA by the State and set aside the Single Judge’s order. FACTUAL MATRIX – 3. The matters pertain to the issue whether or not the principle of stepping up of pay of an employee on the basis of the pay of his junior, is applicable in the present case, where the appellants are put on a lesser pay scale than the Assistant Professors who were appointed before them as ad hoc lecturers and subsequently regularized. The genesis of controversy goes back to the period of 1984-95 when 111 persons came to be engaged as Lecturers on ad hoc basis in various Government Colleges. The University Grants Commission1 has framed the Regulations of 1998, inter alia, providing for minimum length of service of four years for lecturers (Assistant Professor) with PhD and M. Phil and of six years for others to be eligible to move to Senior Scale (i.e., 10000-325-15200) and on completion of another five
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