UNNI MENONversusUNION OF INDIA & ORS.

                    [2011] 2 S.C.R. 33


                      UNNIMENON                             A
                            V.
                UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
             (Civil Appeal No. 7113 of 2005)
                   JANUARY 07, 2011
                                                            B
   [B. SUDERSHAN REDDY AND SURINDER SINGH
                  NIJJAR, JJ.]

      Service Law - Promotion - Audit/Accounts Officers -
Appellant, Assistanti Accounts Officer in the Office of C
Accountant General, deputed in Central Administrative
 Tribunal (CAT) - On the basis of his lien and seniority,
promoted as Accounts Officer in his parent office i.e. in the
office of Accountant General - Thereafter, he was absorbed
as Accounts Officer in CAT - Pursuant to recommendations D
of IVth Pay Commission, Government of India issued Office
Memorandum giving promotional grade for Audit/Accounts
Officers of 'Organized Accounts Cadres' - Appellant filed
application claiming entitlement to be considered for
promotion as Sr. Accounts Officer in CAT based on the said E
Official Memorandum - Tribunal allowed the application - ·
High Court set aside the order holding that the Accounts
Department in CAT did not fall within the ambit of 'Organized
Accounts Cadres' - Justification of - Held: Justified - CAT is
a separate entity created under statute and is not a F
department of the Central Government - Cadre hierarchy in
CAT is regulated by the 1990 Recruitment Rules, which are
independent and self-contained - They could not be
intermingled with the Rules of Central Government
Departments - Appellant could not claim the benefit of the, G
said Office Memorandum, as by the relevant time, he had lost .
his lien in the parent department and was borne on the cadre.
of Accounts Department of CAT - In the hierarchy of accounts
cadre of the CAT, there was no cadre called the 'Sr. Accounts
                           33                               H
    34      SUPREME COURT REPORTS             [2011] 2 S.C.R.

A Officer', to which the appellant wanted promotion -
    Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 - s. 13(2) - Central
    Administrative Tribunal (Accounts Personnel Posts)
    Recruitment Rules, 1990 - Rule 3 and Schedule 2.

8      While the appellant was working as Assistant
  Accounts Officer in the Office of the Acc:ountant General,
  he went on deputation to work in the Central
  Administrative Tribunal (CAT) w.e.f. 21st August, 1989. As
  the appellant was on deputation, his lien was maintained
C in his parent department, i.e., Accountant General. On the
  basis of his lien and seniority, he was promoted as
  Accounts Officer in his parent office, i.e., in office of the
  Accountant General, w.e.f. 1st April 1992. Thereafter, he
  was absorbed as Accounts Officer in CAT w.e.f. 23rd
  March, 1994.
D
       The IVth Pay Commission made certain recommen-
  dations in the matter of pay scales between the Accounts
  Officers in the Accounts Wing and the Accounts Officers
  in the Audit Wing of the Indian Audit and Accounts
E Department. Pursuant to the recommendations of the IV
  Pay Commission, Government of India issued a circular
  vide No. F.6(82)/IC/91 dated 22nd September, 1992 giving
  promotional grade for Audit/Accounts Officers of
  'Organized Accounts Cadres'.
F
       It was the case of the appellant that he should have
  been promoted to the cadre of Sr. Accounts Officer w.e.f.
  1st April, 1995 on his completion of three years' of
  service in the cadre of Accounts Officer pursuant to the
  aforesaid circular dated 22nd September, 1992. He
G contended that the persons junior to him in his parent
  department had been promoted on completion of three
  years' service and that since the nature of duties
  performed and responsibilities shouldered by him in CAT
  are identical or very similar to the duties and
H
      UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS..              35


responsibilities in the parent cadre, he was entitled to      A
parity in designation and pay with his counterparts in the
Indian Audit & Accounts Department. The appellant's plea
for promotion to the cadre of Sr. Accounts Officer was
rejected on the ground that CAT did not have 'Organized
Accounts Cadres' and, therefore, the benefit of O.M.          s
dated 22nd September, 1992, could not be extended to
him.

    The appellant then filed an application before the
Tribunal. The Tribunal allowed his application holding that   C
even though there was no 'Organized Accounts Service'
in CAT, the Accounts Department in CAT is also liable to
be considered as an 'Organized Accounts Cadre' and
that the Memorandum dated 22nd September, 1992 was
applicable as it had a general application to all Organized
Accounts Cadres.                                              D

    Aggrieved, the respondents filed writ petition before
the High Court. The High Court allowed the petition and
set aside the order ()f CAT holding that the Accounts
Department in CAT did not fall within the ambit of            E
'Organized Accounts Cadres'.

    Dismissing the appeal, the Court

     HELD:1. On the question whether the appellant was
entitle~. to be considered for promotion as Sr. Accounts   F
Officer .in CAT with effect from 1-4-1995 base on the
Official Memorandum of 1992, the High Court rightly held
that (i) the Central Administrative Tribunal is a separate
entity created under statute, is not a department of the
Central Government; ii) the Official Memorandum in G
question was issued for the purpose of re-designating the
promotional grade of Audit/Accounts Officers in
'Organized Accounts Cadres' as Sr. Audit Officer, Sr.
Accounts Officer and consequent upon the creation of
promotional grade for 80 per cent of the Audit/Accounts H
   36       SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2011] 2 S.C.R.


A Officer in a different scale; iii) the Memorandum
  specifically stated that it is applicable to Indian Audits and
  Accounts Department and other 'Organized Accounts
  Cadres', except Railway Accounts Cadres; Iv) at best, It
  could apply to all Central Government departments and
B every establishment under the Central Services, where
  there is an organized cadre; v) there is no possibility of
  re-designation of posts in CAT as there is no post of Sr.
  Accounts Officer in the hierarchy of the accounts cadre
  of the CAT; and vi) the cadre hierarchy in CAT is
c regulated by the Central Administrative Tribunal
  (Accounts Personnel Posts) Recruitment Rules, 1990.
  Also, the appellant having lost his lien in the parent
  department w.e.f. 26th March, 1994, he cannot claim the
  benefit of the O.M. dated 22nd September, 1992, as by the
  relevant time, he was borne on the cadre of Accounts
0 Department of CAT. The pr_omotions, if any of junior in the
  parent department would be of no relevance for .
  consideration of the case of the appellant. The service
  conditions of the officers of CAT are admittedly governed
  by the Recruitment Rules, 1990. Schedule 2 of the
E aforesaid Rules does not include any cadre called the 'Sr.
  Accounts Officer', to which the appellant wanted
  promotion. In fact, the cadre of accounts personnel In
  CAT consists of five categories of posts, namely, 'Deputy
  Controller of Accounts, Accounts Officer, Junior
F Accounts Officer, Senior Accountant and Junior
  Accountant'. The appellant was designated as the
  Accounts Officer at the relevant time. Therefore, his
  promotion could only have been to the next post of
  Deputy Controller of Accounts. In view of the above, O.M.
G dated 22nd September, 1992 clearly had no application
  In the case of the appellant. [Paras 13, 14] [42-F-H; 43-A-
  H; 44·A·C]
      2. The appellant submitted that the definition of the
H term 'Organized Accounts Cadre' would include the
      UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.              37


 accounts service in CAT cannot be accepted. The Central A
 Administrative Tribunal (CAT) is an independent entity
 created under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.
 Section 13(2) of the aforesaid Act provides that the
 salaries and allowances and conditions of the service of
 the officers and .other employees of a Tribunal shall be B
 such, as may be specified by rules made by the
 appropriate governments. Undoubtedly, the Accounts
 and Personnel Department is governed by the
 Recruitment Rules, 1990 framed under the Administrative
 Tribunals Act, 1985, which are independent and self- c
 contained. They could not be intermingled with the Rules
 of Central Government Departments. [Paras 15, 16] [44-
 D-H; 45-A-B]

      Union of India & Ors. v. J.R. Chobedar, W.P.(C) No.
  20065-67 of 2004 decided on 25th January, 2005; State of D
. Mizoram & Anr. v. Mizoram Engineering Service Association ·
  & Anr. (2004) 6 SCC 218 - held inapplicable.

                    Case Law Reference:
      (2004) 6 sec 218       held inapplicable    Para 16   E

     CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
 7113 of 2005.

     From the Judgment and Order dated 12.04.2004 of the F
 High .court of Kaqmataka at Bangalore in W.P. No. 33496 of
 2000(S-CAT).

    S.R. Singh, Shakil Ahmed Syed, Daanish Syed, Ram
Shivomani Yadav and Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi for the
Appellant.                                           G

    S. Wasim A. Qadri, Kunal Bahri, Saima Bakshi and P.
Parmeswaran for the Respondents.

     The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
                                                            H
    38       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 (2011) 2 S.C.R.

A         SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, J. 1. This appeal has been
    filed against the final judgment and order dated 12th April, 2004
    passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore rendered
    in Civil Writ Petition No. 33496 of 2000(S-CAT) whereby the _,
    High Court set aside and quashed the order passed by the
B   Central Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore, ('CAT' for short)
    dated 1st March, 2000 and held that the Accounts Department
    in the CAT does not fall within the ambit of 'Organized Accounts
    Cadres'.
         2. We may notice here the essential facts necessary for
C   the adjudication of the present appeal. Unni Menon, appellant
    herein, joined the Indian Audit and Accounts Department as
    Upper Division Clerk w.e.f. 10th October, 1967. He thereafter
    cleared the SAS examination and was promoted as Section
    Officer, w.e.f. 24th October, 1973, in the office of Accountant
D   General, Bangalore, Karnataka. The appellant was further
    promoted as Assistant Accounts Officer w.e.f. 1st April, 1987
    by virtue of his seniority and merit.
         3. While he was working as Assistant Accounts Officer in
E   the office of the Accountant General, he went on deputation to
    work in the CAT, Bangalore Bench w.e.f. 21st August, 1989.
    As the appellant was on deputation, his lien was maintained
    in his parent department, i.e., Accountant General, Karnataka
    Circle, Bangalore. On the basis of his lien and seniority, he was
    promoted as Accounts Officer in his parent office, i.e., in office
F
    of the Accountant General, Bangalore, w.e.f. 1st April 1992.
    Thereafter, he was absorbed as Accounts Officer in the Central
    Administrative Tribunal w.e.f. 23rd March, 1994.
         4. The IV Pay Commission made certain
G   recommendations in the matter of pay scales between the
    Accounts Officers in the Accounts Wing and the Accounts
    Officers in the Audit Wing of the Indian Audit and Accounts
    Department. The relevant extract of the recommendations is as
    under:-
H
      UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                     39
           [SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, J.]
     "There has all along been parity between the staff in the      A
     IA & AD and Accounts staff and other Departments which
     has been disturbed by restructuring of IA & AD into two
     separate cadres viz, Audit Cadre and Accounts and
     Establishment Cadre and giving higher pay scales to a
     major portion of staffs on the .audit side. The audit and      B
     accounts functions are complementary to each other and
     are generally performed in many government offices in an
     integrated manner.which is necessary for their effective
     functioning. The Staff in these offices perform functions of
     internal check and audit suited to the requirements of each    c
     organization which are equally important. There is direct
     recruitment in the scale of Rs. 330-560 in all the audit and
     atcounts cadres through Staff Selection Commission,
     Ra!lway Recruitment Boards from amongst University
     graduates. Therefore, in view of this, there should be board
                                                                    0
     parity in the pay scales of the staff of IA & AD and other
     accounts organizations. Accordingly, it is recommended
     that the posts in the pay scale of Rs. 475-700 in the
     organized accounts cadres may be giveh the scale of Rs.
     1400-2600."
                                                                    E
      5. Pursuant to the recommendations of the IV Pay
 Commission, Government of India issued a circular vide No.
 F.6(82)/IC/91 dated 22nd September, 1992 giving promotional
 grade for AudiVAccounts Officers of 'Organized Accounts
·Cadres'.                                                           F

     6. It is the case of the apRellant that he should have been
promoted to the cadre of Sr. Accounts Officer w.e.f. 1st April,
1995 on his completion of three years' of service in the cadre
of Accounts Officer in the scale of Rs. 2375 - 3500 pursuant        G
to the atcresaid circular dated 22nd September, 1992. He
further pointe~ out that the persons junior to him in his parent
department had ~een promoted orf completion of three years'
service. Sine~ the nature of duties performed and
responsibilities shouldered by him in CAT are identical orv._~ry
                                                          ., . .    H
    40 .    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2011) 2 S.C.R.


A similar to the duties and responsibilities in the parent cadre,
  he was entitled to parity in designation and pay with his
  counterparts in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department.

       7. Being aggrieved, the appellant made a representation
B to the Chairman, CAT, New Delhi. The Chairman, CAT, New
 . Delhi wrote to the Department of Personnel and Training,
   Bangalore. The matter was taken up by Department of
   Personnel and Training in a detailed manner for conversion of
   80% posts of Accounts Officer/ Junior Accounts Officer to the
C post of Senior AIO, AAO and Senior Accountant vide letter
   dated 16th September, 1997.
        8. Thereafter, CAT, Principal Bench, New Delhi informed
  the Registrar, CAT, Bangalore, that as the CAT did not have
  'Organized Accounts Cadres', therefore, the benefit of C' ·~.
D dated 22nd September, 1992, could not be extended to the
  appellant and, therefore, he is not entitled to get the promotion
  as mentioned under the Memorandum dated 22nd September,
  1992. Subsequently, the CAT rejected appellant's plea for
  promotion to the cadre of Sr. Accounts Officer.
E
        9. The appellant then filed an application being OA No. 15
  of 1999 before the CAT, Bangalore. The CAT vide its final
  order dated 1st March, 2000 allowed his application and held
  that CAT is also to be considered as an 'Organized Accounts
F Cadre'. The CAT actually noticed that the appellant having been
   absorbed in CAT, Bangalore, w.e.f. 23rd March, 1994, about
   one year prior to his completion of three years, had lost his lien
   in the parent department. It had been duly terminated on 26th
   March, 1994.
G      10. Having noticed as above, the CAT also noticed that
  Central Administrative Tribunal (Accounts Personnel Posts)
  Recruitment Rules, 1990 (hereinafter referred to as 'Recruitment
  Rules, 1990'), were applicable to the officials of CAT. But on
  interpretation of the aforesaid rules, it observed that the
H recruitment rules would indicate that there is an 'Organized
       UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                    41
            [SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, J.]

Accounts Cadre', even though there is no 'Organized Accounts        A
Service' in CAT. Therefore, the respondents, according to
CAT, were making an artificial distinction between 'Organized
Accounts Cadres' and 'Organized Accounts Services', which
very much existed in CAT. The conclusion was justified on the
basis that the recruitment rules clearly provided a hierarchy of    B
posts available in the accounts cadre. The highest post
available is 'Deputy Controller of Accounts, next one Accounts
Officer, the third one Junior Accounts Officer, the fourth one
Senior Accountant and then the Junior Accountant'. It, therefore,
held that CAT has an 'Organized Accounts Cadre' and the             c
Memorandum dated 22nd September, 1992 would be
applicable. It was further observed by CAT that the O.M. dated
22nd September, 1992, has a general application to all
Organized Accounts Cadres. Its application cannot be
restricted only to some specified cadres. The action of the         0
respondents was held to be arbitrary and discriminatory. This
would be evident from the following observations in the order
of CAT:-

    "Annexure A - 4 which is by Govt. of India, Ministry of
    Commerce dated 10.09.1995, this order deals with similar E
    cases where two officers of Commerce Department by
    names, Smt. Dhakshayani Ramalingam and Shri. V. K.
    Gopalakrishnan who were Account Officers in the zones
    of Madras and Cochin were sent on deputation where they
    were observed in the regular service of those zones and F
    those posts of account officers are also isolated posts. In
    such cases, the Government of India has created
    promotional posts as prayed by this applicant in this case
    and in pursuance of this 0. M. at Annexure A1 those
    o.;:~ers were directed to be appointed after following due G '. .. ,-~




    proce~'~ by following principles of fitness. This letter would      "
    clearly sh\.~ .. that at that time the Government has not taken
    the objection that because those officers are from isolated
    posts and did not belong to the organized accounts
    cadres, they were not entitled. On the other hand, this H
    42            SUPREME COURT REPORTS              (2011] 2 S.C.R.


A        benefit was given to those officers. In view of enclosure to
         Annexure A4 when the applicant is also similarly placed,
         we have to hold that he is also entitled for similar
         consideration by the Government."

    With the aforesaid observations CAT held that the Accounts
B
    Department is also to be considered as an 'Organized
    Accounts Cadre'. The respondents were directed to reconsider
    the representations of the appellant and to pass suitable orders
    in the light of the observations made in the order within a
C   period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of
    the order.

         11. Aggrieved by the aforesaid order of the CAT, the
    respondents filed a writ petition before the High Court of
    Karnataka. The Division Bench of the High Court has at'._ .;ed
D   the writ petition and set aside the impugned order of CAT. The
    application filed by the appellant before the CAT has been
    dismissed.

        12. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court, the
    appellant is before us in the present appeal. The short question
E
    which arises in these proceedings was formulated by the High
    Court as follows:-

         "Whether the respondent is entitled to be considered for
         promotion as Sr. Accounts Officer in CAT with effect from
F        1-4-1995 base on the Official Memorandum dated
         23.3.1992 bearing No.2402-GE.11/116-92?"

          13. Answering the aforesaid question, the High Court
     held:-
G          (i)      The Central Administrative Tribunal is a separate
                    entity created under statute, is not a department of
                    the Central Government.

           (ii)     The Official Memorandum in question is issued for
H                   the purpose of re-designating the promotional
       UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                      43
            [SURINDER SING_H NIJJAR, J.]

              . grade of Audit/Accounts Officers in 'Organized A
                Accounts Cadres' as Sr. Audit Officer. Sr. Accounts
                Officer. Consequent upon the creation of
                promotional grade for 80 per cent of the Audit/
                Accounts Officer in a different scale.
                                                                      B
      (iii)   The Memorandum specifically states that it is
              applicable to Indian Audits and Accounts
              Department and other 'Organized Accounts
              Cadres'; except Railway Accounts Cadres.

      (iv)    Therefore, at best, it could apply to all Central       c
              Government departments and every establishment
              under the Central Services, where there is an
              organized cadre.
    . (v)     There is no possibility of re-designation of posts in D
              CAT as there is no post of Sr. Accounts Officer in
              the hierarchy of the accounts cadre of the CAT.

     (vi)     The cadre hierarchy in CAT is regulated by the
              Recruitment Rules, 1990. The Division Bench
                                                                      E
              noticed the provision contained in Rule 3 which
              governs the number of posts, classification and their
              scales of pay which read as under:-

                    "The number of the said posts, their
                    classification and the scale of pay attached      F
                    thereto shall be as specified in column 2 to
                    4 of the said schedule".

     14. We are entirely in agreement with the observations
made by the High Court. We may, however, add that the G
respondent having lost his lien in the parent department w.e.f.
26th March, 1994, can not claim the benefit of the O.M. dated
22nd September, 1992, as by the relevant time, he was borne
on the cadre of Accounts Department of CAT. The promotions,
if any· of junior in the parent department would be of no
                                                                H
    44      SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2011] 2 S.C.R.


A relevance for consideration of the case of the appellant. The
  service conditions of the officers of CAT are a.dmittedly
  governed by the Recruitment Rules, 1990. Schedule 2 of the
  aforesaid Rules does not include any cadre called the 'Sr.
  Accounts Officer', to which the appellant wanted promotion. In ·
B fact. the cadre of accounts personnel in CAT consists of five
  categories of posts, namely, 'Deputy Controller of Accounts,
  Accounts Officer, Junior Accounts Officer, Senior Accountant
  and Junior Accountant'. The appellant was designated as the
  Accounts Officer at the relevant time. Therefore, his promotion
c could only have been to the next post of Deputy Controller of
  Accounts. In view of the above, the O.M. dated 22nd
   September, 1992 clearly would have no application in the case
  of the appellant.

       15. Learned counsel for the appellant, however, submitted
D before us that the definition of the term 'Organized Accounts
  Cadre' would include the accounts service in CAT. The
  appellant cannot be denied the benefit merely because he is
  occupying an isolated post. Learned counsel further pointed out
  that in a number of cases, even in the case of isolated posts,
E the respondents have granted the benefit of O.M. dated 22nd
  September, 1992 to the officers working on such posts. Since
  the same benefit had been illegally denied to the appellant, the
  CAT had correctly applied the principle of 'equal pay for equal
  work'. and non-discrimination amongst similarly situated
F employees of Union of India.
         16. We are wholly unimpressed by both limbs of the
   submissions. It cannot be disputed that CAT is an independent
   entity created under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.
G Section 13 sub-section 2 of the aforesaid Act provides that the
   salaries and allowances and conditions of the service of the
  ·officers and other employees of a Tribunal shall be such, as may
   be specified by rules made by the appropriate governments.
   Undoubtedly, the Accounts and Personnel Department is
H governed by the Recruitment Rules, 1990 framed under the
      · UNNI MENON v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                   45
             [SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, J.]
Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which are independent and A
self-contained. They could not be intermingled with the Rules
of Central Government Departments. Therefore, the examples
given by the learned counsel for the appellant relating to an
isolated post in the BSF on the basis. of the judgment of the
Delhi High Court in the case of Union of India. & Ors; Vs. J.R. B
Chobedar, W.P. (C) No. 20065-67 of 2004 decided on 25th
January, 2005 would be of no assistance to the appellant.
Similarly, the judgment of this Court in the case of State of
Mizoram & Anr. Vs. Mizoram Engineering Service
Association & Anr. 1 would have no application as it related to     c
discrimination with regard to pay· revision in the Engineering
Department of Mizoram. It was in the context of the submissio11__
that the Engineering service in the State was not an organized _-
service, this Court observed that there can be hardly any
difference in organized and unorganized service so far as p
Government service is concernep. We,. may note here the
observations made by this Court in Paragraph 6 of the
judgment, which is as under:-
       "6. Great stress was laid on the fact that Engineering
       Service in the State was not an organised service and E
       therefore, it did not have categorisation by way of entrance-
       level and senior-level posts and for that reason the higher
       scale of Rs 5900-6700 which was admissible for senior-
       level posts could not be given in the Engineering Service.
       The main reason for dubbing Engineering Service as an F
       unorganised service in the State is absence of recruitment
       rules for the service. Who is responsible for not framing
       the recruitment rules? Are the members of the Engineering
       Service responsible for it? The answer is clearly "No". For
     ·failure of the State Government to frame recruitment rules G
       and bring Engineering Service within the framework of
       organised service, the engineers cannot be made to
       suffer. Apart from the reason of absence of recruitment
       rules for the Engineering Service, we see hardly any
1.   ((2004) e sec 21s.                                              H
    46        SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2011) 2 S.C.R.


A        difference in organised and unorganised service so far as
         government service is concerned. In government service
         such a distinction does not appear to have any relevance.
         Civil service is not trade unionism. We fail to appreciate
         what is sought to be conveyed by use of the words
B        "organised service" and "unorganised service". Nothing
         has been pointed out in this behalf. The argument is wholly
         misconceived."

  These observations clearly show that the Engineering Service
C had been dubbed as unorganized service as the State had
  failed to frame the necessary recruitment rules. This Court,
  therefore, observed that the State Government can not take
  advantage of its own failure to frame the recruitment rules and
  bring the Engineering Service within the framework of organized
  service. For such failure, the Engineers could not be made to
D suffer. The aforesaid ob'servations have no application to the
  facts and circumstances of this case.
       17. We, therefore, find no merit in the submissions made
  by the learned counsel for the appellant. In view of the above,
E the appeal is dismissed.
    B.B.B.                                      Appeal dismissed.