Illegal grant of higher pay scale and allowances appeal allowed, orders quashed and recovery plus officer liability directed
Where posts are governed by a common recruitment and pay framework, isolating a single post to grant a higher pay scale based on qualifications alone is impermissible; the prior attachment to specific recruitment rules and acceptance of appointment precluded challenge to those rules, and the isolated higher fixation was held illegal with consequent quashing of proceedings that validated it. The illegally granted higher pay could not be retained; recovery of excess amounts is directed and both the recipient and the officers directly involved in granting the undue benefit are made liable to reimburse the exchequer, given the deliberate and non-bona fide nature of the infraction.
Issues: (i) Whether the grant of upgraded pay scale and NPA to the single officer in the common cadre by executive orders without amendment of governing rules was legal; (ii) Whether other officers in the same cadre governed by the same rules were entitled to parity of pay-scale and attendant reliefs.
Issue (i): Legality of executive orders conferring higher pay-scale and NPA on a single post-holder without corresponding amendment of the rules governing the cadre.
Analysis: The issue was examined in the factual context of recruitment under a single set of rules, subsequent executive orders redesignating posts, separate notifications issued for a lone post, and reliance on certain pay-commission recommendations that did not apply to the post-holder's duties. Consideration was given to whether the executive could isolate a single incumbent of a cadre for upgradation and allowances absent rule amendment or valid justification, and to the conduct and documentary record showing deputations, endorsements, and later withdrawal of NPA.
Conclusion: The grant of upgraded pay-scale and NPA to the single officer was illegal and is quashed; the related executive orders justifying those benefits are set aside.
Issue (ii): Entitlement of other cadre members to the same upgraded pay-scale and allowances as the officer who received the benefit.
Analysis: The claim for parity was considered against the governing recruitment rules, the nature of duties performed across subjects in the cadre, and the absence of lawful amendment or consistent application of the pay-commission recommendations to the cadre as a whole. The effect of declaring the post ex-cadre and subsequent rule notifications was examined to determine whether parity followed or whether the original grant itself was unsupportable.
Conclusion: The other officers are not entitled to the upgraded pay-scale or allowances because the grant to the single officer was illegal; prayers for parity accordingly fail.
Final Conclusion: The impugned tribunal and High Court orders upholding the executive grants are quashed and set aside; the appeal is allowed, and recovery of amounts wrongly paid is directed to be effected (including from responsible decision-makers) by instalments as appropriate.
Ratio Decidendi: An executive cannot validly confer an upgraded pay-scale and allowances to a single member of a cadre governed by a common statutory or recruitment rule-set, or create ex-cadre status to justify such preferential treatment, without lawful amendment or proper rule-based justification; such grants are liable to be quashed and recovery ordered where illegality is established.
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