TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1987 (5) TMI 375
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.... Staff) Service Rules, hereinafter referred to as 'the 1975 Rules'. The 1975 Rules were not framed under the rule making power of the Government, as conferred by section 49 of the State Bank of India Act, but under section 43 of the Act, sub-section(1) of which provides that the State Bank may appoint such number of officers, advisers and employees as it considers necessary or desirable for the efficient performance of its functions, and determine the terms and conditions of their appointment and service. Sub-section (2) of section 43 provides that the officers, advisers and employees of the State Bank shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may, by general special order, be entrusted or delegated to them by the Central Board. Although the Officers Grade-I were superior in 'rank to the Officers Grade-II, there was little difference in the pay scales of these two categories of officers. The duties, which were to be performed by Officers Grade-I and Officers Grade-II, were also similar in nature. Indeed, with the expansion of the: banking activities, a large number of Officers Grade-II were required, to perform managerial duties which normally were perfor....
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.... service of officers in the Bank. Some of the provisions of the Order which are relevant for our purpose are extracted below:- "1.(1)This order may be called State Bank of India Officers (Determination of Terms and Conditions of Service) Order, 1979. (2) This order shall come into force on the 1st day of October 1979. 2. (1) This order shall apply to the existing officers of the Bank and 'to the officers of the Bank who are appointed or promoted to any of the grades mentioned in paragraph 4 and to such other employees of the Bank to whom it may be made applicable by the Central Board or the Executive Committee or the competent authority to the extent and subject to such conditions as it may decide. (2) It shall not apply, except to the extent specified by the Central Board or the Executive Committee or the competent authority, to an officer during his tenure of service outside India or to employees engaged in any country outside India and serving there. 3. In this order, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or context-- (a) "Appointed Date" means the 1st October 1979; ................................................
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....inst in column 2 of the said schedule. Provided that any difficulties or anomalies arising out of the above placement shall be referred to a committee of such persons as the Chairman of the Bank may appoint and the decision of that committee in this regard shall be final. 8. (1) Every existing officer placed in any of the new grades and scales of pay in accordance with paragraph 7, shall be fitted at such stage in the new scale of pay corresponding to the existing grade and scale as specified in Schedule II to this order. (2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), on being so fitted in the new scale of pay, such officer shall be eligible to draw the next increment-, if any, in such new scale on the first day of the month in which he would have been eligible to draw increment in terms of the provisions in this behalf prior to the appointed date. (3) Where two or more officers having different seniority in the scales of pay immediately before the appointed date are fitted at the same stage in the new scale of pay, different months may be fixed for the eligibility of such officers for the next increment in the new scale of pay. (4) The mere fact tha....
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...., 1979, which is the appointed date, they could not be given the seniority over the erstwhile Grade-II Officers, who were the existing officers within the meaning of the expression under paragraph 3(h) of the Order. The Allahabad High Court has taken the view that the expression "existing officers" has to be read as including the Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers, otherwise a repugnancy between the definition of "existing officers" and the provisions of paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Order will arise. Further, it has been held that the notional date of the coming into force of the Order, namely, 1-10-1979, is only to protect the emoluments of the officers and nothing else. In that view of the matter, the Allahabad High Court directed the Bank to prepare the seniority list of its officers in the light of the observations made in the judgment. Although it was not specifically directed that the Probationary/Trainee Officers should be placed above the officers in the erstwhile Grade-II in the seniority list, yet that would follow from the findings made by the High Court. On the other hand, the Delhi High Court took a contrary view and dismissed the writ petitions. Though acco....
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.... 580 1200 450 620 1200 480 665 1260 515 710 1320 550 755 1380 The basic pay of Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers who were appointed during the period 1st October 1979 to 3 1st December 1979, will also be fixed on the same basis. " It is submitted on behalf of the Probationary/Trainee Officers that it is clear from the said circular that they were also treated as existing officers, otherwise they could not be given the same benefit as the other existing officers of the Bank. The existing officers, as defined in paragraph 3(h), means all officers in the service of the Bank immediately prior to the appointed date. Admittedly, the Probationary/Trainee Officers were not in the service of the Bank immediately prior to the appointed date, that is, October 1, 1979. They cannot, therefore, be held to be the existing officers in the face of the definition of the expression in paragraph 3(h) of the Order. It is difficult to accept the contention of the Probationary/Trainee Officers that they were treated by the Bank as existing officers merely because they were fitted to the Junior Management Grade: Scale-I and given a higher ....
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....ct or context. Repugnancy of the definition of any term may arise only if such definition does not agree with the subject or context of a particular provision. But, surely, any action not in conformity with the provision of the definition clause will not render the definition of a term repugnant to the subject or context of any provision of the statute containing the term. We are also unable to accept the convention of Mr. Kacker that the definition of "existing officers" is only illustrative and not exhaustive and that such narrow definition does not fit in everywhere. The definition does not give any illustration whatsoever, and it is wrong to submit that the definition is illustrative. On the contrary, the definition trader paragraph 3(h) is quite specific and points to only one class of officers, that is, the officers who were in the service of the Bank immediately prior to the appointed date and to whom any of the rules, as mentioned in that paragraph, are applicable. In our view, therefore, the Probationary/Trainee Officers appointed on 30/31-10-1979, that is, after the appointed date, are not existing officers. In this connection, we may notice the argument of Mr. Gupta, ....
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....he existing officers will remain the same. In other words, the Officers Grade-I will remain seniors to Officers Grade-II. Another contention that has been made by Mr. Gupta for the Probationary\Trainee Officers is that these officers have to undergo tests which are more stringent than the tests to be undergone by the Grade-II Officers and, as such, the Probationary/Trainee Officers, though they were appointed on 30/31-10-1979, should not be placed under the Officers Grade-II in the seniority list. This, in our opinion, is an argument in despair. The question is not whether the Probationary/Trainee Officers have to undergo more stringent tests than the tests to be undergone by the Grade-II Officers, but the question is whether the Probationary\Trainee Officers are existing officers or not, that is to say, whether they were in the employment of the Bank immediately prior to October I, 1979. As the Probationary/Trainee Officers are not existing officers, they cannot claim seniority over the Officers Grade II, who are existing officers. It is next contended that the Bank had no authority to give retrospective operation to the Order with effect from October 1, 1979, inasmuch as se....
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....anted the scheme to be brought into effect from January 1, 1970. The Central Board of the Reserve Bank struck a balance by choosing the date May 22, 1974. Chandrachud, C.J. delivering the judgment of the Court held that it was the best solution in the peculiar circumstances of the case and that in order to rectify the imbalances and anomalies caused by the compartmental-wise and group-wise seniority, it was necessary to give retrospective effect to the combined seniority list. Further, it has been observed by the learned Chief Justice that no scheme governing service matter can be fool-proof and some section or the other of employees is bound to feel aggrieved on the score of its expectations being falsified or remaining to be fulfilled. Mr. Shanti Bhushan has also placed reliance upon the observation of Sabyasachi Mukharji, J., in Reserve Bank of India v. C.N. Sahasranaman, [1986] Suppl. SCC 143. It has been observed by Mukharji, J that whether there has been denial of equality or any constitutional right infringed or not cannot be published where interests of large number of people are concerned, in judged the abstract. Further, it has been observed that in service jurisprudence ....
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....essage which has been communicated to all the petitioners instructing them to complete their formalities and to join the duty well before October 31, 1979 in their own interest. Telegrams were also sent to the petitioners to the following effect:- "Reference to your selection as Probationary Officer and our communications to you for immediate completion of necessary formalities. We reiterate that the Pillai Committee's recommendations are likely to be implemented shortly. If you join after implementation thereof, you shall be governed by the revised terms of service and salary scales. You are advised in your own interest to complete the remaining formalities viz., (1) acceptance of our offer by 20th October, 1979 and be ready to join duty around 25th idem at the place to be intimated to you after completion of formalities, failing which the risk of change in the salary structure and other conditions will be yours." From the telex and telegraph messages, it is contended that they show that the Bank had decided to give effect to the Order with effect from 30/31-10-1979. We are unable to accept this contention. There is no indication in the telex or telegram that the O....
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....he Probationary/Trainee Officers, who have been appointed on 30/31-10-1979 as Officers Grade-I, cannot challenge any benefit that is conferred on the officers of a different cadre, namely, the Junior Management Grade. It is not necessary for us to decide whether there is any vested right to seniority or not. The Probationary/Trainee Officers have not been brought within the purview of the new cadre, that is, the Junior Management Grade. Indeed, it is the complaint of the learned counsel, appearing on behalf of these Officers, that they have been totally ignored by the Order inasmuch as no provision has been made about them in the Order. We have already noticed that it was the contention of the Officers' Federation that there should not be any distinction in the status of Officers Grade-I and Officers Grade-II. It was urged that such distinction should be abolished and both these categories of officers should be placed in one category so that they have the same status and position. The State Bank of India accepted the demand of the Officers' Federation and the distinction has been removed. In these circumstances, it is apparent that the Probationary/Trainee Officers being....