NDLI: Jagdish Prasad Singh Vs. State of Bihar and Others

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Departmental inquiry Pay-scale Marketing Officer-cum-Assistant District Supply Officer (ADSO) Objection to promotion Superannuation Marketing Officer in Junior Selection Grade Employer employee relationship Recovery of the amount paid in excess beyond his entitlement Mistake in fixation of pay Service Law Senior Selection Grade Principles of Natural Justice. Reduction of pay-scale Promotion
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Allowed
Headnote	Service Law – Objection to promotion – Reduction of pay scale – Recovery of the amount paid in excess beyond his entitlement – The High Court held that the revision and consequent reduction in pay fixation of the appellant was done in accordance with the paragraph 11 of the Government Resolution dated 08.02.1999 as per which, the appellant was not entitled to the higher pay scale which had wrongly been accorded to him – Correctness:Held: The fact regarding the appellant having been accorded time bound promotion from the post of Marketing Officer in Junior Selection Grade to Senior Selection Grade, Marketing Officer-cum- Assistant District Supply Officer (ADSO) as per his entitlement on 10.03.991 is not in dispute – It is not the case of the respondents that the said promotion suffered from any irregularity or was given against the rules and regulations – The Resolution dated 19.01.1991 indicates that the next promotional channel from the post of the Lower Senior Grade (Marketing Officer) was to the post of Upper Senior Grade (Upper Marketing Officer) – The appellant having been duly promoted to the post of Upper Senior Grade (Upper Marketing Officer) w.e.f. 10.03.1991 was entitled to and was rightly given the pay scale of the promotional post – Pursuant to the 5th Pay Commission being applied, the Government of Bihar issued a Resolution dated 08.02.1999, whereby the pay scale applicable to the post of Upper Senior Grade (Upper Marketing Officer) was revised from Rs. 2000-3800 to Rs. 6500-10500 – The paragraph 11 of the said Government Resolution specifically protects the promotions granted to the employees prior to 31.12.1995 – Apparently the appellant could not have been put to a disadvantage and his pay scale could not have been reduced prospectively by virtue of the said Resolution – The order whereby it was communicated to the appellant that it was decided to recover a sum of Rs. 63,765/- paid in excess due to mistake in fixation of pay, also indicates that a departmental inquiry was conducted against the appellant which had led to the impugned action – No departmental action could have been initiated by the State against the appellant after eight years following his superannuation because the employer employee relationship had come to an end after the appellant’s superannuation – The order directing reduction in pay scale and recovery from the appellant was manifestly not preceded by any show cause notice and was thus, passed in gross violation of the principles of natural justice – The State Government to reduce an employee’s pay scale and recover the excess amount cannot be applied retrospectively and that too after a long time gap – The Government Resolution dated 08.02.1999 to be specific, is amenable to the interpretation that it protects the status and pay of those employees who had received their time bound promotions prior to 31.12.1995 – The said Resolution was misinterpreted and misapplied to the detriment of the appellant – Thus, the impugned action directing reduction of pay scale and recovery of the excess amount is grossly arbitrary and illegal and also suffers from the vice of non-adherence to the principles of natural justice and hence, the same cannot be sustained. [Paras 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26]
Judge	Honble Mr. Justice Sandeep Mehta
Neutral Citation	2024 INSC 591
Petitioner	Jagdish Prasad Singh
Respondent	State Of Bihar And Others
SCR	[2024] 8 S.C.R. 377
Judgement Date	2024-08-08
Case Number	1635

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