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TMI Blog1992 (2) TMI 381X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y a resolution dated May 22, 1952 the said post of Sub-Registrar was directed to be regarded as Gazetted with effect from April 1, 1952 and thereafter by notification dated July 17, 1953 the Governor, in exercise of powers conferred by Rule 188 of the Civil Service (Classification, Control Appeal) Rules read with Articles 313 and 372 of the Adoption of Laws Order, 1950 and all other related powers, declared that the West Bengal Registration Service comprising (1) Registrar of Assurances, Calcutta, (ii) Inspectors of Registration Offices, (iii) Departmental District Sub-Registrars, (iv) Sub-Registrar of Assurances, Calcutta (v) District Sub-Registrars, and (vi) Sub-Registrars shall, with effect from January 30, 1953, the date of Constitution of the said service, be deemed to be included in the State Service. The respondents who belong to the said service contend that after the issuance of the said notification a commitment was made by the State Government that Sub-Registrars would be accorded all the privileges admissible to officers belonging to the State Service. Notwithstanding the said commitment the respondents contend that their pay scale was not revised to ₹ 200-400 w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was preferred before a Division Bench of the High Court. At the heating of the said appeal the Division Bench felt that it would be proper to dispose of the writ petition itself on merits and accordingly it heard the writ petition by consent of parties instead of disposing of the appeal against the interim order and leaving the hearing of the writ petition to the learned Single Judge. The Division Bench of the High Court allowed the writ petition and directed that the Sub-Registrars should be placed in the pay scale of ₹ 660-1600 with effect from April 1, 1981 and their pay scales should be fixed notion-ally on that basis without paying the difference in salary up to January 1, 1986. The arrears of salary for the subsequent period was, however, directed to be paid within 8 weeks from the date of the judgment. Certain other directions were also given but it is not necessary to notice them. 3. It may here be mentioned that during the pendency of the writ petition the Third (State) Pay Commission constituted by the State Government had submitted its report sometime in December, 1988. Before the said body it was represented on behalf of the Sub-Registrars that they should have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he remaining cadres in the said service belonged to the Subordinate Services of the State. Generally speaking the West Bengal Services were divided into (i) Provincial Services and (ii) Subordinate Services leaving out certain special categories of posts. Subordinate Services comprised certain minor administrative, executive and ministerial posts to which appointment could be made by the Local Government or by an authority subordinate thereto, specially empowered. The other cadres and posts belonged to the Provincial Service. By a notification dated November 25, 1949 recruitment rules were framed which provided that recruitment of Sub-Registrars shall be made through West Bengal Civil Service examination. The minimum educational qualification for Sub-Registrars was prescribed as 'graduate of a recognised University'. Subsequently, by a resolution dated May 22, 1952 it was provided that Sub-Registrars shall be regarded as Gazetted Officers with effect from April 1, 1952. Soon thereafter by a notification dated July 17, 1953 the West Bengal Registration Service was included in the State Service. Thus according to the respondents the position that emerged after the notificatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , by special order include any other class or posts carrying any pay or scale of pay in a class of service consisting of posts or services carrying a higher pay or scale of pay. (b) If a service consists of posts with more than one time scale or if there be a Selection Grade, pay attached to a service or post, post carrying the different time-scales or the Selection Grade pay may be classified in different services according to the pay or the maximum scale of pay of the post. Provided further that the aforesaid classification of posts and services shall not interfere with other existing framework of duties, functions, responsibilities and facilities of Government employees on the basis of the existing classification. 7. This classification had an impact on the recommendations made by the Pay Commission which were finally approved under the ROPA Rules, 1981. This, in brief, is the history of the West Bengal Registration Service. 8. The grievance of the respondents was that even after the Sub-Registrars were placed in the Gazetted category and their service was declared to be included in the State Service and entry into service was through a competitive examination with t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Department also did not yield the desired result thereby necessitating the filing of a writ petition in which the impugned order came to be passed. It is in this background that we must examine the correctness or otherwise of the impugned judgment and the subsequent impugned interim orders made by the High Court. 10. The partition of Bengal in the wake of independence necessitated grant of relief to millions of persons who were uprooted and their rehabilitation. This brought into existence new departments and organisations increasing the number and categories of employees required to handle the enormous task. The history of pay revision in the State of West Bengal would show that under the ROPA Rules, 1950 the total number of pay scales was reduced from 500 to 78 but by the time the Pay Committee was appointed in 1959 the number had once again gone up to 143 but was reduced to 39 by the Pay Committee. The number of pay scales again proliferated from 39 to 81 but the First (State) Pay Commission brought it down to 34. The Second (State) Pay Commission appointed in 1977 found 36 standard scales, 19 new intermediate selection grade scales and 20 non-standard pay scales beside ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . 11. As pointed out earlier the High Court took notice of the revised scales fixed by this body and by subsequent orders directed that the Sub-Registrars should be placed in revised scale No. 17, i.e. ₹ 2200-4000, and the officers above them should be placed in the revised scales Nos. 18 and 19. In taking the view that the Registration Service was underpaid, the High Court was greatly impressed by the fact that the Sub-Registrars were conferred gazetted status and the entire service was designated as State Service and being the head of office and the drawing and disbursing officer as well, he exercised administrative and financial power and now that the recruitment rule had been brought on par with the educational qualification as prescribed for Munsiffs, the pay-scales of Sub-Registrars ought to be the same and cannot be less than that of Munsiffs. Strong reliance was also placed by the High Court on the observations of the First (State) Pay Commission, extracted earlier, in support of its conclusion that the State Government had arbitrarily brushed aside the demand of the Sub-Registrars for higher wages. Holding that the position of a Sub-Registrar was equivalent to oth ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Registrars) for Sub-Registrars observing that it was an extremely ill-paid service (a recommendation which was turned down by the Finance Department) and (iii) the eligibility criterion for entry into service was graduation up to 1981 and thereafter the requirement of a law degree was added to it, thus bringing the required educational criterion to that of a Munsiff. 13. The appellants contend that the High Court committed a serious error in revising the pay-scale of Sub-Registrars in exercise of its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution in total ignorance of the settled legal position that pay fixation is essentially an executive function ordinarily undertaken by an expert body like a Pay Commission whose recommendations are entitled to great weight though not binding on the Government and are not justiciable in a court of law since the court of law is not well equipped to take upon itself the task of job evaluation which is a complex exercise. In support of this contention a catena of decisions beginning with the case of Parbhat Kiran Maithani and Ors. v. Union of India and Anr. MANU/SC/0054/1977 : [1977]2SCR911 and ending with the case of State of U ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as it is well-settled that equation of posts and determination of pay-scales is the primary function of the executive and not the judiciary and, therefore, ordinarily courts will not enter upon the task of job evaluation which is generally left to expert bodies like the Pay Commissions, etc. But that is not to say that the Court has no jurisdiction and the aggrieved employees have no remedy if they are unjustly treated by arbitrary state action or inaction. Courts must, however, realise that job evaluation is both a difficult and time consuming task which even expert bodies having the assistance of staff with requisite expertise have found difficult to undertake sometimes on account of want of relevant data and scales for evaluating performances of different groups of employees. This would call for a constant study of the external comparisons and internal relativities on account of the changing nature of job requirements. The factors which may have to be kept in view for job evaluation may include (i) the work programme of his department (ii) the nature of contribution expected of him (iii) the extent of his responsibility and accountability in the discharge of his diverse duties a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n while fixing the pay scale for a given post and Court's interference is absolutely necessary to undo the injustice. 15. There can be no dispute that by Government Resolution No. 226 dated 22nd May, 1952 gazetted status was conferred on Sub-Registrars w.e.f. 1st April, 1952. So also there is no dispute that by notification dated 17th July, 1953 the Registration Service was, with effect from the date of its constitution, i.e., 30th January, 1953, included in the West Bengal State Services. Subsequently, by a notification dated 10th October, 1953, all the entries in column I of the Schedule under the heading 'Registration Department' of the Bengal Subordinate Service (Discipline Appeal) Rules, 1936 were omitted along with the corresponding entries in columns 2 to 5 thereof. Thus, contend the respondents, the West Bengal Registration Service, including the Sub-Registrars was brought on par with other 'Constituted State Services', with effect from 30th January, 1953. Chapter 18 of the Third (State) Pay Commission would show that the Constituted Service may comprise of tiers, such as, Subordinate Service, Junior Service and State Service with or without corresp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of a recognised university. By the subsequent notification dated 4th November, 1981 issued under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, the recruitment rules of 17th October, 1966 were amended whereby rules 3 and 4 were replaced. The newly inserted rule provided for recruitment to the posts of Sub-Registrars on the basis of West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) and Allied Service Examination conducted by the State Public Service Commission and the selection was to be made in consultation with that body. For direct recruitment the educational qualification was raised to a degree in law from a recognised University/Institute or equivalent qualification and experience of 3 years at the Bar. Since this revised educational requirement is the same as required for Munsiffs, the High Court has thought it proper to place them in the scale of the latter i.e. scale No. 17 (₹ 660-1600). But in doing so the High Court has, with respect, failed to evaluate the difference in the nature of duties and responsibilities of a Munsiff and a Sub-Registrar. The duties and responsibilities of a Munsiff and a Judicial Magistrate are far more onerous than those of a Sub-Registrar. The Sub-R ..... 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