MEMORANDUM TO THE MEMBER
Dear Members,
To,
Shri. P.N. Vittaldas, Hon’ble Member (P&V),
Central Board of Excise & Customs,
North Block, New Delhi- 110 002.
Sir,
Sub:- Issues affecting Ministerial cadre – request for expeditious action- reg.
* * * * * *
This is to bring to your kind notice certain issues, which have a direct bearing on the welfare of the Ministerial cadre in the department, and request your personal intervention for an early decision.
(1) Recognition of the Association:-
After cadre restructuring of the department in 2002, the recognition of All India Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers Association was not renewed due to some unforeseen circumstances. In order to get the recognition renewed, the members of this Association have recently submitted the requisite number of annexures certified by the DDOs (after enrolment of new members) to the Board/Ministry. However, the recognition has not been renewed till date. An early decision on the issue would enable this association to represent the matters relating to the anomaly of pay arising out of implementation of the 6th CPC before various authorities and in the forthcoming re-organisation of the department. It is, therefore, requested to issue necessary orders for renewal of recognition in respect of this Association, immediately.
(2) Implementation of the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court:-
The Board had vide circular dated 24.07.06, informed that the benefit of pay fixation under Rule FR 22 (I) (a) (1), cannot be granted to Officers holding the post of erstwhile cadre of Office Superintendent (Non Gazetted) in the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500/- on promotion to the post of Adminstrative Officers (Gazetted) in the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500/- between the period 01.01.96 to 04.06.2002. The said matter was agitated before the Honourable Central Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore by few affected Officers and the Tribunal had ordered to extend the benefit of pay fixation to these Officers, by quashing the circular dated 24.07.06. A Writ Petition was filed by the department before the Honourable High Court of Karnataka challenging the order of the Tribunal. The Hon’ble High Court dismissed the petition and confirmed the order of the Tribunal. This was further challenged by the Department before the Honourable Supreme Court by way of a SLP. The Special Leave Petition also came to be dismissed by the Hon’ble Apex Court on 21.08.09, stating as under:
“ Upon Hearing counsel the Court made the following:
Delay condoned. The Special Leave Petition is dismissed”
However, the said order of the Supreme Court is yet to be implemented by the Ministry/Board, even after lapse of about 3 months. Many of the affected Officers have either retired or on the verge of retirement. In case of some of the retired Officers, a part of their DCRG has been withheld for adjustment towards excess pay and allowances consequent to denial of the benefit of pay fixation.
In view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s decision referred above and the issue being a very old one, it is humbly requested to kindly issue necessary orders for implementation of the order of the Hon’ble Central Adminstrative Tribunal, Bangalore, by extending the benefit of Pay fixation to all similarly placed Officers.
(3) Filling up of the vacancies in the grade of Chief Accounts Officer:-
Out of the total sanctioned strength of 10 posts in respect of this zone 2 posts of CAO are remaining vacant for more than a Year. Further one more vacancy is due to arise in this grade during the coming months after superannuation of Smt. N.K. Lalitha, CAO, Service Tax Commissionerate. It is pertinent to note that the post of CAO is at the top of the ladder in the Ministerial Hierarchy and any stagnation in this post will have a bearing on promotion to the other posts in the cadre. Therefore, it is requested to issue necessary orders for promotion of Officers and fill up of these vacancies immediately.
(4) Anomaly in Grade pay to Administrative Officers/DOS and STA:-
In the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, grave injustice has been meted out to the Officers belonging to the grade of Administrative Officers and DOS in the Ministerial cadre of this department. The post of Deputy Office Superintendent (DOS – a Gr. ‘B’ non-gazetted post) is a supervisory cadre monitoring the work of STA, TA and LDC besides assisting AOs in certain areas of work. The post of STA which is the feeder cadre to DOS have been merged with DOS and placed in the Pay Band 2 with same grade pay of Rs.4200/-. Any promotion resulting only in change of designation and steep increase in responsibilities without any monetary benefit subdues the enthusiasm of the officers and weakens the very spirit of the promotion itself.
The AOs / ACAOs play a vital role, especially in Accounts / Administration / Establishment functions of this Department. Their nature of work is comparable with the work of the Section Officers in the Central Secretariat Services, like responsibility of efficient and expeditious disposal of work and checks on delays, responsibilities relating to issue of draft, Independent disposal of cases, and recording and indexing of daks /files/ records. The ACAO/AO is the DDO and responsible on all accounts related matters including Pay and Allowances, preparation of Budget estimates, verification of qualifying service, recovery of Income Tax and mandatory filing of quarterly returns. On the Administrative side, they are responsible for conducting DPCs for promotions to various cadres and purchase and maintenance of stores etc. Being the section heads, they have a control and supervisory role in not only monitoring the work but they also exercise the functionary powers of initiating CCRs of the DOS/STAs and other subordinate officers. The 6th CPC while considering the issue of parity of posts has stated in para 7.15.14 that
All Comments/correspondences may be addressed to karccemoa@gmail.com
The Honourable Member (P&V), was on official visit to Bangalore on 04.12.09. The Office bearers intended to meet the Member and submit a Memorandum highlighting the various issues affecting the cadre. As the member had a busy schedule, the intended meeting did not materialise and hence the proposed memorandum has been forwarded to the Member by post. Placed hereunder is the copy of the memorandum, for information of all the members.
To,
Shri. P.N. Vittaldas, Hon’ble Member (P&V),
Central Board of Excise & Customs,
North Block, New Delhi- 110 002.
Sir,
Sub:- Issues affecting Ministerial cadre – request for expeditious action- reg.
* * * * * *
This is to bring to your kind notice certain issues, which have a direct bearing on the welfare of the Ministerial cadre in the department, and request your personal intervention for an early decision.
(1) Recognition of the Association:-
After cadre restructuring of the department in 2002, the recognition of All India Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers Association was not renewed due to some unforeseen circumstances. In order to get the recognition renewed, the members of this Association have recently submitted the requisite number of annexures certified by the DDOs (after enrolment of new members) to the Board/Ministry. However, the recognition has not been renewed till date. An early decision on the issue would enable this association to represent the matters relating to the anomaly of pay arising out of implementation of the 6th CPC before various authorities and in the forthcoming re-organisation of the department. It is, therefore, requested to issue necessary orders for renewal of recognition in respect of this Association, immediately.
(2) Implementation of the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court:-
The Board had vide circular dated 24.07.06, informed that the benefit of pay fixation under Rule FR 22 (I) (a) (1), cannot be granted to Officers holding the post of erstwhile cadre of Office Superintendent (Non Gazetted) in the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500/- on promotion to the post of Adminstrative Officers (Gazetted) in the pay scale of Rs.6500-10500/- between the period 01.01.96 to 04.06.2002. The said matter was agitated before the Honourable Central Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore by few affected Officers and the Tribunal had ordered to extend the benefit of pay fixation to these Officers, by quashing the circular dated 24.07.06. A Writ Petition was filed by the department before the Honourable High Court of Karnataka challenging the order of the Tribunal. The Hon’ble High Court dismissed the petition and confirmed the order of the Tribunal. This was further challenged by the Department before the Honourable Supreme Court by way of a SLP. The Special Leave Petition also came to be dismissed by the Hon’ble Apex Court on 21.08.09, stating as under:
“ Upon Hearing counsel the Court made the following:
Delay condoned. The Special Leave Petition is dismissed”
However, the said order of the Supreme Court is yet to be implemented by the Ministry/Board, even after lapse of about 3 months. Many of the affected Officers have either retired or on the verge of retirement. In case of some of the retired Officers, a part of their DCRG has been withheld for adjustment towards excess pay and allowances consequent to denial of the benefit of pay fixation.
In view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s decision referred above and the issue being a very old one, it is humbly requested to kindly issue necessary orders for implementation of the order of the Hon’ble Central Adminstrative Tribunal, Bangalore, by extending the benefit of Pay fixation to all similarly placed Officers.
(3) Filling up of the vacancies in the grade of Chief Accounts Officer:-
Out of the total sanctioned strength of 10 posts in respect of this zone 2 posts of CAO are remaining vacant for more than a Year. Further one more vacancy is due to arise in this grade during the coming months after superannuation of Smt. N.K. Lalitha, CAO, Service Tax Commissionerate. It is pertinent to note that the post of CAO is at the top of the ladder in the Ministerial Hierarchy and any stagnation in this post will have a bearing on promotion to the other posts in the cadre. Therefore, it is requested to issue necessary orders for promotion of Officers and fill up of these vacancies immediately.
(4) Anomaly in Grade pay to Administrative Officers/DOS and STA:-
In the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, grave injustice has been meted out to the Officers belonging to the grade of Administrative Officers and DOS in the Ministerial cadre of this department. The post of Deputy Office Superintendent (DOS – a Gr. ‘B’ non-gazetted post) is a supervisory cadre monitoring the work of STA, TA and LDC besides assisting AOs in certain areas of work. The post of STA which is the feeder cadre to DOS have been merged with DOS and placed in the Pay Band 2 with same grade pay of Rs.4200/-. Any promotion resulting only in change of designation and steep increase in responsibilities without any monetary benefit subdues the enthusiasm of the officers and weakens the very spirit of the promotion itself.
The AOs / ACAOs play a vital role, especially in Accounts / Administration / Establishment functions of this Department. Their nature of work is comparable with the work of the Section Officers in the Central Secretariat Services, like responsibility of efficient and expeditious disposal of work and checks on delays, responsibilities relating to issue of draft, Independent disposal of cases, and recording and indexing of daks /files/ records. The ACAO/AO is the DDO and responsible on all accounts related matters including Pay and Allowances, preparation of Budget estimates, verification of qualifying service, recovery of Income Tax and mandatory filing of quarterly returns. On the Administrative side, they are responsible for conducting DPCs for promotions to various cadres and purchase and maintenance of stores etc. Being the section heads, they have a control and supervisory role in not only monitoring the work but they also exercise the functionary powers of initiating CCRs of the DOS/STAs and other subordinate officers. The 6th CPC while considering the issue of parity of posts has stated in para 7.15.14 that
“Posts in ministerial cadres cannot claim any relativity with those in the executive cadre as the functions are different. Mere fact of two posts being in the same pay scale cannot be a ground for establishing relativity. However, the ministerial posts will get a separate dispensation because the Commission has recommended parity between headquarters organizations and the field offices in chapter 3.1 of the report.”
Further, there is a clear provision in para (ii) of section I, Part B of the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, to upgrade the Pay Band/Grade Pay of promotional cadres in case the feeder cadres & promotional cadres lie in the same Pay band with same Grade Pay. Hence the cadre of DOS needs to be recognised and upgraded to pre revised pay scale of Rs.7450 -11500, in the PB-2 with Grade Pay of Rs. 4600/- and similarly the post of AOs needs to be upgraded to the pre-revised pay scale of Rs.7500-12000, in PB-2 with Grade Pay of Rs.4800/-. It is humbly requested that the Board may kindly take up the issue of Grade pay of DOS and AOs before the Department of Expenditure and Anomaly Committee for a favourable decision.
(5) Expedite Hearing of Pending cases before the Apex Court:-
A few appeals filed by the department and Officers of various cadres on the issue of seniority and Recruitment Rules (against the orders passed by the Hon’ble Madras High Court and Allahabad High Court) are pending before the Hon’ble Apex Court. When one of the petitions came up for hearing on 23.03.09, the Hon’ble Court after admitting the appeals had ordered as under:-
“Leave granted. Hearing of the appeals be expedited. Permission to move the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India for early hearing.”
However, no action has been taken till date to expedite the hearing. It is submitted that some of the appeals are pending for more than 4 years. As the department is either appellant or the respondent in all these petitions, the department can file applications and move the Hon’ble Supreme court for out of turn hearing of these matters. By doing so all the pending issues could be settled in one way or the other, before the Board embarks upon another re-organsiation in the department. Therefore, it is humbly requested that the Board may kindly initiate necessary action for early listing and disposal of the appeals before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, as any outcome of the said appeals would have a huge bearing on the officers who are awaiting promotions for a very long time.
Thanking you,
Further, there is a clear provision in para (ii) of section I, Part B of the CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008, to upgrade the Pay Band/Grade Pay of promotional cadres in case the feeder cadres & promotional cadres lie in the same Pay band with same Grade Pay. Hence the cadre of DOS needs to be recognised and upgraded to pre revised pay scale of Rs.7450 -11500, in the PB-2 with Grade Pay of Rs. 4600/- and similarly the post of AOs needs to be upgraded to the pre-revised pay scale of Rs.7500-12000, in PB-2 with Grade Pay of Rs.4800/-. It is humbly requested that the Board may kindly take up the issue of Grade pay of DOS and AOs before the Department of Expenditure and Anomaly Committee for a favourable decision.
(5) Expedite Hearing of Pending cases before the Apex Court:-
A few appeals filed by the department and Officers of various cadres on the issue of seniority and Recruitment Rules (against the orders passed by the Hon’ble Madras High Court and Allahabad High Court) are pending before the Hon’ble Apex Court. When one of the petitions came up for hearing on 23.03.09, the Hon’ble Court after admitting the appeals had ordered as under:-
“Leave granted. Hearing of the appeals be expedited. Permission to move the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India for early hearing.”
However, no action has been taken till date to expedite the hearing. It is submitted that some of the appeals are pending for more than 4 years. As the department is either appellant or the respondent in all these petitions, the department can file applications and move the Hon’ble Supreme court for out of turn hearing of these matters. By doing so all the pending issues could be settled in one way or the other, before the Board embarks upon another re-organsiation in the department. Therefore, it is humbly requested that the Board may kindly initiate necessary action for early listing and disposal of the appeals before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, as any outcome of the said appeals would have a huge bearing on the officers who are awaiting promotions for a very long time.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(M. CHOKKALINGAM)
GENERAL SECRETARY
GENERAL SECRETARY
All Comments/correspondences may be addressed to karccemoa@gmail.com
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