Tribunal Finds No Justification in Denial of Benefits Already Extended to Counterparts Across India
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Allahabad Bench, has directed the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to grant revised grade pay with effect from January 1, 1996, to a group of 211 officers working as Superintendents and Deputy/Assistant Commissioners under the CGST & Central Excise Commissionerates.
The bench of Justice Rajiv Joshi (Judicial Member) and Anjani Nandan Sharan (Administrative Member) observed that the respondents (including the CBIC and Department of Revenue) failed to justify the discrimination. It was noted that the principle of “equal pay for equal work” applies squarely in this context.
As per the Original Application, the applicants are either presently working or have retired from the post of Superintendent under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (formerly known as Central Board of Excise & Customs), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
All the applicants were initially appointed as Inspectors and later promoted to the post of Superintendent some of them are now working on the post of Assistant Commissioner and Joint Commissioner. The pay scales of Inspectors (Rs.1640-2900) and Superintendents (Rs.2000-3500) in various departments including CBIC and the Income Tax Department were upgraded in 2004.
As per the recommendations of the IVth and Vth Central Pay Commissions, certain pay scales were prescribed for these posts. However, the Government of India granted a higher pay scale of Rs.6500-10500/- to Inspectors working in CBI and IB through a separate executive order but this benefit was not extended to Inspectors of Central Excise, Customs, or Income Tax departments.
The applicants contended that they were unfairly denied the revised grade pay of Rs. 5400 in Pay Band-2 from 01.01.1996 and later in Pay Band-3 from 01.01.2006, benefits that were already extended to their counterparts in other zones such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai, following judicial rulings there.
The department contended that the revision of pay scales was approved from 21.04.2004 and does not warrant retrospective application to 01.01.1996. The Department of Expenditure determined the effective date based on administrative considerations and budgetary constraints and therefore the relief sought by the applicants is not tenable.
The tribunal allowed the application filed by over 211 applicants including Kaushal Kishore Bhashkar and others, all working or retired officers from different CGST zones in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. These officers had sought parity in grade pay as per the implementation of recommendations of the 5th and 6th Central Pay Commissions.
The Tribunal directed the department to extend the benefit of the revised grade pay to the applicants with all consequential benefits, including arrears, within three months from the date of receipt of the order.
Case Details
Case Title: Kaushal Kishore Bhashkar Versus Union of India
Case No.: Original Application No.577/2022
Date: 03/07/2025
Counsel For Appellant: Shyamal Narain
Counsel For Respondent: Manoj Kumar Sharma
