Stepping up of pay of senior Assistants of CSS
drawing less pay on promotion in the Section
Officers Grade than their juniors
F.No.18/2/2014-CS-I(S)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
2nd Floor, A Wing, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market
New Delhi, the 6 November, 2017
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:
Stepping up of pay of senior
Assistants of CSS drawing less pay on promotion in
the Section Officers Grade than their juniors -
regarding.
Ref: OM
No.18/2/2007-CS-l dated 20.05.2014 & 08.07.2014
and OM No.18/212014-CS.l(S) dated 27.12.20216.
Representations have been received from
some CSS officers in whose case re-fixation and
recovery orders have been issued by concerned
Ministries/Departments in pursuance to DOPT OM
dated 20.05.2014, requesting withdrawal of the OMs
referred above.
2. It is once again
clarified that OM No.5/16/80-CS.I dated 13.4.1988
was issued on acceptance of award by Board of
Arbitration in CA Reference No.7 of 1984 which
allowed stepping up of pay of an Assistant of CSS,
who is senior by virtue of having been recruited
through an earlier examination but is drawing less
pay on promotion in the Grade of Section Officer
than his junior recruited through a later
examination, up to a level equal to the pay of such
junior Section Officer in the same cadre i.e.
senior DR Assistant to junior DR Assistant of later
exam on their promotion as Section Officer. Vide OM
No.5/21/92-CS.I dated 23.2.1994 this benefit of
stepping up was extended to Section Officers
appointed through Limited Departmental Competitive
Examination (LDCE) (again applicable to DR
Assistants only). OM No.5/1/96-CS.I dated 8.10.1996
further extended this benefit in case of promotee
Assistants and also to the cases where both junior
and senior have been recruited on the basis of the
same Select List Assistants Grade Examination, as
the case may be in accordance with judgements of
CAT in OA No. 365/90 (Shri K.C. Sehgal VS UOI and
CA No. 869/91 (Shri L.K. Chawla VS UOI), which were
upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
3.
That there are general guidelines of stepping up of
pay issued by the Ministry of Finance vide OM
No.F.2(78)-E.III(A) dated 0 .02.1966 and this
Department vide OM dated 04.11.1993. One of the
conditions of the general guidelines for allowing
stepping up of pay to a senior govt. servant with
reference to a junior is that the senior should
have drawn more pay than the junior in the lower
grade also.
4. However, certain
clarifications were issued by CS-I Division, DoPT
in 2007 and 2008 to individual
Ministries/Departments, on references received from
them, which were at variance with the general
conditions of stepping up of pay i.e. stepping up
of pay was allowed even if junior was drawing more
pay than the senior in the lower grade i.e. in
Assistant/Grade. Therefore, vide OM dated
29.5.2009, the clarification issued in 2007 &
2008 were withdrawn and Ministries/Departments were
advised to strictly allow stepping up enforcing
conditions laid down in OM dated 8.10.1996.
Departments were also informed vide OM dated
21.05.2010 that as the matter was still under
consideration, status-quo, as on date, might be
maintained in the matter of stepping up of pay of
Section Officers of CSS till the matter attains
finality. Eventually, the matter attained finality
and a consolidated OM as vetted by the Estt..(Pay)
Division of this Department and Department of
Expenditure was issued on 20.05.2014.
5.
The Ministries/Departments were requested vide OM
dated 20.05.14 that stepping up of pay already
allowed in cases where the individuals are not
covered by the OMs dated 13.04.1988, 23.02.1994 and
08.10.1996 and general conditions as laid down in
OM dated 04.11.193, should be reviewed and pay re-
fixed accordingly. That excess payments made to the
employees in the cases of wrong stepping up of pay
should be recovered in terms of DOP&T’s OM
No.18/26/2011-Estt(Pay-l) dated 06.02.2014 and a
compliance report in this regard furnished to this
Department. It was further clarified vide OM dated
08.7.2014 that all the three OMs and general
conditions of stepping up of pay are not exclusive
of each other and the three OMs are to be read with
and subject to the general conditions reiterated
vide OM dated 4.11.1993, therefore, stepping up of
pay is not to be allowed where junior was drawing
more pay than the senior in the lower grade.
6. As regards, OA No.2884/2015 and similar
OAs filed in this regard, it is observed that only
applicants in these cases have been granted interim
stay by the Learned CAT. That the said OAs have
been filed by the applicants in the individual
capacity. Thus in all those cases where stepping up
of pay has been allowed, but where the benefited
individuals were not covered by the OMs dated
13.4.88, 23.2.94 and 8.10.96 and the general
conditions of stepping up of pay as laid down in
the DOP&T's OM No. 4/7/92-Estt(Pay-1) dated
04.11.93, pay will have to be re-fixed and recovery
of excess payment, if any, is to be made.
7. Therefore, vide reminder OM dated 27.12.16,
the Ministries/Departments were requested to
expedite the compliance reports as requested vide
OM dated 20.05.2014 except in those cases where
matter of recovery is subjudice/stayed by order of
any competent court.
8. It may be
mentioned that one of the similarly placed
officers, in whose case orders for stepping up of
pay with reference to a promotee assistant was
issued but not implemented, had approached CA (PB)
through OA No.1199/2014(H.C. Rai vs. UOI). The CAT
vide its order dated 28.03.17 while dismissing the
OA had categorically ruled that the stepping up of
his pay was not in consonance with the provisions
of OM dated 20.05.2014 i.e. OMs dated 13.4.88,
23.2.94 and 8.10.96.
9. With regards
difficulty being faced by some
Ministries/Departments in establishing links/chain
of officers in refixation/recovery matters, it is
hereby mentioned that many Ministries/Departments
have already issued re-fixation orders establishing
links by themselves as per the instructions issued
by this Department.
10. All the
Ministries/Departments are thus again requested to
furnish the compliance reports in the prescribed
proforma, latest by 15th November 2017.
11. In view of above, the representations/OMS of
following have no merit and are accordingly
disposed off:
Please click on source
file to view the list of representations.
(Anil Tripathi)
Under Secretary to the Govt.
of India
Source :
DoPT
