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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has said that principle of equal pay for equal work does not apply to a situation where there is only one post. The court also said that higher pay scale cannot be granted just because some predecessors once drew it.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta rejected a plea by retired IAS officer Metongmeren AO, who was appointed as State Vigilance Commissioner of Nagaland, claiming parity of pay scale equivalent to the rank of Chief Secretary of the State.

"We feel that merely because at some point in time, the State Vigilance Commissioners appointed before the appellant were getting the pay scale as the Chief Secretary, that by itself would not form a precedent so as to entitle the appellant to claim the same pay scale," the bench said.

The appellant unreservedly accepted the pay scale offered to him by a notification of June 21, 2006. 

"Having voluntarily accepted the offer with open eyes, it does not lie in the mouth of the appellant to claim that he should be offered a higher pay scale equivalent to the pay scale of the Chief Secretary of the State. The appellant was not obliged to join the post if the pay scale being offered was not acceptable to him," the bench said.

The appellant also sought to invoke the principle of equal pay for equal work in an endeavor to seek the reliefs claimed in this appeal. 

"We feel that such a prayer is misconceived and the principle of equal pay for equal work is not applicable to the situation at hand for the simple reason that there is only one post of State Vigilance Commissioner in the State of Nagaland, and is not as if some other State Vigilance Commissioner in the State was drawing a higher pay scale then what was offered to the appellant during the same period," the bench said.

The appellant challenged the Guahati High Court's division bench order of 2011 which allowed an appeal by the state government against a single judge order.

He was in 2006 appointed to the post of State Vigilance Commissioner for a period of five years, post his retirement from service. He was also granted one-year extension.

He was offered salary equivalent to the last pay drawn by him as an IAS officer in the super time scale, minus the pension being drawn by him. The said offer was accepted by the appellant without any reservation, and he was accordingly appointed as the State Vigilance Commissioner on the pay scale offered in the notification of June 21, 2006.

He, however, raised grievances that some of his predecessor State Vigilance Commissioners were paid in the pay scale of Chief Secretary of the State. 

After his representations did not bear the desired result, he filed a writ petition in the high court which was allowed in 2010, and the state government was directed to pay him equivalent to the pay scale of the Chief Secretary of the State. 

As the division bench of high court reversed the single bench order, he filed the instant appeal before the top court.

Going through the facts, the bench noted the acceptance of the salary and terms offered to the appellant was voluntary and it was not obligatory for him to accept it. 

However, after assuming the charge, he started making representation and the state government set up a committee to examine the representation for a higher pay scale. 

The committee set up by the State Government considered the representation of the appellant by giving him an enhanced pay scale of Rs 22,400- 525-24,500 pm. 

"However, it would be relevant to note that the committee did not recommend granting the pay scale equivalent to that of the Chief Secretary to the appellant," the bench recorded.

The bench thus concluded that the view taken by the division bench of the Gauhati High Court in the impugned judgment was just and proper and did not warrant any interference whatsoever.

The court dismissed the appeal as lacking merit.

Case Title: Shri Metongmeren AO (IAS Retd), State Vigilance Commissioner, Government of Nagaland Vs State of Nagaland, Through the Chief Secretary, Government of Nagaland & Anr