Union of India & Ors. vs N.M. Raut & Ors.

Held: Is clearly erroneous – Incumbent eligible Government employee should not take the benefit of both the timebound promotion scheme or in-situ promotion scheme as well as the benefit of financial upgradation under the MACPS – Respondents entitled to the benefits of the MACPS only after taking into consideration all the financial upgradations earned by them in terms of the CCS RP Rules – Financial upgradations under the Rules have to be accounted for and will be treated as financial upgradations earned for reckoning the 10-year intervals and the three assured financial upgradations, in terms of Grade Pay, under the MACPS – Nonfunctional higher Grade Pay has been awarded to employees on completion of a certain length of service in the lower pay-scale/Grade Pay – Financial upgradation granted, after two or four years of service, to Pharmacists or Superintendents, would indicate that they availed financial upgradation, which cannot be ignored for deciding the entitlement to the next financial benefit under the MACPS – To ignore the same would be contrary to the intent and purpose of the scheme, the language employed – In their cases, because of service conditions, the Government thought it proper to grant them such financial upgradation after they completed two or four years of service in the lower pay-scale/Grade Pay – Not the intention of the Government to ignore the said upgradation under the CCS RP Rules – Doing so, would be granting them additional benefits beyond what was envisaged and stated in the MACPS – Revised Pay Rules, including a grant of financial benefits, and the MACPS are not two watertight or separate compartments, each conferring independent benefits without reference to the other – Grant of financial upgradations as well as promotions are to be duly accounted for and taken into consideration in the MACPS – Anomalies arising because of the ACPS and MACPS operated during different periods cannot be a ground and reason to re-write or ignore the language and the intent and purpose behind the scheme – MACPS implemented and executed by granting benefits to the respondents and, later on, recoveries initiated – Recovery not to be effected from the retirees or those who retiring within one year from the date of the judgment – Recoveries may be made after issuing notice to the employee concerned – No interest to be charged on the amount to be recovered – Pension and the pay scale to be re-determined on the basis of the said judgment and to apply prospectively wef 01.01.2025 – Impugned judgments set aside. [Paras 11, 13-25]

Service Law – Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme, 2008-MACPS – Interpretation and implementation – Financial upgradation under – Criteria of eligibility – Explanation: Held: Objective purpose of the MACPS is that an employee should not remain stagnant in the same pay scale/Grade Pay for periods of 10, 20 or 30 years – Employee would be entitled to financial upgradation to the immediate next higher Grade Pay, as mentioned in Section 1, Part-A of the first Schedule to the CCS RP Rules – Benefit under the MACPS is available where the eligible employee has not got regular promotion, in such cases, he/she will be given financial upgradation – However, such financial upgradation is not the same as a pay-scale/Grade Pay, which is applicable to the next promotional post in the hierarchy of the concerned cadre/organization. [Paras 12, 13]

Service law – Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme, 2008 – Assured Career Progression Scheme – Difference – Explanation:

Held: Assured Career Progression Scheme-ACPS was introduced with effective from 09.08.1999 and continued to remain till 31.08.2008 – ACPS envisaged financial upgradations on completion of 12 years and 24 years of regular service without one or two promotions – Modified Assured Career Progression SchemeMACPS envisaged three financial upgradations after completion of regular service of 10, 20, and 30 years without promotions and continuing on the same Grade Pay for a decade – Financial upgradation under the ACPS was to the pay scale of the next higher promotional post in the service – Under the MACPS, financial upgradation was not with reference to the next higher promotional post but to the next higher grade pay in the scale of pay, as notified upon the implementation of CCS RP Rules, 2008. [Para 3]