IAS Officer in 7th Pay Commission - Delhi High Court admits writ and issues notice
THE Seventh Pay Commission was constituted by the Government of India on 28.02.2014. One of the Members of the Commission is a retired IAS Officer Vivek Rae.
A group of petitioners who are retired Members of the All India Services, the Central Civil Services and the Armed Forces who have served their country with distinction and risen to positions of high responsibility in Government, has challenged the appointment of Rae.
They are challenging the appointment of Vivek Rae as unfair, unjust and arbitrary and offending the rule against bias and interest. Their plea is that since Rae is a retired IAS officer, he is directly interested and affected by the recommendations of the Commission since these would also relate to the pension and retirement benefits of Mr. Rae himself.
It is submitted that a key recommendation to be made by the VII Pay Commission relates to the demand for parity in pay scales within the AIS. Under the existing system, members of the lAS enjoy an 'edge' in pay, entitling them to higher emoluments than other Central Government employees, including members of other Services. This 'edge' has been retained by previous Pay Commissions despite repeated representations made inter alia , by the other Services.
A common 'feature of all the previous Pay Commissions that have considered and rejected the demand for parity in pay within the AIS has been that the composition of each of them has included a member of the lAS. The bias in favour of retention of the status quo in relation to the demand for parity is apparent on 'a plain reading of previous reports of the Pay Commissions, which justify retention of the 'edge' essentially on the basis of a perceived 'superiority' of the lAS over the other Services. The Petitioners submit that this specious reasoning has a rational nexus and connection with the consistent presence of a member of the lAS on the Commission. That the Commission includes a Member of the lAS therefore raises a reasonable likelihood of bias on the part of the Commission in considering the issue of parity of pay intra the Services as well as qua other Central Government employees.
The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Union of India and posted the case for 4.9.2014.
Petitioners include AK Agnihotri, retired Chief Commissioner of Customs and MC Joshi, retired Chairman of CBDT.