Letter to CGDA to withheld recovery from DEOs of DAD.

ALL INDIA DEFENCE ACCOUNTS EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION  (HQ) KOLKATA (Established in 1925) 10A. S. K. Bose Road, Kolkata-700001 (Recognized by Govt. of India) FAX & Ph.no. (033)22624179 PCA Fax No.(033)22480991 e-mail :aidaeakol@gmail.com site : aidaeakolkata.blogspot.in

President :K.K. Verma  09935553862                                     Secretary General : S.K. Deb Roy 09432343678

No. AIDAEA/HQ/DEO/03                                           Dated : the 14^th September, 2016

To

The C.G.D.A.,

Ulan Batar Road,

Palam, Delhi Cantt.New Delhi

Sub: Revision of pay scale of DEO and recovery thereof.
Ref:  Your no. EDP/113/II(PC)/Vol-13 dated 1.9.2016.

Dear Sir,

Undersigned would like to inform your good self that a large number of DEOs in DAD have conveyed their agony and their sentiments following a circular cited under reference on recovery of payments.

It is understood that an order has been issued by Learned Judge of Supreme Court of India on Civil suit no. 10862 to 10867 of 2014 arising out of SLPs during 2010 to 2014 against respondents of various Departments other than DAD that-‘DEO Grade A are not entitled for scale of pay 1350-2200 w.e.f. 1.1.86’ which entails you to issue the said circular for recovery of a considerable sum from DEOs serving in DAD. Recovery of such bulk amount leads them to acute hardship.

Hon’ble Supreme Court issued order of non-entitlement of pay scale 1350-2200 to DEOs as a whole among two categories of DEOs as under.

I)                    DEOs of DAD who have not filed any court case but they were given the DEO Grade-B scale in general. Normally award is given to the particular employee/s filed the court case for higher scale and if won the judgment. But in this situation it is quite opposite. The DEOs did not go for court case but paid the scale. Now recovery order has been issued for all DEOs in question. What could they have been done if paid in general? But they are also pushed into hardship.

II)                  DEOs of DAD who have filed court cases and SLPs are pending for final judgments. They have been spending lot of bucks for justice to establish parity of a scale. Their demand for higher scale is so strong and logical that number of Tribunals and Higher Court Judges (appointed by Govt of India) have their verdicts in favour of the DEOs. Unfortunately in aforesaid case Hon’ble Judge in his verdict clearly mentioned blunder of Tribunal and High court Judges (appointed by Union Govt.) in para 29.  Paying full respect to the learned Judge I would like to react that ‘Mighty Ram made mistake, poor Shyam is punished’.

It is also quite surprising to understand that in one side an employer of other Departments or union govt. is paying the enhanced pay on the basis of High court orders and other side moved to the higher court to deny payment. As a result long drawn judicial process compounded the paid sum to a considerable amount and now sudden recovery order of nearly 6 to 7 lacs from the poor employees will invariably pushed them to acute financial crunch even starvation in some families. Now the situation is neither they can swallow nor can vomit. Undersigned is afraid that it would be very difficult for some DEOs to hold the mental stability and to overcome such debtor situation.

Especially in govt. services role of employer or union govt. is not merely a job executor of the nation but a protector of its employees like an umbrella to monitor their comfortable lives that defined in many govt. manuals. Instead some employers of other Department or union govt. went on higher courts to deny the payment which was pre-determined and controversial too. Couldn’t be averted the present situation by putting immediate SLP to stop the debatable enhanced payment to the poor employee or by keeping the sum to any other fund monitored by  Union Govt. till decision of the highest court.

However, the undersigned request your good self to stop recovery from DEOs of this Department due to the following reasons:-

1.       The verdict of SLP that mentioned in your letter cited under reference pertains to the DEOs of other Departments and not of DAD as responder. The case filed by your good self as appellants vides O.A. no. 1077/2012 against W.P. Bangalore High Court no. 7696-77/2011 pertains to DEOs of DAD as respondent is still pending.

2.       As regard recovery kindly also refer DoPT OM. No. 18/03/2015-Estt (Pay-I) dated 2.3.2016 in Para 4 under subject ‘Recovery of wrongful/excess payments made in Government servants’ is  reproduced below for your kind perusal.

Para-4 The Supreme Court while observing that it is not possible to postulate all situations of hardship which would govern employees on the issue of recovery, where payments have mistakenly been made by the employer, in excess of their entitlements has summarized the following few situations, wherein recoveries by the employees would be impermissible in law.

(i)                  Recovery belonging to Class-III and Class-IV service (or Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’ service)

(ii)                Recovery from retired employees or employees who are due to retire within one year of the order of recovery.

(iii)               Recovery from employees when the excess payment has been made for a period of five years, before the order of recovery is issued.

(iv)              Recovery in cases where an employee has wrongfully been required to discharge duties of a higher post and has been paid accordingly, even though he should have rightfully been required to work against inferior post.

(v)                In any other case where the court arrives at the conclusion that recovery if made from the employee, would be iniquitous or harsh or arbitrary to such an extent, as would far outweigh the equitable balance of employer’s right to recover.

3.       Hon’ble Supreme Court issued a judgment about non-entitlement of a scale that paid from 1.1.2006. But no order has been given to recover the paid amount.

Hence undersigned request you to withheld recovery from the DEOs on the aforesaid grounds and please seek further clarification from the authority concern in this regard.

Thanking You,

Yours truly,

(S.K. Deb Roy)

Secretary General

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N.O.O. Concern DEOs may float letters to The CGDA New Delhi through proper channel to the tune of this letter that already sent to HQr. office.