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Debasish Bhattacharya v. Union of India & Ors.

Calcutta HC17 Jun 2025WP.CT/129/2015

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Decategorisation; protection of grade and status; Head Constable; pay scale Rs.3200/- to Rs.4900/-; Railway Board letter dated 04.03.2002 bearing No.E(NG)12001/RE-3/5; pay fixation Rs.4500/- to Rs.7000/-; parity with similarly situated employees; Circular dated 27.11.2006; Central Administrative Tribunal; writ petition disposed of with liberty; parity issue left open for appropriate proceedings; no infirmity in Tribunal order; Madhuresh Prasad, J.; Supratim Bhattacharya, J.; 2025.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition disposed of with liberty to the petitioner, as prayed for, leaving open the pay-parity claim under the Circular dated 27.11.2006 to be agitated in appropriate proceedings; no infirmity found in the Tribunal's order. ¶6

Debasish Bhattacharya Vs Union of India & Ors. — Calcutta HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner is entitled to protection of his grade and status, based on the pay scale of Head Constable (Rs.3200/- to Rs.4900/-), prior to his decategorisation. +1 more

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Court's answer

On protection of grade and status, the Tribunal's finding that the pay scale of Head Constable granted to the petitioner prior to his decategorisation has to be protected stands; the petitioner can have no grievance on that count.

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Ratio / Principle

The petitioner's claim for pay fixation at Rs.4500/- to Rs.7000/- based on parity with allegedly similarly situated employees is not connected with the issue of decategorisation; it rests on the Circular dated 27.11.2006.

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Key takeaways

The issue of pay parity under the Circular dated 27.11.2006 is left open for the petitioner to agitate in appropriate proceedings, and no infirmity is found in the order of the Tribunal.ratio¶5

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition (W.P.C.T.129 of 2015, decided 17th June, 2025) by Madhuresh Prasad, J. and Supratim Bhattacharya, J. concerning protection of grade and status of a petitioner prior to his decategorisation. The Central Administrative Tribunal had held, in terms of Railway Board letter dated 04.03.2002 bearing No.E(NG)12001/RE-3/5, that the petitioner was entitled to protection of his grade and status based on the pay scale of Rs.3200/- to Rs.4900/- in the post of Head Constable, to which he had already been promoted prior to decategorisation. The petitioner further claimed pay fixation at Rs.4500/- to Rs.7000/- claiming parity with other similarly situated employees in terms of a Circular dated 27.11.2006. The Court found that the pay scale granted prior to decategorisation had to be protected and the petitioner could have no grievance on that count; it held the parity claim unconnected with decategorisation, left that issue open to be agitated in appropriate proceedings, found no infirmity in the Tribunal's order, and disposed of the writ petition with liberty to the petitioner, as prayed for. None appeared for the respondents at the hearing.

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17^th June, 2025 (D/L No.20) Ct. No.4 (SKB)

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W.P.C.T.129 of 2015

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Debasish Bhatacharyya Versus Union of India and others

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Mr. Debashis Saha, Mr. Sanjoy Ghosh, Mr. Avirup Roy Sanyal, Ms. Sucheta Pal

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….for the petitioner.

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The issue arising for consideration is protection of grade and status of the petitioner prior to his decategorisation.

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The Central Administrative Tribunal (in short ‘Tribunal’) has found that in terms of the Railway Board letter dated 04.03.2002 bearing No.E(NG)12001/RE-3/5, the petitioner was entitled to protection of his grade and status based on the pay scale of Rs.3200/- to Rs.4900/- in the post of Head Constable to which post he had already been promoted, prior to his decategorisation.

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The petitioner, on the other hand, claimed that he is entitled to fixation of pay scale of Rs.4500/- to Rs.7000/- claiming parity with other similarly situated employees in terms of one Circular dated 27.11.2006.

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We find that the Tribunal has taken note of the fact that the pay scale of Head Constable granted prior to his decategorisation has to be protected. Therefore, in this regard the petitioners can have no grievance. Insofar as the claim based on parity with others whom the petitioner’s claim to be similarly situated, we find that such claim is not connected with the issue of decategorisation, but based on one circular dated 27.11.2006.

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