NFG Granted to Employee will not count for purpose of Financial Up gradation: Chandigarh CAT quashes CEST order

The Central Administrative Tribunal bench of Rashmi Saxena Sahni and Ramesh Singh Thakur quashed the impugned order of the Central Excise and Service Tax (CEST) granting the financial upgradation to the Grade Pay of Rs. 6600 under the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACP scheme), ignoring the granted non-functional upgradation to the Grade Pay of Rs. 5400.

The applicant filed the application under section 19 of Administrative Tribunals.  According to the guidelines issued by Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) from time to time it has been withdrawn as a result of which recovery from the pension and retiral benefits of the applicants is being affected.

The facts as enumerated by the applicant in the Original Application are that the applicant joined the department as Inspector on 19.04.1983 and was promoted to the post of Superintendent on 29.08.1997 in the pay scale of Rs. 6500-10500 which was raised to 7500-12000 w.e.f. 21.04.2004 and then to the post of Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise on 22.10.2014. The applicant retired from service at superannuation on 31.07.2019.

The Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme was introduced by the Government of India in the year 1999 to be effective from August 1999 for assuring two career advancements in the service tenure of government servants. As per this scheme, two upgrades were allowed to the employees on completion of 12 and 24 years of service.

On the basis of recommendations, the applicant was accordingly granted the pay scale of the next post in the promotional hierarchy. This Scheme remained in operation during the period from August, 1999 to 31.08.2008.

Unfortunately, just before the retirement of the applicant, the respondents passed order dated 02.07.2019 (Annexure A-I) withdrawing the benefit of 3rd MACP in the Grade Pay of Rs. 6600/- granted w.e.f. 19.04.2013 and order dated 31.07.2019 withdrawing the benefit of 2nd ACP granted w.e.f. 19.04.2007 (Annexure A-2) and withholding the amount of Rs. 5,70,000 from the gratuity of the applicant (Annexure A-3) and thus fixing the pension of the applicant at a lower rate.

It was further stated that the CEBC issued its letter dated 04.06.2014 in which issue raised was regarding the grant or non-functional upgradation (NFSG) granted to the Superintendents during the period up to 31.08.2008 and therein it was stated that the said Non-functional upgradation would be counted/offset against the financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme.

The applicant submitted that this Board's letter is wrongly being made applicable to the officers who got 2nd upgradation under the ACP Scheme on completion of 24 years Of service during the period 01.01.2006 to 31.08.2008.

The Delhi High Court's ruling in the case of Hari Ram was taken into account by the bench, where it was decided that the employee's NFG (Non-Functional Grant) would not be considered when determining whether to receive a financial upgrade, was applied by the bench. In that case, the employee was found to be entitled to a grade pay of Rs. 6600 as the third MACP, and the same position was taken by the respondents.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates