GUWAHATI, India, Dec. 14 -- Gauhati High Court issued the following order on Nov. 13:

1. Heard Mr. A. Chamuah, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A. Dhar, learned Standing Counsel, NRL for the respondents No. 1, 2 and 3. None appears for the respondent No. 4.

2. By instituting the present writ petition, the petitioners have prayed for a direction to the respondent authorities to place the their services in Grade-VI at the entry level and to revise their pay from the date of their entry considering the prevalent service conditions and, upon such revision of pay, they may be provided with consequential benefits including the arrear salary, revised pay etc.

3. The case of the petitioners, in nutshell, is that they are the first batch of employees appointed as Firemen pursuant to an advertisement published in the month of July, 1998 in the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL). The said advertisement issued by the NRL was for filling up of various posts including the post of Firemen, providing, inter alia, that pay scale, perks and benefits etc. would be similar as prevailing in the Industry within the region.

4. It is the contention of the petitioners that as per the said advertisement, they were entitled to pay scale, perks and other benefits similar to those extended to employees of other Oil Sector Industries in the North Eastern Region. However, they were wrongly appointed in Grade-III instead of Grade-VI at the entry level. Initially, the NRL did not have an appropriate promotion policy governing the service conditions of its employees. However, after several rounds of discussion over the years between Management and the employees regarding promotion, the NRL granted promotions to its employees (non-management staff) for the first time in the year 2004. The petitioners were thereafter promoted to the post of Grade-IV.

5. It is contended that the petitioners, being the first batch of Firemen appointed in NRL, were not aware about the grades of other similar situated employees of other Oil Industries in the North East Region. Subsequently, the NRL Management signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 12.01.2007, whereby a promotion policy and other criteria were formulated providing special provisions for employees recruited prior to that date. In pursuance thereof, the petitioners were promoted/ upgraded in the grade and pay scale; however, such upgradation was not in conformity with the benefits extended to similarly situated employees either within NRL itself or in other refineries.

6. The petitioners contend that they are presently working as Technical Assistant after re-designation of their posts, but they have not been afforded any opportunity to compete for Officer-level rank as they have not been appointed in the Grade-VI at their entry level. It is further contended that as per the advertisement, the petitioners were supposed to be provided salary, perquisites and other admissible allowances at par with the similarly situated employees of the other Oil Industries in the North Eastern Region; however, the same has not been extended to them. Accordingly, they seek parity in pay scale, perks and other service benefits with such employees by providing Grade-VI in the entry level.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=7yg5D%2FmJmLJFbv9l4Wl3veIjbS8jli5kRAkoGyOMwWJhmytoYSqwQmx37gNKpN5G&caseno=WP(C)/688/2016&cCode=1&cino=GAHC010008092016&state_code=6&appFlag=)

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