Apex court upholds variable pay scales

The Supreme Court yesterday said if the government fixed variable pay scales for employees working in the same position on the basis of different educational qualifications, it would not be a violation of the Right to Equality, guaranteed under the Constitution.

A Bench, comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia, said: "Despite the fact that employees have been performing similar duties and functions and their posts are interchangeable, a valid classification can be made on the basis of their educational qualification."

The ruling came from the Bench, which dismissed the plea of the Madhya Pradesh Rural Agriculture Extension Officers' Association challenging a decision of the state government to prescribe separate pay scales for graduates and non-graduates, though both performed identical jobs.

The petitioners had alleged that despite the Pay Commission recommending "equal pay for equal work" for the village agriculture extension officers, the state had gone ahead with its discriminating policy.

Upholding the state government's decision, Justice Sinha, writing for the Bench, said: "Article14 (Right to Equality) forbids class legislation but permits reasonable classification subject to the condition that it is based on an intelligible differentia and that the differentia must have a rational relation to the objective sought to be achieved."