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Punjab State Power Corporation Limited v. Rajesh Kumar Jindal & Others

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 31Decided 8 Jan 2019
Civil Appeal Nos. 195-198 of 2019
Justice R. Banumathi · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

Internal Auditors employed by the Punjab State Electricity Board (now Punjab State Power Corporation) claimed parity in pay scale with Head Clerks, on the ground that both posts were placed in the same administrative "Group XII" classification. A Single Judge and then a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled in favour of the Internal Auditors, treating their claim as comparable to an earlier, separate case involving Sub Fire Officers. The Corporation appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that merely being grouped together administratively under "Group XII", which included many unrelated posts like teachers, a librarian, and a fire officer, did not mean all those posts were entitled to equal pay; what matters is whether the source of recruitment, qualifications, and nature of duties are actually the same. It found that Internal Auditors (recruited 55% directly and 45% by promotion) and Head Clerks had materially different recruitment channels and duties, so there was no valid basis for pay parity, and noted that financial implications of such parity claims are a legitimate factor courts must weigh. The High Court's judgments were set aside and the Corporation's appeals were allowed.

Lesson Learnt

Being placed in the same administrative pay group as another post does not automatically entitle employees to equal pay: a valid parity claim requires genuinely similar recruitment, qualifications, and duties, not just a shared classification label.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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