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Union of India & Ors. v. Sh. Sarvendra Singh Chauhan & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 765Decided 17 Aug 2017
Civil Appeal Nos. 10589-10590 of 2017
Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice L. Nageswara Rao

Background

Personnel of the Assam Rifles (a Central paramilitary force) were receiving a "Special (Duty) Allowance" for North-Eastern postings since 1989. After the 6th Pay Commission introduced a separate "Risk/Hardship Allowance" in 2009, meant as an alternative to, not an addition to, existing compensatory allowances, the government realised Assam Rifles personnel were wrongly drawing both allowances together, and the Director General of Assam Rifles ordered in 2011 that the Special (Duty) Allowance be stopped, giving personnel a choice between the two. The affected personnel challenged this in the Guwahati High Court, which ruled in their favour (both before a Single Judge and in appeal before a Division Bench), reasoning that an allowance sanctioned by the President could not be withdrawn by a mere departmental order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court, holding that the Special (Duty) Allowance was itself a compensatory allowance, and that the 2009 office memorandum introducing the Risk/Hardship Allowance always intended it as an alternative to the existing package of compensatory allowances (including the Special (Duty) Allowance), not an addition on top of it. The Director General's 2011 order was therefore not an improper "withdrawal" of a presidentially-sanctioned benefit but simply a correction of an earlier administrative mistake, implementing the 2009 memorandum as later clarified by the government in February 2011. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment and allowed the government's appeals, while protecting the affected personnel from having to repay allowance amounts already received in the past (confirming an earlier 2013 interim order to that effect).

Lesson Learnt

When a government scheme offers employees a choice between two overlapping benefits, drawing both simultaneously, even if it happened for years due to an administrative oversight, does not create a vested right to keep both; the government may correct the mistake prospectively, though amounts already paid in good faith need not be clawed back.

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

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