New
Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to stay the functioning
of the Seventh Pay Commission while hearing a plea that challenged a
notification on inclusion of a former IAS officer as a member of the
panel.
Justice
Sudershan Kumar Misra also issued notice to the central government on
the plea filed by retired members of the all India Services, central
civil services and armed forces against the government's February 28
notification constituting the commission.
The
petitioners argued that inclusion of a former Indian Administrative
Service officer, Vivek Rae, in the four-member commission give rise to a
"real likelihood of bias" on his part to give a favourable
recommendation to the IAS.
The
petition said: "The impugned resolution, by retaining the practice of
including a member of the IAS as a member of the commission has given
rise to a real likelihood of bias on the part of such member in favour
of maintaining the status quo, under which the IAS enjoys a position of
special privilege in respect of pay fixation."
Rae
has a directed pecuniary interest in the recommendations of the
commission, as it would also determine his pension and retirement
benefits, alleged the plea.
The
petitioners further questioned the practice of previous pay commissions
providing an "edge" in pay scales to members of the IAS over other
members of the AIS and other central civil services including India
Forest Services (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue
Service (IRS), and all other group A central services.
"Past
report of the commission rise to a reasonable apprehension that the
reason for the repeated rejection of the demands for parity of other
services in the AIS with the IAS is attributable to the fact that the
commission has always comprised of a member of the IAS," the petition
submitted.
Central
government counsel, however, argued the commission was not a "one-man
show" and that it recommendations inturn have to go through scrutiny of
the government and Rae was included in the commission because of his
wide experience in the field.
Former
Supreme Court judge Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur is the chairman of the
commission and former petroleum and natural gas secretary Rae, National
Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) Rathin Roy, OSD in
finance ministry's expenditure department Meena Agarwal are the members.
