Holding

A differentiation in pay based on the nature and degree of responsibility of the work, when made bona‑fide and on an intelligible criterion, does not amount to unlawful discrimination and is permissible under Article 14.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined the claim of four specialist officers of the State Bank of India (SBI) that they were entitled to the higher starting salary (advance increments) granted to Probationary Officers, Trainee Officers and Rural Development Officers (RDOs) under the 1979 SBI Officers Order. The respondents argued that they performed comparable duties to RDOs and thus were entitled to equal pay under Article 14. The High Court directed SBI to consider the claim, but SBI rejected it, stating the respondents' duties differed in responsibility and risk. The Court held that the bank’s classification based on the nature of duties, responsibility, and reliability was a bona‑fide value judgment, not unreasonable, arbitrary or discriminatory. Consequently, the Court allowed SBI’s appeals, set aside the High Court order, and dismissed the writ petitions.

Issues considered

Whether the denial of higher starting pay to specialist officers other than RDOs violates the principle of equal pay for equal work under Article 14.
Whether the bank's classification of officers based on nature of duties, responsibility and reliability constitutes a reasonable and non‑arbitrary differentiation.
Who bears the burden of proof in a claim for equal pay for equal work?

Legislation cited

State Bank of India Act, 1955s. 43(1)

Subjects

equal pay for equal workArticle 14discriminationservice conditionsclassification of officersState Bank of Indiaspecialist vs generalistpay scale differentiationadministrative discretionvalue judgment

Judgment

+
STATE BANK OF INDIA AND ANR. A
v.
M.R. GANESH BABU AND ORS.

APRIL 16, 2002

[S. RAJENDRA BABU, RUMA PAL B
AND BISHESHWAR PRASAD SINGH, JJ.]

State Bank ofIndia Officers (Determination of Terms and Conditions of
• Service) Order, 1979.
c
Service Law

Principle of equal pay for equal work-Applicability of-Equal pay
depends upon nature of work-Mere volume of work is not sufficient-Value
judgment of those charged withfvcing the scale ofpay is relevant-S'fch value D
judgment made reasonably on intelligible criterion having rational nexus with
object of differentiation does not amount to discrimination.

State Bank of India-Junior management cadre-Generalists Officers
viz. Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers- Specialists officers viz.
Assistant Law Officers, Security Officers, Assistant Engineers, Technical E
Officers, Medical Officers and R.D.Os.-Common pay scale-Apart from pay
scale benefit of higher salary on initial appointment-Given to Generalists
Officers and denied to Specialists Officers-Subsequently benefit extended to
R.D. Os. on the basis ofExpert Commillee Recommendations-Claim for benefit
by other categories of Specialists Officers-Rejection by Bank-Held on facts
value judgment of Bank neither unreasonable nor arbitrary. F
The officers of the State Bank of India are classified and categorised
into four grades. This appeal relates to the Junior Management Grade which
consists of Probationary Officers, Trainee Officers and other officers who are
technical persons or specialists such as Assistant Law Officer, Security Officer,
Assistant Engineer, Technical Officer, Medical Officer and Rural G
Development Officer (R.D.Os.) The officers of the Bank, who generally look
' after the banking business are known as Generalist OITtcers whereas the others
are called as Specialist Officers who advise and undertake the work of the
Bank in their respective field of specialization. Before the year 1979, all the
' H
149
150 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2002] 3 S.C.R.

A officers, Generalist as well as Specialist, were entitled to the pay scale
prescribed for the Junior Management Grade. Apart from the pay scale which
was common, the!' were also entitled to the benefit of higher starting salary
by grant of advance increments. All the officers were granted four increments
oil their initial appointment. In 1979 the appellant-Bank issued State Bank
B of India Officers (Determination of Terms and Conditions of Service) Order,
1979. Under this Qrder, the benefit of higher starting pay was confined to
Probationary and Trainee Officers i.e. Generalist Offices. R.D.Os. and other
Specialist Officers such as Assistant law Officers, Security Officers, Assistant
Engineers, etc. were not entitled to the benefit of higher starting pay. An
Expert Committee set up by the bank found that R.D.Os. were required to
C shoulder, by and large, the same duties and responsibilities as Probationary
Officers or Trainee Officers so far as conducting agricultural advances work
was concerned. Therefore, accepting the recommendations of the Committee
the benefit of fitment of salary at the time of appointment was extended to
R.D.Os.

D The respondents were appointed as Technical Officers, Assistant
Engineer (Civil) and Assistant Law Officers respectively between 1984 and
1985. Since the benefit of additional increments was denied to them, they filed
a writ petition before the High Court seeking benefit of additional increments
from the date of their initial appointment as applicable,to Probationary and
E Trainee Office..S. Their claim was that they performed the same duties and
shoulder similar responsibilities as the R.D.Os. and therefore, they were
entitled to the same benefit of additional increments an appointment as was
extended to R.D.Os.
A Single Judge of the High Court held that if a person working as
F R.D.O. not opted for absorption continued under specialist category and any
benefit was given to such of those RID.Os. the same was required to be given
to persons who came under the specialist category. Therefore, it was a matter
to be considered by the Bank keeping in view the duties and responsibilities
of the petitioners which were comparable to the duties and responsibilities of
the R.D.Os. The appeals preferred by the Appellant-Bank were dismissed by
G a Division Bench. It held that the claim of officers under specialist cadre for
grant of higher starting pay as was given to the rural development officers,
required consideration. Consequently it directed the Bank to consider the
matter keeping in view the duties and responsibilities of the respondents which
were comparable with the duties and responsibilities of the R.D.Os.
H Against the decision of the High Court, State Bank of India preferred
S.B.I. v. M.R. GANESH BABU 151
appeals before this Court. Pursuant to the liberty granted to this Court the A
Bank considered the case of the respondents and by its order dated 3rd June,
2000 it rejected the respondents claim. It held that the duties and
irresponsibilities of the respondents were not comparable to the duties and
responsibilities of the R.D.Os. or the Probationary Officers and the Trainee
Officers and, therefore, their claim for parity with them in salary fitment on B
appointment cannot be accepted. However, with a view to avoiding future
controversy the Court examined the correctness of the decision of the
Appellant-Bank.

Allowing the appeals, the Court

HELD: 1. The decision taken by the Bank cannot be faulted on the C
ground of its being either unreasonable, arbitrary or discriminatory and
therefore judicial interference is inappropriate. [161-D)

2. R.D.Os. were given the benefit of advance increments on the basis of
the report of an Expert Committee which justified their classification with D
the generalist ofTicers, having regard to the nature of duties and responsibilities
shouldered by them. However, on consideration of the case of the respondents,
the Bank has reached a different conclusion. The Bank has found that their
duties and responsibilities are not the same as those of probationary Officers/
Trainee Officers/R.D.Os. (160-G)
E
It is no doubt true that the specialised officers render useful service
and their valuable advice in the specialised fields is of great assistance to the
bank in its banking operations. The ofTicers who belong to the generalist cadre,
namely, the officers who actually conduct the banking operations and who
take decisions in regard to all banking works are advised by the specialist
officers. There can be no doubt that the service rendered by the specialist F
officers is also valuable, but that is not to say that the degree of responsibility
and reliability is the same as those of the Probationary Officers, the Trainee
Officers, and the R.D.Os., who directly carry on the banking operations and
are required to take crucial decisions based on the advice tendered by the
specialist officers. The Bank has considered the nature of duties and G
responsibilities of the various categories of officers and has reached bona fide
decision that while generalist officers take all crucial decisions in banking
operations with which they are directly linked, and are exposed to operational
work and risk since the decision that they take bas significant effect on the
functioning of the Bank and quality of its performance, the specialist officers
are not exposed to such risks nor are they required to take decisions as vital H
152 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.

A as those to be taken by the generalist officers. They at best render advice in
their specialist field. The degree of reliability and responsibility is not the same.
It cannot be said that the value judgment of the Bank in this regard is either
unreasonable, arbitrary or irrational. [160-H; 161-A-C)

3. It is well settled that applicability of principle of equal pay for equal
B work must depend upon the nature of work done. It cannot be judged by the
mere volume of work because there may be quality active difference as regards
reliability and responsibility. Functions may be the same but the
responsibilities make a difference. One cannot deny that often the difference
is a matter of degree and that there is an element of value judgment by those
C who are charged with the administration in fixing the scales of pay and other
conditions of service. So long as such value judgment is made bona fide
reasonably on an intelligible criterion which has a rational nexus with the
object of differentiation, such differentiation will not amount to discrimination.
The principle is not always easy to apply as there are inherent difficulties in
comparing and evaluating the work done by different persons in different
·D organisations, or even in the same organisation. Differentiation in pay scales
of persons holding same posts and performing similar work on the basis of
difference in the degree of responsibility reliability and confidentiality would
be a valid differentiation. The judgment of administrative authorities
concerning the responsibilities which attach to the post and the degree of
E reliability expected of an incumbent, would be a value judgment of the
authorities concerned which, if arrived at bonafide reasonably and rationally,
is not open to interference by the Court. [158-F-H; 159-A)

4• .Since the plea of equal pay for equal work has to be examined with
reference to Article 14, the burden is upon the petitioners to establish their
F right to equal pay or the plea of discrimination, as the case may be. [159-B)

Federation of All India Customs and Central Excise Stenographers
(Recognised) and Ors., v. Union of India and Ors., [1988) 3 SCC 91; State of
Madhya Pradesh and Anr. v. Pramod Bhartiya and Ors., (1993) 1 SCC 539;
State ofHaryana v. Jasmer Singh and Ors., (1996) 11 SCC 77 and State of UP.
G and Ors., v. Minsteria/ Karamchari Sangh. (1998) 1 sec 422, referred to.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 3769-
3772 of 2000.

From the Judgment and Order dated 8.6.99 of the Kamataka High
H Court in W.A. Nos. 2266-69 of 1999.
S.B.I. v. M.R. GANESH BABU [BISHESHWAR PRASAD, J.) 153
H.N. Salve, Solicitor General, L. Nageswara Rao Sanjay Kapur and A
Rajiv Kapur for the Appellants.

- S.B. Sanyal, Rishi Malhotra, Ms. Manita Venna and Prem Malhotra for
the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

BISHESHWAR PRASAD SINGH, J. These appeals by special leave
B

-
have been preferred by the State Bank of India and are directed against the
~ judgment and order of the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore dated 8th
June. 1999 in Writ Appeal Nos. 2266-69 of 1999 whereby the appeals preferred
by the appellant-Bank were dismissed and the order of the learned Single c
Judge upheld. By the impugned judgment the High Court held that the claim
of officers under specialist cadre for grant of benefit of higher starting pay
as was given to the Rural Development Officers, required consideration. The
Court, therefore, directed the Bank to consider the matter keeping in view the
duties and responsibilites of the writ petitioners (respondents herein) which
were comparable with the duties and responsibilities of the Rural Development D
Officers (for short RDOs).
~
A few facts which are not in dispute may be noticed.
~

In the State Bank of India officers are classified and categorised under
four grades-the Top Executive Grade, the Senior Management Grade, the E

-
Middle Management Grade and the Junior Management Grade. In the instant
case we are concerned with the officers who belong to the Junior Management
Grade. This grade consists of Probationary Officers, Trainee officers and
other officers who are technical persons or specialists such as Assistant Law
Officer, Security Officer, Assistant Engineer, Technical Officer, Medical
Officer and Rural Development Officer (herein referred to as RDOs ). The F
officers of the Bank, who generally look after the Banking business have
been described as generalist officers whereas the others have been described
as specialist officers who advise and u~dertake the work of the Bank in their
respective field of specialization. There are therefore, generalist officers on
the one hand and specialist officers on the other. Before the year 1979 all the
G
officers, generalist as well as specialist, were entitled to the pay-scale prescribed
• for the Junior Management Grade, but apart from the pay-scale which was
)' common, they were also entitled to the same benefit of higher starting salary
by grant of advance increments. It is not disputed that they were all entitled
to advance increments on appointment, so that their initial starting pay was
fixed at a stage higher than the starting pay in the prescribed scale. It was H
154 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.

A stated at the Bar that all the officers were granted 4 increments when they
initially joined the post on appointment.

In the year 1979 in exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (I) of
Section 43 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955, the Central Board of the
State Bank of India made an order determining certain terms and conditions
B of the appointment and service of officers in the Bank. The said order is
known as the "State Bank of India Officers (Determination of .Terms and
Conditions of Service) Order, 1979" (hereinafter referred to as the 1979
Order). The order applied to the existing officers of the Bank, who were
appointed or promoted to any of the grades mentioned in paragraph 4 of the
1979 Order and to such other employees of the Bank to whom it may be
....
C made applicable to the extent and subject to such conditions as may determined
by the competent authority. Terms - "Officer", "Probationary Officer" and
"Trainee Officer" have been defined in paragraph 3 of the 1979 Order as
under :

D "3. In this order, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or
context-
(k) "Officer'' means a person fitted into or appointed to or promoted )<.

to any of the grades specified in paragraph 4 including an existing ..,
officer and shall also include any specialists or technical persons
so fitted or promoted or appointed and any other employee to
E
whom any of the provisions of this order has been, made applicable
under paragraph 2; ....
(I) "Probationary Officer" means an officer appointed as such and
fitted in the Junior Management Grade;

F (o) "Trainee Officer" means a person appointed as such from the
staff of the bank and fitted in the Junior Management Grade;
Paragraph 4 of the 1979 Order provides that there shall be four
grades for officers with the scales of pay specified against each of the
grade. We are concerned with the Junior Management Grade entitled
G to Scale-I which is Rs. 700-40-900-50-100-EB-1200-60-1800. Sub-
paragraph (2) of paragraph 4 provides as follows : ...
"(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-paragraph (I), a '.'.{

Probationary Officer and a Trainee Officer shall, on appointment,
be placed at the stage of Rs. 860 in Scale-I in the Junior
H Management Grade."
S.B.I. v. M.R. GANESH BABU [BISHESHWAR PRASAD, J.] 155
~ -< Paragraph 6 of the 1979 Order provides categorization of officers to be A
done by the Central Board or the Executive Committee or the competent
authority, having regard to the responsibilities and the functions exercisable.
Such categorization may be reviewed from time to time.

It would thus appear that an officer appointed as a Probationary Officer
or a Trainee Officer is given the benefit of being placed at the stage B
of Rs. 860 in Scale I of the Junior Management Grade. Probationary Officer
and Trainee Officer are considered to be generalist officers and such benefit
>- was confined to them only. RDOs and other specialist officers such as Assistant
Law officers, Security Officers. Assistant Engineers, etc. were not entitled to
" the benefit of higher starting pay. It appears that this Scheme was evolved
having regard to the recommendations of the Pillai Committee.
c
Advertisements were issued for recruitment of specialist officers
pursuant to which respondents I to 4 applied and were finally selected and
appointed. The advertisement issued for recruitment of Assistant Law Officers
has been annexed as Annexure P-2. Respondent No. I was appointed as a
D
Technical Officer on 18th June, 1984 while respondent No. 2 was appointed
as an Assistant Engineer (Civil) on 3rd September, 1984. Respondents No.

- ~
3 and 4 were appointed as Assistant Law Officer on 15th February, 1985.
These respondents fall within the category of specialist officers and were,
therefore granted the scale provided for the Junior Management Grade.

It appears that the RDOs. who were then considered as specialist officers,
E
in the Bank, made a grievance and claimed parity with the generalist officers
contending that having regard to the duties and responsibilities shouldered by
them, they were entitled to the same benefit as was extended to the
Probationary and Trainee Officers, who were fitted on appointment/promotion
at four stages higher in the Scale-I applicable to the officers of the Junior F
Management Grade. To consider their grievance a Committee was set up by
the Bank known as the Bhatnagar Committee which made its recommendation
in favour of the RDOs finding that they were required to shoulder, by and
large, the same duties and responsibilities as Probationary Officers or Trainee
Officers so far as conducting agricultural advances work was concerned. The
Committee recommended that it was an appropriate case for removal of the
G
anomaly in salary fitment and extending to the RDOs the same fitment of
'f salary at the time of appointment, and treating them as Probationary Officers
(Agricultural) and Trainee Officers (Agricultural), as the case may be. The
recommendation of the Bhatnagar Committee was accepted and implemented
by the Bank as would be apparent from the communication dated 25th H
156 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.
>- ....-
A September, 1985 (Annexure H to the writ petition.)

Since the benefit of additional increments was denied to other specialist
officers, they also made a grievance and claimed that the benefit of additional
increments be extended to them as it had been done in the case of RDOs.
Since the Bank did not concede their demand, the respondents l to 4 herein
B filed writ petitions praying for a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the
State Bank of India to give the benefit of additional increments to the
petitioners from the date of their appointment as applicable to Probationery/
....,
Trainee Officers. They also prayed for interest on the amount duty to them.
Their grievance was that the Bank had not only discriminated between the
,,..
....
c officers prior to the issuance of the 1979 Order, but was guilty of hostile
discrimination in granting preferential treatment by giving additional
increments to the RDOs while denying the same to the writ petitioners, who
belong to the same class as RDOs after implementation of the 1979 Order.
In sum and substance the writ petitioners/respondents herein claimed that in
. all respects they perform the same duties and shoulder similar responsibilities
D as the RDOs and, therefore, they are entitled to the same benefit of additional
increments on appointment as was extended to RDOs.
>"-
The appellant-Bank opposed the writ petitions contending that the 1979 -<,-
Order came into effect as a measure of rationalization and restructuring of
grades and scales in Public Sector Banks. The respondents applied for and
E accepted the terms of appointment and the rules governing their service, and
joined the service of the Bank of their own volition. They could not be
permitted to question the terms and conditions of their appointment and
claim additional increments. It was further contended that the respondents
could not be compared with the general cadre officers directly recruited as
F Probationary Officers or inducted by promotion as Trainee Officers. There is i·
considerable quantitative as well as qualitative difference as regards work
and responsibility between general cadre officers and Assistant Law Officers.
Their respective duties and functions as also their eligibility criteria, process
of selection, measuring of responsibility for such general cadre officers and
the respondents are totally different. They are recruited from different sources.
G The pay differences between Probationary Officers and Trainee officers on
-(
the one hand and Assistant law Officers on the other was based on intelligible
differentia and has rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved. The '{
general cadre officers form the management cadre of the Bank. They are
recruited/promoted on the basis of all India test and subjected to varied
H trainings, institutional and on-the-job in various fields of banking. They man
S.B.I. v. M.R. GANESH BABU [BISHESHWAR PRASAD, J.] J57
the organization of the Bank. RDOs are also treated as general cadre officers A
perfonning banking functions. On the other hand specialist officers are
recruited for specified advisory role. They are not exposed to operational
hazards and do not take important financial - credit decisions of the bank. It
was, therefore, submitted that the differential fitrnent of these officers was
not violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
B
The learned Judge before whom the writ petitions came up for disposal
noticed the 1979 Order and the grievance of the writ petitioners (respondents
herein). The learned Judge also noticed the fact that the RDOs were given the
" same benefit as was extended to the generalist officers. The submission urged
on behalf of the Bank that the RDOs were given such benefit on the basis of C
the recommendations of the Batnagar Committee was also noticed. What,
however, impressed the learned Judge was that some of the RDOs who did
not opt for absorption in the generalist cadre and continued to be RDOs
under specialist cadre, were also extended the benefit of higher starting pay,
whereas the said benefit was denied to the other officers in the specialist
cadre. The learned Judge concluded by observing: D
"6. If a person working as RDO not opted for absorption continued
under specialist category and any benefit was given to such of those
RDOs the same is required to be given to persons who come under
the specialist category. Therefore, it is a matter to be considered by
the Bank keeping in view the duties and responsibilities of the E
Petitioners which are comparable to the duties and responsibilities of

- the RDOs."

Appeals preferred against the judgment of the learned. Single Judge
were dismissed by the Division Bench of the High Court by order dated 8th F
June, 1999. However, it was left open to the Bank to consider the case of the
respondents in the light of the observations made by the learned Single Judge.

Special Leave Petitions were preferred before this Court by the State
Bank of India and by order dated I 0th July, 2000 special leave was granted.
When the matters had earlier come up before this Court on I 0th April, 2000, G
while adjourning the matters, the Court had granted liberty to the petitioner
(~ppellants) to consider the matter afresh.

As earlier noticed, on the recommendations of Bahatnagar Committee,
the RDOs were granted the benefit of advance increments as .was admissible
to the generalist officers, namely Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers H
158 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002) 3 S.C.R.

A under the Order of 1979. The grant of benefit of such additional increments
<
to· RDOs has not been challenged before us. Indeed the respondents contend
that they should be given the same benefit. We shall, therefore, proceed on
the assumption that the RDOs were properly found to fall in the same class
as the generalist officers, having regard to their duties, responsibilities and
nature of work etc. and this was done after an Expert Committee had gone
B into the matter and recommended parity with generalist officers. We do not
attach much significance to the fact that some of the RDOs opted to continue .
in the specialist cadre and yet the benefit was extended to them, because
whether they are borne on the generalist cadre or specialist cadre, the benefit
is extended to them having regard to the duties performed and responsibilities
C shouldered by them.

The questions that arises in the instant appeals is whether the respondents
can claim to fall in the same class or category as generalist officers, namely
the Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers. Respondents invoke the
principle of equal pay for equal work and contend that having regard to the
D nature of work and the responsibilities shouldered by them, and taking into
consideration all relevant facts in this regard, they are entitled to the same
benefit of additional increments as has been extended to the Probationary
Officers, Trainee Officers and subsequently to the RDOs.

The principle of equal pay for equal work has been considered and
E applied in many reported decisions of this Court. The principle has been
adequately explained and crystalised and sufficiently reiterated in a catena of
decisions of this Court. It is well settled that equal pay must depend upon the
nature of work done. It cannot be judged by the mere volume of work, there
may be qualitative difference as regards reliability and responsibility. Functions
p may be the same but the irresponsibilities make a difference. One cannot
deny that often the difference is a matter of degree and that there is an
element of value judgment by those who are charged with the administration
in fixing the scales of pay and other conditions of service. So long as such
value judgment is made bonafide, reasonably on an intelligible criterion
which has a rational nexu with the object of differentiation, such differentiation
G will not amount of discrimination. The principle is not always easy to apply
as there are inherent difficulties in comparing and evaluating the work done
by different persons in different organizations, or even in the same
organization. Differentiation in pay scales of persons holding same posts and
performing similar work on. the basis of difference in the degree of
H responsibility, reliability and confidentiality would be a valid differentiation.
S.B.I. v. M.R. GANESH BABU [BISHESHWAR PRASAD, J.] 159

The judgment of administrative authorities concerning the responsibilities A
which attach to the post, and the degree of reliability expected of an incumbent,
would be a value judgment of the authorities concerned which, if arrived at
bona fide reasonably and rationally, was not open to interference by the
court.

Since the plea of equal pay for equal work has to be examined with B
reference to Article 14, the burden is upon the petitioners to establish their
right to equal pay or the plea of discrimination, as the case may be. (See
[1988) 3 SCC 91 : Federation of All India Customs and Central Excise
Stenographers (Recognised) and Ors., v. Union of India and Ors., [1993] I
SCC 539; State of Madhya Pradesh and Anr., v. Pramod Bhartiya and Ors., C
[1996] ll SCC 77; State ofHaryana v. Jasmer Singh, [1998] 1 SCC 422 and
State of U.P. and Ors. v. Ministerial Karamchari Sangh.

It was submitted before us on behalf of the appellants that pursuant to
the liberty granted by this Court by order dated I 0th April, 2000, the case of
the respondents has been considered by the appellant Bank. A copy of the D ~
decision dated 3rd June, 2000 under the signature of the Chairman of the
Bank has been placed before this Court. The order contains the reasons for
the conclusion reached by the appellant bank that the duties and responsibilities
of the respondents are not comparable to the duties and responsibilities of the
RDOs or the Probationary Officers and the Trainee Officers and, therefore,
their claim for parity with them in salary fitment on appointment cannot be E
accepted. A copy of the aforesaid order was given to the respondents. They
have also made their submissions and challenged the correctness of this said
decision. In a sense, .the impugned judgment and order has been complied
with but with a view to avoid future controversy, we permitted the parties to
address us at length so that we may examine the correctness of the decision F
of the appellant Bank which has not found it possible to accept the claim of
the respondents for parity in salary fitment with Probationary Officers and
Trainee Officers.

We have carefully perused the order of the Bank and find that several
reasons have been given for non acceptance of the respondents' claim. It has G
been high-lighted that the Probationary Officers/Trainee Officers are being
recruited from market/promoted from clerical staff by the bank by means of
all India written test and interview to get the best talent from the market and
within, with a view to man the Bank's top management in due course. Leaned
counsel for the respondents submitted that the same is also true of specialist H
160 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.

A officers. However, it is contended on behalf of the appellant Bank that the
generalist officers are exposed to various assignments including mandatory
rural assignments. Unlike them, the services of Assistant Law Officers are
---- -
utilized as in-house advisors on legal matters in administrative officers. The
duties and responsibilities of Probationary Officers/Trainee Officers are more
B onerous while the specialist officers are not exposed to operational work/risk.
It is, therefore, quite clear that there exists a valid distinction in the matter
of work and nature of operations between the specialist officers and the
general category officers. The general category officers are directly linked to
the banking operations whereas the specialist officers are not so linked and

C
they perform the specified nature of work. RDOs were given similar fitment
as the generalist officers since it was found that they were required to shoulder,
by and large, the same duties and responsibilities as Probationary Officers
and Trainee Officers in so far as conducting Bank's agricultural advances
-
work was concerned. This was done on the basis of the recommendations of
the Bhatnagar Committee and keeping in view the fact that the decision has
been taken that there would be no future recruitment of RDOs and the existing
D RDOs were proposed to be absorbed in general banking cadre. The recruitment
of RDOs has been discontinued 'since 1985. Taking into account the nature
of duties and responsibilities shouldered by the respondents the Bank has
concluded that the duties and responsibilities of the respondents are not
comparable to the duties and responsibilities of the RDOs, the Probationary
E Officers or the Trainee Officers.

Learned counsel for the respondents submitted that specialist officers
are also recruited from the open market and are confirmed after successfully
completing the probation of 2 years. Before the Order of 1979 came into
force, they were similarly being granted benefit of additional increments at
F the time of appointmept in the same manner as the generalist officers. However,
after the order of 1979 they have been deprived of this benefit. Subsequently
that benefit was extended to RDOs but not to the respondents and others like
them. We have earlier noticed that the RDOs were given the benefit of
advance increments on the basis of the report of an Expert Committee which
G justified their classification with the generalist officers, having regard to the
nature of duties and responsibilities shouldered by them. However, on
consideration of the case of the respondents, the Bank as reached a different .
..,_

conclusion. The Bank has found that their duties and responsibilities are not
the same as those of Probationary Officers/Trainee Officers/RDOs. It is no
doubt true that the specialised officers render useful service and their valuable
H advice in the specialised fields is of great assistance to the bank in its banking
S.B.l. v. M.R. GANESH BABU [BISHESHWAR PRASAD, J.] 161

operations. The officers who belong to the generalist cadre, namely the officers A
who actually conduct the banking operations and who take decisions in regard
to all banking works are advised by the specialist officers. There can be no
doubt that the service rendered by the specialist officers is also valuable, but
that is not to say that the degree of responsibility and reliability is the same
as those of the Probationary Officers, the Trainee Officers, and the RDOs,
who directly carry on the banking operations and are required to take crucial B
decisions based on the advice tendered by the specialist officers. The Bank
has considered the nature of duties and responsibilities of the various categories
of officers and has reached bonafide decision that while generalist officers
take all crucial decisions in banking operations with which they are directly
linked, and are exposed to operational work and risk since the decisions that C
they take has significant effect on the functioning of the bank and quality of
its performance, the specialist officers are not exposed to such risks nor are
they required to take decisions as vital as those to be taken by the generalist
officers. They at best render advice in their specialized field. The degree of
reliability and responsibility is not the same. It cannot be said that the value
judgment of the Bank in this regard is either unreasonable, arbitrary or D
irrational. Having regard to the settled principles and the parameters of judicial
interference, we are of the considered view that the decision taken by the
bank cannot be faulted on the ground of its being either unreasonable arbitrary
or discriminatory and therefore judicial interference is inappropriate.

These appeals are accordingly allowed and the impugned judgment and
E
order dated 8 the June, 1999 is set aside and the writ petitions preferred by
the respondents are rejected. There will be no order as to costs.

T.N.A. Appeals allowed.