# RESERVE BANK OF INDIA v. RESERVE BANK OF INDIA STAFF OFFICERS ASSOCIATION AND ORS

- **Citation:** [1991] 3 S.C.R. 460
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1991
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 3107 of 1991
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/reserve-bank-of-india-v-reserve-bank-of-india-staff-officers-association-and-ors-11098
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

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RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
v.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA STAFF OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION AND ORS.
AUGUST 9. 1991
IM.l-1. KANIA AND P.B. SAWANT, JJ.]
Cons1;1urion of India, 1950-An;c/es 14, 16-Non-local & local
bank officers of Reserve Bank at Gauhati-Certain incentives to non-
/oral oj} 1cers-\.t\-'het/ier .discriminatory.
By a letter dated December 9, 1983 certain incentives and allowances were provided by the appellant to its officers posted at Gauhati
who were not from the North-Eastern region. Those allowances were
generally known as special duty allowances and the main special duty
allowance comprised 25% of basic pay, subject to a maximum of Rs.400
per month.
By a Memorandum issued by the appellant on April II, 1985, an
ad hoc increase in salary was effected for non-local officers and an
option was given to them either to choose the ad hoc increase or the
special duty allowances for the period during which they were posted at
Gauhati.
The respondent demanded the extension of the said benefits to
the local officers by their letter dated May 10, 1985. When the
appellant-bank declined to allow the benefits to the local officers, the
respondent-association challenged the Memorandum dated April 11,
1985 in a writ petition in the High Court, contending that all the officers
of the appellant-bank posted at Gauhati, whether they were from the
'.\orth-Eastern region or outside had to live in the same conditions and
suffer from the same hardships, and hence, if any allowance was given
to the officers transferred from outside to the Gauhati Office, the very
same allowance should also be given to the local officers posted al
( ;auhati.
G
The appellant bank averred in its counter that the' scheme of ad
hoc incentives was introduced to tide over the problem of adequately
staffing the Gauhati office; that the non-local officers experienced
difficulties in getting accommodation, getting familiar with the language and so on, and some incentives had to be given to them to mitigate
the hardships experienced by them on transfer to Gauhati; that the said
H
incentives were temporary and because of the peculiar circumstances
460
..
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RESERVE BANK v. OFFICERS ASSOCN. [KANIA. J.[
461
prevailing at the moment in· the North-Eastern region, which was
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regarded as a difficult region.
r .-4
The High Court allowed the petition, holding that all officers at
• i
Gauhati suffered from substantially the same hardship and that the
local officers of the appellant-bank at Gauhati were discriminated
against and directed that they must be given the same benefits as the
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non-local officers transferred to Gauhati.
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Allowing the appeal by special leave filed by the·bank, this Court,
HELD: 1.01. The hardship and inconveniences suffered by an
officer of the appellant-hank who was transferred to Gauhati fro.m
regions other than the North-Eastern region would certainly be more
acute than those suffered by local officers posted at Gauhati. [463G-H I
1.02. Some of the officers coming from the North-Eastern region
may also face considerable hardship when posted at Gauhati but the
c
fact that there might be a few such officers would not render the payD
ment of special allowance, exclusively to officers transferred from distant regions discriminatory and bad in law. [464B-C]
J .03. The Reserve Bank of India, is a banking institution and if in
the interest of efficiency and proper working, it bona fide took the
decision to grant some extra benefits to the non-local officers transferE
red to Gauhati with a view to maintain efficient working of its unit at
Gauhati, they cannot be treated as being guilty of any unlawful
discrimination. [464E-F]

## Text

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RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
v.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA STAFF OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION AND ORS.
AUGUST 9. 1991
IM.l-1. KANIA AND P.B. SAWANT, JJ.]
Cons1;1urion of India, 1950-An;c/es 14, 16-Non-local & local
bank officers of Reserve Bank at Gauhati-Certain incentives to non-
/oral oj} 1cers-\.t\-'het/ier .discriminatory.
By a letter dated December 9, 1983 certain incentives and allowances were provided by the appellant to its officers posted at Gauhati
who were not from the North-Eastern region. Those allowances were
generally known as special duty allowances and the main special duty
allowance comprised 25% of basic pay, subject to a maximum of Rs.400
per month.
By a Memorandum issued by the appellant on April II, 1985, an
ad hoc increase in salary was effected for non-local officers and an
option was given to them either to choose the ad hoc increase or the
special duty allowances for the period during which they were posted at
Gauhati.
The respondent demanded the extension of the said benefits to
the local officers by their letter dated May 10, 1985. When the
appellant-bank declined to allow the benefits to the local officers, the
respondent-association challenged the Memorandum dated April 11,
1985 in a writ petition in the High Court, contending that all the officers
of the appellant-bank posted at Gauhati, whether they were from the
'.\orth-Eastern region or outside had to live in the same conditions and
suffer from the same hardships, and hence, if any allowance was given
to the officers transferred from outside to the Gauhati Office, the very
same allowance should also be given to the local officers posted al
( ;auhati.
G
The appellant bank averred in its counter that the' scheme of ad
hoc incentives was introduced to tide over the problem of adequately
staffing the Gauhati office; that the non-local officers experienced
difficulties in getting accommodation, getting familiar with the language and so on, and some incentives had to be given to them to mitigate
the hardships experienced by them on transfer to Gauhati; that the said
H
incentives were temporary and because of the peculiar circumstances
460
..
'
RESERVE BANK v. OFFICERS ASSOCN. [KANIA. J.[
461
prevailing at the moment in· the North-Eastern region, which was
A
regarded as a difficult region.
r .-4
The High Court allowed the petition, holding that all officers at
• i
Gauhati suffered from substantially the same hardship and that the
local officers of the appellant-bank at Gauhati were discriminated
against and directed that they must be given the same benefits as the
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non-local officers transferred to Gauhati.
-
Allowing the appeal by special leave filed by the·bank, this Court,
HELD: 1.01. The hardship and inconveniences suffered by an
officer of the appellant-hank who was transferred to Gauhati fro.m
regions other than the North-Eastern region would certainly be more
acute than those suffered by local officers posted at Gauhati. [463G-H I
1.02. Some of the officers coming from the North-Eastern region
may also face considerable hardship when posted at Gauhati but the
c
fact that there might be a few such officers would not render the payD
ment of special allowance, exclusively to officers transferred from distant regions discriminatory and bad in law. [464B-C]
J .03. The Reserve Bank of India, is a banking institution and if in
the interest of efficiency and proper working, it bona fide took the
decision to grant some extra benefits to the non-local officers transferE
red to Gauhati with a view to maintain efficient working of its unit at
Gauhati, they cannot be treated as being guilty of any unlawful
discrimination. [464E-F]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3107
of 1991.
From the Judgment and Order dated 14.8. 1990 of the Gauhati
, High Court in Civil Rule No. 407 of 1985.
H.N. Salve. K.S. Parihar and H.S. Parihar for the Appellant.
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P.K. Goswami, Kailash Vasdev and M.J. Paul for the
Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
KANIA, J. Special leave granted. Counsel heard.
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462
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[ 1991] 3 S.C.R.
This is an appeal filed by the Reserve Bank of India, by special
leave. The contesting respondent, being respondent No. 1, is an
association of its officers at its Gauhati unit. The respondent association (referred to hereinafter as "the respondent") represents the
interests of 45 officers belonging to Grades A to C employed in the
appellant bank at its unit at Gauhati. It appears from the affidavit filed
on behalf of the appellant that there was difficulty in persuading officers of the appellant posted outside the North-Eastern region to accept
transfers to the unit of the appellant in the North-Eastern part of the
country which unit was located at Gauhati in Assam. It also emerges
from the record that the Gauhati station was regarded as a hardship
station by the officers who were transferred to the Gauhati unit from
other regions of the country. The Government of India found a similar
difficulty in persuading its officers to accept postings in the NorthEastern region and they were given substantial incentives to accept
transfers to the North-Eastern region. We are not here concerned
directly with the actual benefits granted by the Government of India
but what is material is that such benefits had to be given by the
Government of India. By a letter dated December 9, 1983, certain
incentives and allowances were provided by the appellant to its officers
posted at Gauhati who were not from the North-Eastern regions.
Those allowances were genendly known as special duty allowances.
We are not much concerned with the details as to how the special duty
allowances were calculated but the main special duty allowance basically comprised 25% of basic pay, subject to a maximum of Rs.400 per
month. These allowances were also known as special compensatory
allowances or remote locality allowances. By a Memorandum issued
by the appellant on April 11, 1985, an ad hoc increase in salary was
effected for non-local officers and an option was given to them either
to choose the ad hoc increase or the special duty allowances for the
period during which they were posted at Gauhati. The respondent
demanded the extension of the said benefit to the local officers by its
letter dated May 10, 1985. We may mention here that the local officers
who were posted at the Gauhati did get an extra allowance in addition
to their salaries but it was considerably smaller than the main compensatory allowance paid to the officers from outside the NorthEastern region who were transferred to Gauhati. Certain other
benefits were also allowed to non-local officers transferred to Gauhati
but there is no need to refer to them in detail. The appellant declined
to allow the same allowances to local officers posted at Gauhati as
were given to the officers from other regions transferred to Gauhati as
stated earlier. It is this decision which gave rise to the writ petition
H from the decision in which this appeal arises.
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RESERVE BANK. v. OFFICERS ASSOCN. [KANIA, J.)
463
It was the contention of the respondent before the Gauhati High
Court that all the officers of the appellant bank posted at Gauhati,
whether they were from the North-Eastern region or outside had to
live in the same conditions and suffer from the same hardships, and
hence, if any allowance was given to the officers transferred from
outside to the Gauhati office, the very same allowance should also be
given to the local officers posted at Gauhati. In the counter filed in the
High Court by the appellant bank, the Deputy Chid Officer of the
appellant bank averred that the hardships faced by the non-local officers are greater than those faced by the local officers. The scheme of
ad hoc incentives was introduced to tide 'over the problem of
'
adequately staffing the Gauhati office. Non-local officers experienced
difficulties in getting accommodation, getting familiar with the
language and so on, and some incentives had to be given to them to
mitigate the hardships experienced by them on transfer to Gauhati. It
was clarified that the said incentives were temporary and because of
the peculier circumstances prevailing at the moment in the NorthEastern region which was regarded as a difficult region. It was
accepted that considerable difficulties would have to be suffered by the
officers posted there who hailed from places outside the NorthEastern region. The contention of the appellant bank failed to find
favour with the High Court which took the view that all officers at
Gauhati suffered from substantially the same hardship and it pointed
out that, for example, even officers from outside from Tripura who
were posted at Gauhati would suffer almost the same degree of hardship as officers transferred to Gauhati from regions other than the
North-Eastern regions although Tripura was in the North-Eastern
region. The High Court took the view that the local officers of the
appellant bank, Gauhati were discriminated against and directed that
they must be given the same benefits as the non-local officers transferred to Gauhati.
It is the correctness of the view taken by the High Court which is
sought to be impugned before us in this appeal. We are of the opinion
that the High Court was, mith respect, in error in taking the view that
officers from the North-Eastern region who were posted at Gauhati.
either on transfer or otherwise, sufferred the same hardships as officers from other regions transferred to Gauhati. The hardship and
inc~nveriience sufferred by an officer of the appellant bank who was
transferred to Gauhati from regions other than the North-Eastern
region, would certainly be more acute than those suffered by local
officers posted at Gauhati. His mother tongue might completely be
different in sp.eech and, even as far as the script is concerned, from the
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464
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1991] 3 S.C.R.
language used by the local people at Gauhati. He and his family
members would, therefore, find it very difficult to communicate freely
with the local people. His children might find it difficult to get admission to a school and pursue their education at Gauhati. They would he
unfamiliar with the surroundings and the customs of the people. The
hardships faced by an officer say from the Western or Southern regions
of India or North India posted at Gauhati would be qualitatively as
well as' quantitatively greater than the hardships faced by the local
officers posted at Gauhati. It may be that some of the officers coming
from the North-Eastern region may also face considerable hardships
when p()sted at Gauhati but the fact that there might be a few such
officers WO\]ld not render the payment of special allowance, exclusively to officers transferred from distant regions discriminatory and
had in law. The High Court was, therefore, not justified in coming to
the conclusion that all the officers of the appellant bank posted at
Gauhati sufferred from the same degree of hardship. A person transferred from outside the North-Eastern region to Gauhati would normally have to face more severe difficulties than an officer from the
North-Eastern region posted in Gauhati or, at the least, the appellant
bank could reasonably take that view. Moreover, as pointed out by the
appellant bank in the counter that they were finding it difficult to
persuade their officers from outside to accept transfers to Gauhati and
it is common knowledge that an office of a large bank cannot be run
efficiently by officers a large number of whom have been posted there
by transfers against their will and under the threat of disciplinary
action. The work done by them could hardly be expected to be
satisfactory. After all, the appellant, the Reserve Bank of India, is a
banking institution and if in the interest of efficiency and proper working it bona fide took the decision, in the circumstances set out earlier,
to grant some extra benefits to the non-local officers transferred to
Gauhati with a view to maintain efficient working of its unit at
Gauhati, in our opinion, they cannot be treated as being guilty of any
unlawful discrimination.
Jn the result, we allow the appeal and set aside the order of the
High Court. The writ petition filed by respondent No. 1 is dismissed.
There will be no order as to costs throughout.
V.P.R.
Appeal allowed.
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