1. NASIM HASAN SHAH, J.-- The respondents Nos.1 to 11 were recruited as Junior Clerks by the Board of Revenue on various dates between. 14-3-1956 and 6-6-1956. They were later promoted as Assistants on various dates between 1-12-1967 and 9-6-1970 by the Board of Revenue. The Board of Revenue, West Pakistan, it may be mentioned, had been created by the West Pakistan Board of Revenue Act, 957 and replaced the offices of the Financial Commissioner Punjab. The admitted position, furthermore, is that the employees of the Financial Commissioner's Office were getting their salaries in the same scales and in the same grade as their counterparts in the Punjab Civil Secretariat and continued to do so even after the creation of the Board of Revenue. However, sometime after the creation of the Board of Revenue, the Board was made an Attached Department. In the meanwhile, the West Pakistan (Non-Gazatted) Civil Services (Pay Revision)
2. Rules, 1963 were enforced from 1-12-1962. These rules made a distinction between the pay scale of the Assistants in the Secretariat and the Assistants in the Attached Departments (Non-Secretariat).
3. Thus, while in the Secretariat Departments the existing pay scales were shown as Rs.156-10-250/15- 370 and the consolidated (Revised) Pay Scale as Rs.225-15-300/20-500, the scale for the Assistants in the Non-Secretariat Departments was shown as Rs.129-10-200/10-250 (existing scale) while the revised scale was Rs.175-10-215/15-225-15-350.
4. It appears that in practice, despite the promulgation of these rules, the respondents continued to be paid according to the same pay scales as Assistants in the Secretariat and it was only in August, 1970, that the Board decided to reduce the pay scales of the respondents to the pay scale of the Assistants of Attached Departments (Non---Secretariat). However, actual implementation of this decision was avoided by the respondents first by filing a writ petition in the High Court and then by filing an appeal before the Services Tribunal. In the meanwhile, however, by a notification, dated 26-8-1972 issued by the Governor of the Punjab the Board of Revenue was again given Secretariat status from 1-7-1972.
5. The aforesaid appeal filed in the Service Tribunal was ultimately accepted on 8-5-1978 and the Service Tribunal found that the respondents were entitled to the same terms as regards pay scale "as meted out to their colleagues in the erstwhile Financial Commissioner's Office" and held "that on their promotion as Assistants they were entitled to the Secretariat pay scale". Accordingly, the order/orders of any Authority to the contrary were set aside.
6. On the appellants' petition for leave against the order of the Service Tribunal this Court granted leave vide order, dated 12-10-1978 and we have heard the learned counsel for the appellants.
7. However, after having heard him and persued the record we observed that the present case relates only to a limited class of persons, namely, to the 11 respondents herein. The issue raised is whether the employees recruited by the Board of Revenue were eligible to the pay scale of Assistants in the Secretariat or not. But the dispute relates only for the period from 1-9-1970 to 1-7- 1972 (the date when the Board of Revenue was again granted Secretariat status). We do not think that this case involves a substantial question of law of public importance. It is confined to merely a small class of persons who are about to superannuate and the issue is practically a dead issue which is also not of any public importance.
8. We would, accordingly, withdraw the leave granted on 12-10-1978 and dismiss the petition.