of Chief Petty Officer. Still, they are denied grade pay of Rs.4200 on par with the grade pay of the Chief Petty Officer. He also relied upon Navy instructions No. 2/S/96, annexed as Annexure R-2 of the counter affidavit. He also relied upon clarification issued by the Chief of the Naval Staff by a letter dated 5th September 1977 clarifying that Artificers of class III and above are Chief Petty Officers. The learned counsel submitted that the fact that only the Chief Artificer and Chief Petty Officer are eligible for promotion to Master Chief Petty Officer cannot be a reason to deny the grade pay of Rs.4200 to Artificers of Class III, who are Chief Petty Officers. 5. The learned counsel relied upon a decision of this Court dated 9th November 2023 in Civil Appeal No.1663 of 2016 in the case of Union of India & Ors. vs. D.G.O.F. Employees Association and Anr.1. He also relied upon what is held by this Court in the case of Haryana State Minor Irrigation Tubewells Corporation Ltd. &