Dear Madhukar,
It happens in many organizations, particularly, if you do not have lateral mobility or job hoping opportunity in the same geographical area. Some organizations do take it as a matter of right. In any given circumstance, some people perform extraordinarily and some don't. The organization cannot fire and hire, as there may not be many available with the same skill sets. So the company compensates everyone at an average.
If you feel that it has been blatant, then absolve yourself for whatever decision you have taken. But you need to live with the reality that whether you can repeat that kind of miracle time and again at every organization, where you hop. If you can do it, then the industry HR guys will be baiting you all the times. Believe me, whether you know or not, your concept in the value addition to the product of the organization, responsible people (name, department, R&D, technology etc.) is trumpeted in the market by the organization and the marketing people