Original Application No. 138 of 2009. Case: 1. C. Nataraja Moorthy S/o. S. Chidambaram, Assistant Station Master, Trivandrum, 2. M. S. Harilal S/o. K. Madhavan Pillai, Assistant Station Master, Trivandrum District, 3. Samuel T. Joye S/o. T. Thomson, Assistant Station Master, Kadackavoor Railway Station, Trivandrum District Vs 1. Union of India, Represented by General Manager, Southern Railway, Chennai, 2. Divisional Personnel Officer, Southern Railway, Tiruchirapalli Division 3. Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, Southern Railway, Trivandrum Division, 4. Chairman, Railway Board, 5. Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, Palghat. Central Administrative Tribunal
| Case Number | Original Application No. 138 of 2009 |
| Counsel | T. C. Govindaswamy, P. K. Nandini |
| Judges | Dr. K. B. S. Rajan (Judicial Member) & K. Noorjehan (Administrative Member) |
| Issue | Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 16 |
| Judgement Date | January 20, 2010 |
| Court | Central Administrative Tribunal |
Judgment:
Dr. K. B. S. Rajan (Judicial Member), (Ernakulam Bench)
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The extent of the benefit of ACP Scheme introduced w.e.f. 01-10-1999 in the Railways available to the applicants herein is the core issue involved in this O.A. Identical issue has already been considered and decided in OA No. 135/2009 vide order dated 16th November, 2009, which in fact followed an earlier decision in OA 438/2008 and connected cases, decided on 20-08-2009.
Again, OA 438/2008 took into account the ratio in the order dated 27th February 2007 in an yet earlier OA No. 809/2007. Thus, consistency being the hallmark of judicial system, when facts are similar this case also has to be decided on the basis of the ratio in the aforesaid cases.
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Brief facts: The three applicants in this case are presently working as Assistant Station Masters in the Trivandrum Division of the Southern Railway.
These were initially appointed as Asst. Station Masters in the erstwhile scale of Rs 1200 - 2040 (4,500-7000) (Applicant No. 1 in Tiruchirapplli Division on 13-07-1992 and applicants 2 and 3 in Palghat Division on 13-07-1992). Later on, these were promoted to the higher post of Asst. Station Master Gr. III in the scale of Rs 1400 - 2300 (Rs 5000 - 8000) in the above said divisions (the first applicant from June 1995 and the rest w.e.f. 09-07-1996). The first applicant was temporarily transferred in the above grade of Rs 5000 - 8000 to Trivandrum Division on 09-07-1996 but later on his request transfer on regular basis, registered when he was in the previous grade of Rs 4,500 - 7,000/- having materialized he was deemed to have been so posted on inter-divisional transfer basis w.e.f. 20-03-2004 (on the strength of order in OA No. 826/2003 and connected cases). And, the other two applicants who had also registered for inter-divisional transfer to Trivandrum when they were in the previous scale of Rs 4500 - 7000 were posted to Trivandrum Division on 20-03-2004. All these were thus placed in the lower pay scale of Rs 4,500 - 7000/-, presumably, of course with their pay drawn in the previous divisions protected as per the extant rules on pay fixation on inter divisional transfer.
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A scheme named as Assured Career Progression (ACP scheme for short) was introduced in the Railways w.e.f. 01-10-1999 according to which in the case of employees stagnating without any promotion for 12 years, there would be one financial upgradation and after 24 years of initial appointment, there would be the second financial upgradation. Clarifications were issued on various doubts in this regard by the Railways on subsequent dates. Annexure A-1 and A-2 refer. The applicants were, on the basis of the above scheme granted the first financial upgradation in the Trivandrum Division, vide Annexure A-3 order dated 27-11-2008 whereby they...
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