OA No. 1158/2009, MA No. 2611/2009, MA No. 2621/2009. Case: 1. Ex-Servicemen MES Engineers Association, Through M. L. Sharma, President, Central Headquarters, Ex-Servicemen MES Engineers Association, Punjab, 2. K. K. Singh, JE (Civil), New Delhi Vs 1. Union of India, Through Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, 2. Engineer-in-Chief's Branch, Integrated HQ of MoD (Army), New Delhi, 3. P. K. Goel, JE (Civ) S/o Balvir Singh, 4. Ashok Kumar, JE (Civ), S/o Late Lakhi Ram, 5. Bhupati Raju, MES-601052 S/o S. V. R. K. Raju, 6. Basant Kumar, JE (Civ), Sarsawa, Uttar Pradesh, 7. Suresh Chander, AE (Civ) S/o Late Ram Dass, Dehradun. Central Administrative Tribunal

Case NumberOA No. 1158/2009, MA No. 2611/2009, MA No. 2621/2009
CounselRajiv Manglik, Rajeev Kumar, Yogesh Sharma, A. K. Behera
JudgesDr. Ramesh Chandra Panda (Accountant Member) & Dr. Dharam Paul Sharma (Judicial Member), JJ.
IssueAdministrative Tribunals Act, 1985 - Section 19; Constitution of India, 1950- Article 309
Judgement DateMay 12, 2010
CourtCentral Administrative Tribunal

Judgment:

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Panda (Accountant Member), (Principal Bench New Delhi)

1. In the present OA there are two Applicants, one of whom is Ex-Servicemen MES Engineers Association. The Private Respondents No.3,4,5 and 6 through the MA No. 2611/2009 and MA No.2621/2009 were allowed to be impleaded as Respondents by the Tribunal order dated 5.1.2010. The Applicants have been aggrieved by (i) their appointment as JE (Civil) or JE (E/M) in the pay scale of Rs.5000-8000 and denied the post of Superintendent (B/R) or (E/M) Grade I (SG-I) in pay scale of Rs.5500-9000 for the vacancy years 1998-99 to 2000-2001 (up to the vacancies 29.4.2001); and (ii) the Respondents decision to conduct a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) for filling up vacancies upto 29.4.2001 for the period 1998-2001 from the feeder cadre of Superintendent Grade II (SG II) as per the directions of the Chandigarh Bench of this Tribunal which would mean that the Respondents would fill up 87 = of quota ignoring the Applicants against the 12 = % quota for promotion to SG-I. With the above grievances, the Applicants have approached this Tribunal under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 with following prayers:-

(i) Call for the records pertaining to the vacancies for the post of Supdt. Grade-I for the vacancy year 1998-99 onwards till 29 April 2001 and the appointments made to these posts against the 12 = % quota for the DCRE; and

Declare the actions of the respondents in appointing the applicants in the pay scale of Rs.5000-8000 as JE and not granting the pay scale of Rs.5500-9000, post of Supdt Gde-I, against the vacancy against which the applicants were appointed; and /or

(iii) Direct the respondents to grant the applicants the pay scale of Rs.5500-9000 from the date of their initial appointment in the post of Supdt. B/R or E/M (as applicable) Grade-I and all consequential benefits including arrears of pay and allowances with interest of 18% per annum; and

(iv) Direct the respondents to grant the applicants the seniority of Supdt Grade-I in their respective cadre as all the applicants were appointed against the vacancy of Supdt. Grade-I.

(v) Pass any further orders as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.

(vi) Award Cost.

2. We may provide the facts of the case briefly as may be needed for our consideration and adjudication of the issues in this OA. In MES the Supervisory cadre is filled up from the (a) civil and (b) ex-Army personnel. There are three supervisory cadres, namely, Building & Roads (B/R), Electrical & Mechanical (E/M) and Surveyor. The applicants belong to B/R and E/M cadre. The Recruitment Rules (RR) for the post of B/R and E/M are identical in nature except for the qualifying educational degree/diploma in the concerned discipline. In B/R cadre, the educational qualification is Degree/Diploma in civil engineering and in E/M cadre, it is degree/diploma in Electrical or Mechanical engineering. There are two different posts in the supervisory cadre namely Superintendent Grade II (SG-II) (Pay Scale of Rs.5000-8000 as per 5th CPC) and Superintendent Grade-I (SG-I) (Pay Scale of Rs.5500-9000 as per 5th CPC). The Recruitment Rules (RR) for these posts were notified vide SRO 299 dated 10.11.1983 (Annexure A-2) as per which the Diploma holders were to be recruited as SG-II and Degree holders as SG-I. The post of SG-I was to be filled by composite method i.e. 87 =% by promotion from the post of SG-II and 12 =% by direct recruitment. The said RR were amended vide SRO 61 dated 12.05.1988 (Annexure A-3) and further amended vide SRO 97 dated 15.04.1991 (Annexure A-4). As per the amendments, 12 =% vacancies for the post of SG-I are to be filled from Diploma holders Army personnel having experience of 3 years as SG-I on transfer on deputation cum re-employment basis failing which by direct recruitment. A policy guidelines was issued vide letter No.A 3/5223/B & R-I & II/R dated 07.09.1991 (Annexure A-11) as per which the quota of 12 =% reserved for ex-servicemen would be filled up over a period of 10 years at the rate of 20 vacancies per year. It is also averred that in some years there were not sufficient ex-servicemen; the post of SG-I already held by promotees and carving of 12 = vacancies should not result in reversion of those promotees to give opportunity to the ex-servicemen retiring from the active army service in future. The Respondents operated these instructions till the vacancy years 1998-99 and thereafter carried out the deputation in the post of Junior Engineer (JE) in the pay scale of Rs.5000-8000. It is the case of the Applicants that they were selected against these vacancies and are seeking the pay scale attached to these posts. However, the appointment letter issued to some of the Applicants (serial No.37 & 17 of Annexure A-1) has been dated 23 March 2001 & 27 April 2001 (Annexure A-13), prior to amended RR on 30 April 2001. It is stated that the Applicants were appointed on deputation cum re-employment basis on the vacancies occurred prior to 29 April 2001 and all the Applicants have joined the civil post on deputation cum re-employment basis, i.e. they occupied these vacant posts prior to 29 April 2001 (Applicant No.2 joined the post in July 2000). It is also stated that during 1996, the Bangalore Bench of the Tribunal decided in the OA NO.1337 and 1364-1375/1994 and other similar OAs and directed the official Respondents to treat the SG-I and SG-II of MES on similar footing as the JEs of the CPWD and grant time bound pay upgradation. The order was implemented vide letter dated 25.04.1996 (Page 33). It is stated that this time bound pay upgradation was similar to the ACP Scheme and was withdrawn after 09.08.1999, when the ACP Scheme came into force and the same was nothing to do with the cadre restructuring. The letter dated 09.07.1999 (Page 36) was issued re-designating both posts of SG-II and SG-I as Junior Engineer (JE). It is the case of the Applicant That due to the delay in finalisation of fresh RR for the post of JE, the official Respondents in order to obviate the difficulties in recruitment process issued letter dated 03.07.2000 (Page 38), wherein it was mentioned that the existing RR for the post of SG-I and SG-II would remain in force and the designation in recruitment to be used...

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