Rajasthan High Court - Jaipur
Ummed Singh vs State Of Raj & Ors on 14 December, 2011
Author: M.N. Bhandari
Bench: M.N. Bhandari
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JAIPUR BENCH, JAIPUR S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8235/2004 Ummed Singh Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8236/2004 Bodu Lal Saini Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8237/2004 Goverdhan Lal Saini Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8345/2004 Chittar Mal Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8343/2004 Paras Ram Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.8347/2004 Mangi Lal Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.821/2005 Satya Narain Agrwal Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. AND S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.1332/2005 Ram Lal Natani Versus State of Rajasthan & Ors. Date of Order : 14th December, 2011 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.N. BHANDARI Mr.Pradeep Singh, for the petitioners. Mr.Ganesh Meena, GC Dr.Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma, Addl. GC. By the Court:
The petitioners have raised two folds grievances in the present matters. One is as to from which date, their services should be counted for the purpose of benefit of selection scale and other is as to whether benefit of second selection scale can be made in the same pay-scale, i.e., Rs.975-1720, as aforesaid pay-scale was made admissible to the petitioners on completion of 9 years of service as well as 18 years of service.
It is contended by learned counsel for petitioners that benefit of selection scale has to be in the higher pay-scale, as the purpose to provide benefit of selection scale is to remove stagnation. A prayer is also made to count the length of service from the initial date of appointment. For illustration, in the case of Chitar Mal Sharma Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. bearing S.B.Civil Writ Petition No.8345/2004, the petitioner was appointed initially on 29.01.1964 and accordingly, prayer is made to determine 9, 18 and 27 years of service from the aforesaid date and not from the date of absorption on declared surplus.
A reference of the order passed by the Tribunal in the case of similarly placed candidates in appeal No.180/2000 in the case of Rameshwar Prasad Vs. State of Rajasthan decided on 16.10.2001 has been given so as the order passed in the writ petition in the aforesaid case bearing S.B.Civil Writ Petition No.5987/2002 decided vide the order dated 09.09.2002 upholding the order passed by the Tribunal and thereupon judgment of the Hon'ble Division Bench in D.B.Civil Special Appeal (W) No.1025/2003 dated 18.05.2004. Therein, the judgment passed by the Tribunal has been up-held. In the judgment given by the Tribunal, it was held that petitioners are entitled to the benefit of higher pay-scale on grant of selection scale and their length of service has been counted from initial date of appointment. A direction was accordingly given to count length of service from the date of first appointment and benefit of first, second and third selection scales be made admissible in the pay-scale of Rs.975-1720, 1200-2050 and in the pay-scale of Rs.1640-2900 respectively. The aforesaid benefit was made admissible to the petitioners also but later on withdrawn vide Annexure 5 and 5A to the writ petition in the case of Chitar Mal Sharma. The petitioner is given pay-scale of Rs.975-1720 on grant of benefit of first selection scale and same pay-scale on completion of 18 years of service and thereupon, the pay-scale of Rs.1200-2050 on completion of 27 years of service, i.e., third selection scale. The prayer is accordingly, made to set aside the orders at Annex.-5 and 5A.
Learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand submit that issue of discrepancy regarding grant of pay-scale on completion of 9, 18 and 27 years of service has already been settled by this Court holding that if first selection scale is granted in the pay-scale of Rs.975-1720 then second selection scale cannot be in the same pay-scale but it has to be in the higher pay-scale, i.e., pay-scale of Rs.1200-2050 and benefit of third selection scale has to be in the pay-scale of Rs.1640-2900. In the aforesaid background, the issue aforesaid is not open for contest by the respondents, as the judgment of the Tribunal has already been up-held by the Division Bench.
It is, however, urged that so far as length of service is concerned, it cannot be counted from the initial date of appointment, i.e., 29.01.1964. For the illustration, in the case of Chitar Mal Sharma, his initial appointment was not on regular basis. It is only on absorption, he was taken in service on regular basis. Hence, length of service is to be counted from the aforesaid date and not from the date of initial appointment. The issue aforesaid was also decided by the Tribunal in the case of Rameshwar Prasad and same was up-held by the Division Bench. A Full Bench judgment was also rendered by this Court holding that length of service is to be counted from the dated of initial appointment, however, it was then reversed by the Hon'ble Apex Court holding that period for grant of selection scale has to be counted from the date of regular appointment and not from the date of temporary or ad hoc appointment.
In the aforesaid background, second issue has to be governed by the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and petitioners would accordingly be given benefit of pay-scale as mentioned above and as given by the Tribunal to the similarly placed candidates but those pay-scales would be given to the petitioners by counting their length of service from the date of absorption, i.e, 23rd July, 1969 and not from the initial date of appointment. It is in the light of judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of State of Rajasthan & Ors. Vs. Jagdish Narain Chaturvedi reported in (2009) 12 SCC 49.
I have considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and scanned the matter carefully.
The benefit of selection scale is made admissible to the employees to remove stagnation and accordingly, when an employee does not get his promotion in service, he becomes entitled for first, second and thirdpromotion, on completion of 9, 18 and 27 years of service. The selection scale is to be in the pay-scale of promotional post if one is eligible for promotion and if promotional post exists, however, if both are missing, he is given benefit of pay-scale as narrated in the para 5 of the Circular dated 25th January, 1992.
In the aforesaid background, benefit of first and second selection scale cannot be in the same pay-scale, i.e., of Rs.975-1720. The Tribunal considered the aforesaid aspects in the similar matters and held that petitioners have to be made entitled for the pay-scale of Rs.975-1720, 1200-2050 and 1640-2900 on completion of 9, 18 and 27 years of service. The aforesaid direction has been up-held by the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Rameshwar Prasad (supra). The petitioner is accordingly held entitled to the aforesaid pay-scales on becoming eligible for benefit of first, second and third selection scale. Accordingly, the order at Annexure 5 and 5A in the case of Chitar Mal Sharma and the same orders in other writ petitions are set aside.
The question as to from which date, the benefit of first, second and third selection scales has to be counted is another issue, which is to be considered by this Court in the light of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Jagdish Narain Chaturvedi (supra). Therein, it is held that length of service for determination of 9, 18 and 27 years is to be counted from the date of regular appointment.
Since nothing is there on record to show that petitioners' initially appointment was on regular basis, therefore, these writ petitions are disposed of with the directions to the respondents to count 9, 18 and 27 years of service of the petitioners from the date of regular appointment, which otherwise is taken from the date of their absorption by the respondents. Their cases would accordingly be governed by the judgment in the case of Jagdish Narain Chaturvedi (supra) and by third proviso of para 3 of the circular dated 25.01.1992.
The benefit of first, second and third selection scale may be made admissible in favour of the petitioners, which would obviously be for the pay-scale of Rs.975-1720, 1200-2050 & 1640-2900 on completion of 9, 18 and 27 years of service. The petitioners would be extended required benefit within a period of three months from the date receipt of certified copy of this order.
(M.N. BHANDARI), J.
Item No.38-45 Preety/Jr.P.A. All corrections made in the judgment/order have been incorporated in the judgment/order being emailed.
Preety Asopa Jr.P.A.