Madras High Court
Sasikala Selvaraju vs Union Of India on 26 April, 2024
Author: D.Krishnakumar
Bench: D.Krishnakumar
W.P.No10786 of 2017
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 26.04.2024
CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.KRISHNAKUMAR
and
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K. KUMARESH BABU
W.P.No.10786 of 2017
Sasikala Selvaraju ... Petitioner
Vs.
1. Union of India,
rep. by its Secretary,
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,
Government of India, Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road,
Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi 110001.
2. Director General, Doordarshan,
Mandi House, Copernicus Mrge,
New Delhi 110 001.
3. Director General, All India Radio,
Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi 110 001.
4. The Additional Director General (E),
Southern Zone, AIR & Television,
Swami Sivananda Salai,
Chennai 600 005.
5. The Registrar, Central Administrative Tribunal,
High Court Buildings, Chennai 600 104. ... Respondents
Page 1 of 8
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
W.P.No10786 of 2017
Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
seeking to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records
of the 5th respondent in respect of the order dated 22.12.2016 made in
O.A.No.1394/2015 and the order dated 03.03.2017 made in
R.A.No.310/3/2017, quash the same and consequently direct the
respondents 1 to 4 to grant second financial upgradation to the petitioner
under the ACP (Assured Career Progressive) Scheme in the pay sale of
Rs.8,000-13,500 from the due date with arrears of salary along with
admissible interest.
For Petitioner : Mr.Karthick Rajan
For Respondent : Mr.G.Ilangovan for first respondent
Mrs.R.Maheswari for respondents 2 to 4
ORDER
(Order of the Court was delivered by D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.) This writ petition has been filed to quash the order passed by the Tribunal dated 22.12.2016 in O.A.No.1394/2015 and the order dated 03.03.2017 in R.A.No.310/3/2017, and consequently direct the respondents 1 to 4 to grant second financial upgradation to the petitioner under the ACP (Assured Career Progressive) Scheme in the pay sale of Rs.8,000-13,500 from the due date with arrears of salary along with admissible interest.
2. According to the petitioner, she was appointed as Engineering Page 2 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No10786 of 2017 Assistant in All India Radio, Tiruvandram on 15.05.1985 and thereafter, she was promoted as Senior Engineering Assistant from 23.03.1991 in the scale of pay at Rs.5500-9000. Since the petitioner had completed 12 years of service in the same pay scale, she sought upgradation under Assured Career Progression Scheme(ACPS), as per the order passed in O.A.No.597/2011 dated 28.02.2013 by the Principal Bench of Tribunal. The contention of the petitioner is that, her juniors were granted ACP benefit to a higher scale, however, she was not considered to grant the same benefit. The above application was dismissed by the Tribunal on 22.12.2016 and the Review application filed by the petitioner was also dismissed on 03.03.2017. Hence, this writ petition has been filed.
3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel appearing for the respondent and we have perused the materials on record.
4. Earlier, the petitioner had filed O.A.No.1156 of 2013 before the Tribunal to direct the respondents to consider her representation and to fix her pay in consonance to the eligibility for the ACP/MACP benefits, as Page 3 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No10786 of 2017 extended to the co-employees. The Tribunal, vide order dated 24.02.2015, has directed the respondents to consider the representation of the petitioner and to pass reasoned and speaking order, in accordance with law and as per rules. In pursuant to the above order, a Screening Committee was constituted in the Directorate to consider the cases of all the employees, who filed the original applications, including the petitioner and also the contempt petitions, due to non implementation of the orders passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal. The Screening Committee after perusing the service records and also considering the cases of the each and every employees, has come to the conclusion that, the petitioner and other employees are not entitled for further financial upgradation in the pay scale of Rs.8000-13500 under the ACP scheme, as they have already been granted the benefits existing in the promotional hierarchy. The above recommendations of the Screening Committee was accepted by the competent authority and the same were communicated to all the employees concerned, including the petitioner herein, vide speaking order dated 13.10.2015.
5. It is to be noted that, pending original application before the Page 4 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No10786 of 2017 Tribunal in O.A.No.1394/2015, the above speaking order dated 13.10.2015 has been passed by the respondent/Department, holding that the petitioner is not entitled for further financial upgradation in the pay scale of Rs.8000- 13500 under the ACP scheme, as she had already been granted the benefits existing in the promotional hierarchy. Further, it is the contention of the petitioner that, as per the order passed in O.A.No.514/2002, dated 7.9.2009, the petitioner is entitled for upgradation. But the above O.A.No.514/2002 was challenged before the Patna High Court, wherein, it was ordered that the respondent should consider each and every case, in terms of the scheme, with clarifications on it, as it clears their doubts about the entitlement of each and every individual in terms of the DOP & T scheme dated 10.02.2000 and thereafter consider the grant of ACP to the applicants. Accordingly, each and every case were considered and final order has been passed by the Department, as stated supra. All the above facts were discussed by the Tribunal in the impugned order passed in O..A.No.1394/2015 and since the respondents have issued the speaking order for denying the ACP benefit to the petitioner, the Tribunal has dismissed the original application, as it cannot be considered further. Page 5 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No10786 of 2017
6. In such circumstances, we are of the view that, the prayer sought for by the petitioner in the present writ petition was already considered by the respondents and a well reasoning order was passed on 13.10.2015 holding that the petitioner is not entitled for upgradation to scale of Rs.8000- 135000, as she had already been extended upgradation to the scale of Rs.7450-11500. But, without challenging the above speaking order dated 13.10.2015, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition. Therefore, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed. It is to be noted that, if the petitioner is aggrieved by the above order dated 13.10.2015, she can file application before the Tribunal and she is at liberty to exclude the period of pendency of the original application as well as the writ petition, under Section 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act for the purpose of filing original application before the Tribunal.
7. With the above liberty, this writ petition is dismissed. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
Page 6 of 8
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
W.P.No10786 of 2017
(D.K.K.J.) (K.B.J.)
26.04.2024
Internet: Yes/No
Index : Yes/No
mst
To
1. The Secretary, Union of India,
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,
Government of India, Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road, Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi 110001.
2. Director General, Doordarshan, Mandi House, Copernicus Mrge, New Delhi 110 001.
3. Director General, All India Radio, Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi 110 001.
4. The Additional Director General (E), Southern Zone, AIR & Television, Swami Sivananda Salai, Chennai 600 005.
5. The Registrar, Central Administrative Tribunal, High Court Buildings, Chennai 600 104.
Page 7 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.P.No10786 of 2017 D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.
and K. KUMARESH BABU, J.
mst W.P.No.10786 of 2017 26.04.2024 Page 8 of 8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis