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Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi

Satish Joshi vs M/O Railways on 29 February, 2016

            Central Administrative Tribunal
              Principal Bench, New Delhi

                          O.A. No.896/2015

                            Monday, this the 29th day of February 2016

           Hon'ble Mr. A.K. Bhardwaj, Member (J)
          Hon'ble Mr. K.N. Shrivastava, Member (A)

1.   Satish Joshi, aged 37 years
     s/o Mr. Ramesh Joshi
     Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o F-174, IInd Floor, Gali No.4
     West Vinod Nagar, Delhi-92

2.   Arjun Singh, aged 42 years
     s/o Mr. Bhem Singh
     Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o 4/5 Railway Colony, Sarojini Nagar
     New Delhi

3.   Arjun Singh, aged 40 years
     s/o Mr. Man Singh
     Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o G-40-A, Sector 12, Pratap Vihar
     Bijay Nagar, Ghaziabad (UP)

4.   Balam Singh, aged 43 years
     s/o Mr. Laxman Singh
     Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o G-40-A, Sector 12, Pratap Vihar
     Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad (UP)

5.   Kochumon A.J, aged 48 years
     s/o Mr. A M John
     Working as Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o H.No.4/10, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi

6.   Jitender Kumar, aged 48 years
     s/o Mr. Khzan Singh
     Working as Carriage Cleaner
     In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
     r/o H.No.284, War No.3, Mohan Nagar
     Palwal, Distt. Palwal
                                        2


7.    Nirval Singh, aged 33 years
      s/o Mr. Inder Pal Singh
      Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o 191/2, Gali No.1, Padam nagar
      Kishan Ganj, Delhi-07

8.    Jai Narain, aged 51 years
      s/o Mr. Moola Ram
      Working as Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o Village Sainipura, Post Mahmudpur
      Tehsil Gohana, Distt. Sonepat (Haryana)

9.    Sandeep Chopra, aged 30 years
      s/o Mr. H K Chopra
      Working as Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o 259/2, Railway Colony, SSB

10.   Satveer Singh, aged 29 years
      s/o Mr. Lt. Ram Preet Singh
      Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o A-520, Raja Vihar, Badi
      Delhi-42

11.   Sunder Singh, aged 51 years
      s/o Mr. Balwan Singh
      Working as Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o New Vijay Nagar, Near Saraswati School
      Rohtak (Haryana)

12.   Prem Shankar, aged 27 years
      s/o Mr. Ram Sewak Pal
      Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o 143/H, Ram Nagar, Railway Colony
      New Delhi-55

13.   Prabhakar Dwivedi, aged 41 years
      s/o Mr. Rama Shankar Dwivedi
      Working as Helper Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o 180/10, Railway Colony, Kishan Colony
      New Delhi

14.   Pan Singh, aged 49 years
      s/o Mr. Ganga Singh
      Working as        Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
                                     3


      r/o Vinddara Wan Enclave, H.No.29
      Shahibabad (UP)

15.   Phool Singh, aged 44 years
      s/o Mr. Tursi Singh
      Working as Carriage Cleaner
      In the office of SSE/C&W/NDLS
      r/o Vinddara Wan Enclave
      H.No.29, Shahibabad (UP)
                                                   ..Applicants
(Mr. Yogesh Sharma, Advocate)

                                 Versus

1.    Union of India through the General Manager
      Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi

2.    The Divisional Railway Manager
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

3.    The Secretary,
      Ministry of Railway, Rail Bhawan
      New Delhi

4.    Mr. Ram Pal Meena
      s/o Mr. Pannal Meena
      HCC/TDK
      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

5.    Mr. Vikrant Kumar s/o Mr. Jai Prakash
      HCC/DLI
      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

6.    Mr. K Krishnamurti s/o Mr. M Kruppan
      CC/HNZM
      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

7.    Mr. Ram Pal Meena s/o Mr. Pannal Meena
      HCC
      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

8.    Mr. Sushil Kumar s/o Mr. Prakash Chand
      CC/DLI
                                     4


      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

9.    Mr. Nikhil Kumar s/o Mr. Suresh Chand
      CC/DEE
      through Divisional Personal Officer
      Northern Railway, Delhi Division
      State Entry Road, New Delhi

10.   B.K. Sinha s/o Mr. Murlidhar Prasad
      East Sagarpur
      RZ-30, Gali No.6, New Delhi-49

11.   Pyare Lal s/o Mr. Jagat Ram
      House No.186/C3, Railway Colony
      Basant Line Pahad Ganj, New Delhi-55

12.   Vijay Kumar s/o Ram Nath
      House No. A-53, Swarn Nagar Jyanti
      Rail Nagar, Noida-UP

13.   Guddu Das s/o Mr. Hagadu Das
      121/14, Railway Colony
      Kishanganj, Delhi-7

14.   Gurmeet Singh s/o Mr. Laxman Dass
      T 136 B, Railway Colony
      Panipat

15.   Virendra Kumar s/o late Anandi Prasad
      97 C-1, Railway Colony
      Tugalkabad, New Delhi-44

16.   Naresh Kumar s/o late Mr. Munshi Ram
      VPO Chuliana
      District Rohtak, Haryana 124501

17.   Vijay Kumar s/o Mr. Ramnath Shah
      T-35 B, Shri Ram Road
      Civil Line, Railway Colony, Delhi

18.   Firoz s/o Ali Sher
      House No.151, Shahibabad Village
      Distt. Ghaziabad, UP

19.   Ramesh Chander s/o Mr. Bhagwan Dass
      D1/1285 B, Gali No.7-D
      Ashok Nagra, Shahdara
      Delhi-93

20.   Diwan Singh s/o late Dan Singh
                                         5


      House No.1528, Gali No.16
      Nathu Pura, Nathu Colony, Delhi-84

21.   Jaipal s/o late Mr. Kewal Singh
      House No.464, Shahbad
      Daulatpur, Delhi-42

22.   Rajender Kumar s/o Mr. Jhhabbu Lal
      House No.590, Gali No.5A
      Shawatantra Nagar
      Narela, Delhi-40

23.   Vikrant Kumar s/o Mr. Jai Prakash
      House No.464, Gali No.9
      Dalhai Mohalla, Bhola Nath Nagar
      Shahdara, Delhi-32

24.   Dinesh Kumar s/o Mr. Shiv Kmar
      4649/155, Gali No.6
      New Mordern Shahdara
      Delhi-32

25.   Manoj Kumar Tomar s/o Mr. Deputy Singh Tomar
      B-157/1, Pratap Vihar, Part III
      Suleman Nagar, Kirari, Delhi-86

26.   Bodh Raj s/o Mr. Surjit Lal
      46/C-5, Chhoti More Sarai
      Railway Colony, Delhi-6

27.   Pramesh Bhati s/o Mr. Prakash Bhati
      Village Barpura, Dadri
      Gautam Budh Nagar, UP 203 207

28.   Suresh Kumar s/o Mr. Khem Chand
      Village Khairana
      Post Office Bewal
      Distt. Mahindergarh, Haryana

29.   Vishawnath s/o Mr. Raghuveer Singh
      F-10/121, Sector 15
      Rohini, Delhi-89

30.   Babu Singh s/o late Mr. Chiranji
      C-130 A Gali No.1
      Pratap Nagar, Saboli, Delhi-93

31.   Anil Kumar s/o Mr. Babu Ram
      303/5, Railway Colony
      Shakur Basti, Delhi-34

32.   Vijay Kumar Kadam s/o Mr. Madan Lal Kadam
                                    6


      C-66, Panchsheel Enclave, Loni Road
      Bhojpura, Ghaziabad, UP

33.   Umesh Kumar s/o Mr. Jagdish Prasad
      House No.57, Akash Vihar Colony
      Ram Holla, Nangloi, Najafgarh
      Delhi-41

34.   Rahul Kumar s/o Mr. Raghuveer Singh
      B-6/108, Panchwati Colony
      Loni Boarder, Ghaziabad, UP

35.   Dharambir s/o late Mr. Moji Ram
      596/17, New Braham Colony
      Sonipat, Haryana

36.   Rohit Mehra s/o Om Prakash Mehta
      G-14/121, Sector 15
      Rohini, New Delhi

37.   Lilu Ram s/o Mr. Dhanpat Ram
      H.No.VPO Mowana
      Distt. Jind, Haryana 132045

38.   Kailash Kumar s/o Mr. Jagarm
      1368/9, Behind Hafed Sukhpura
      Rothak, Haryana

39.   Vikram Chaudhary s/o late Mr. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
      Flat No.401, Allegance Awantika Extn.
      Charanjiv Vihar, PS Kavi Nagar
      Ghaziabad 201001

40.   Harbans Singh s/o late Khusi Ram
      V&PO Punjawar
      Distt. Una, Haryana

41.   Ashok Kumar s/o Mr. Hawa Singh
      Vill Noswa, Post Chirya
      Tehsil - Ch. Dadri
      Distt. Bhiwani, Haryana 127022

42.   Vinay Kumar s/o late Mr. Haridnder Prasad
      C-129, Hari Nagar, Extn. III
      Harsh Vihar, Tanki Wala road
      Badarpur, New Delhi-44

43.   Parveen Kumar s/o Mr. Madan Singh
      H.No.101, Shakti Nagar
      Kawadi Road, Panipat, Haryana

44.   Tribhuvan Singh Chuphal
                                       7


      s/o Mr. Hayat Singh
      H.No.Plot No.66-A, KH No.643
      Z Block, Shyam Vihar, Phase I
      Najafgarh, Delhi-43

45.   Hari Bhachan Rawat s/o Mr. Chauthi Ram
      H.No.26 L Railway Colony
      Tugalkabad, New Delhi-44

46.   Mukesh Kumar s/o Mr. Rajbir Singh
      WS 116, Gali No.2
      Sudamapuri, West Badrpur
      Shahdara, Delhi-32

47.   Jeet Ram s/o Mr. Phool Chand
      c/o Mr. Daya Chand
      H.No.664, Gali No.4
      Old Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad (UP)

48.   Janesh Kumar s/o Late Mr. Sukhbir Singh
      8 Azadpur Village, Delhi-33

49.   Tej Singh s/o Mr. Thotu Ram
      179, Saral Kunj, Gali No.4
      Loni, Ghaziabad (UP)

50.   Manju w/o Mr. Sudesh Kumar
      644, Gugna Mor
      Ghaziabad (UP)

51.   Yogesh Bahadur s/o Mr. Gyan Bahadur
      A-135, Nathu Colony
      Barari, Delhi-84

52.   Bhim Singh s/o Mohkam Singh
      718/12 New Sainik Colony
      Kankar Khera, Meerut (UP)

53.   Subhash Chand s/o Mr. Phool Singh
      New Sainik Colony
      Kankar Khera, Meerut (UP)

54.   G Rama Rao s/o Mr. G Nag Raj Rao
      M 26-1, Basant Lane
      Pahar Ganj, Railway Colony
      New Delhi-55

55.   Kamalpati s/o Matdeen
      B-201 Preet Vihar
      Ganga Colony, Baghpat Road
      Meerat Nagar, UP 250002
                                     8


56.   Sunil Kumar s/o Ramprit
      Vill. Khanpur
      Post Mansurpur
      Distt. Muzaffar Nagar, UP

57.   Ajay Kumar s/o Mr. Nihal Singh
      Vill. Mustafabad
      Post Pacheda Kala
      Distt. Muzaffarnagar, UP

58.   Shalu d/o Mr. Hari
      5 B2 Railway Colony
      Wazirpur, New Delhi

59.   Venkata Rao Chelli s/o Mr. Kalavayya
      Block No.34/D-1, Railway Colony
      Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi-26

60.   Ramanuj Prasad Sinha s/o Mr. Devanand Prasad
      670, Gali No.4, Purana Vijay Nagar
      Ghaziabad, UP

61.   Sat Pal s/o Mr. Atar Singh
      Shiv Nagar, Near Jind Railway Phatak
      Rohtak, Haryana

62.   Jai Karan
      s/o late Mr. Kirpa Ram
      Vill Gadyara PO Bhawana
      Tehsil Palampur
      Distt. Kangra (HP) 176083

63.   Bijay Kumar s/o Mr. Murlidhar Prasad
      RZ-30, Gali No.6
      East Sagarpur, New Delhi-49

64.   Sunil Kumar s/o Mr. Yudhister Lal
      401 R, Madal Town
      Panipat, Haryana

65.   Ram Naresh Paswan s/o Mr. Soudagar Paswan
      160/C-1, Railway Colony
      Baant Lane, New Delhi-59

66.   Kundan Singh s/o Mr. Ashar Singh
      426 B, Railway Colony
      Punjab Line, Ghaziabad

67.   Surjeet Kumar s/o Mr. Sarwan Singh
      284, 2nd Floor, Gali No.4
      Shankar Marg
      Mandawali, Delhi-92
                                        9



68.   Sukhdev s/o Mr. Karam Chand
      125/14, Railway Colony
      Kishanganj, New Delhi-7

69.   Akash Roshan s/o Mr. Vinod Kumar
      WZ H-20, Sant Nagar Extn.
      Tilak Nagar, New Delhi-18

70.   Jaipal s/o Himmat Lal
      BI-BI Zai Hadaff Idgahj Road
      Shahjahan Pur (UP) 242001

71.   Diwan Singh s/o Natteh Singh
      H.No.12, Rail Vihar
      Sec 33, Noida

72.   Ramphal s/o Fateh Singh
      Vill Post, Budain
      Tehsil Narwana
      Distt. Jind (HR)

73.   Mahesh Kumar s/o late Om Prakash
      217, Kashyam Colony
      Near Balmiki Mandir
      Vill & Post Kaganheri
      New Delhi-71

74.   Mainpal s/o Mr. Gendha Ram
      1120 Sector 9, Old Vijay Nagar
      Ghaziabad (UP)

75.   Surneder s/o Mr. Sukhber Singh
      Vill. Garhi Bala
      PO Bindorli
      Sonipat, Haryana

76.   Sushil Sisodia s/o Mr. Bhawan Singh
      49/9, Gali No.30
      Jaiprakash Nagar, Ghonda, Delhi

77.   Pradeep Kumar Malik s/o Jagbandhu Malik
      112/1, Kishanganj,
      Railway Colony, New Delhi

78.   Raj Kumar s/o Mr. Keshav Ram
      43 E Railway Colony
      Tugalkabad Colony
      1 New Delhi-44

79.   Gourav Maindola s/o Dhanedwar Prasad
      A-1 / 100 DLF Colony Extn. II
                                     10


      Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, UP

80.   Sanjay Kumar Barua
      s/o Mr. Ashok Kumar
      B 265/8, Sai Nagar, Meethapur Extn.
      New Delhi-44

81.   Ram Kumar s/o Nand Lal
      33 C, NR Staff Qtr.
      Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi-3

82.   Kailash Chand Tyagi s/o Mr. D K Tyagi
      A-31, Amar Vihar
      Kirawal Nagar, Delhi

83.   Bachchu Singh s/o Mr. Hari Singh
      Vill & PO Sabora
      Bharatpur, Rajasthan

84.   Raghu Raj Singh s/o Mr. Ram Singh
      Vill & PO Hasari
      Jhansi (UP)

85.   K Krishana Moorthy s/o Mr. M Karpan
      22/136, Trilokpuri
      Delhi-91

86.   Poonam d/o Mangal
      77/1, Sabji Mandi Railway Colony
      Pratap Nagar, Delhi-45

87.   Kavita Devi w/o Mr. D N Tiwari
      180 B/2, Railway Colony
      Paharganj, New Delhi
                                                             ..Respondents
(Mr. Kripa Shanker Prasad, Advocate for official respondents -
 Mr. Nitesh Rana, Advocate for Mr. Saikat Sarkar, Advocate for private
respondents)

                          O R D E R (ORAL)

Mr. A.K. Bhardwaj:

In continuation of its notice No.293E/158/Pt-XXI/P-5 dated 03.06.2014, the Northern Railway decided to hold a written test for filling up 203 posts (General 160, SC 29 and ST 14) of C&W Fitter Grade-III `5200-20200 with Grade Pay of `1900/- from amongst those, who had applied for the same. Such decision was taken vide letter dated 07.11.2014 11 (Annexure R-2). Serving Helper Khalasi, Helper Cleaner and Cleaners of C&W Department, Delhi Division possessing the requisite qualification (intermediate) were eligible to apply for the post. The applicants herein also participated in the selection. When their names were not included in the select list, they filed the present Original Application praying therein:"
"(i) That the Hon'ble Tribunal may graciously be pleased to pass an order of quashing the impugned order dt. 17.2.2015 on the extent of applying the reservation in promotion and consequently pass an order directing the respondents to treat all the 203 posts as unreserved post and fillup the same as per rules without applying reservation.
(ii) That the Hon'ble Tribunal may graciously be pleased to pass an order of quashing the impugned order dt. 15.9.2014 (Annex.A/2) and consequently, pass an order directing the respondents No.3 to issue an appropriate order/circular to the effect that reservation is not applicable in promotion in Railway till exercise done, as per the law of the Hon'ble Supreme court in the case of M. Nagaraj & ors Versus Union of India & Ors, in Writ Petition (Civil) 61/2002.
(iii) on the basis of seniority only in respect of the s and consequently, pass an order directing the respondents No.1, 2 & 4 t issue an appropriate order/circular to the effect that reservation is not applicable in promotion in Railway till exercise done, as per the law of the Hon'ble Supreme court in the case of M. Nagaraj & ors Versus Union of India & Ors, in Writ Petition (Civil) 61/2002.
(iii) Any other relief which the Hon'ble Tribunal deem fit and proper may also be granted to the applicants along with the costs of litigation."

2. During the course of arguments, learned counsel for applicants dropped his plea that there should have been no reservation in favour of SC/ST candidates in the selection process and only espoused that such reserved category candidates, who had not completed three years of service in the Grade, should not have been given the benefit of reservation.

3. Mr. Kripa Shanker Prasad, learned counsel for official respondents opposed the plea and submitted that in terms of letter dated 07.11.2014 12 itself, the candidates belonging to reserved community (SC/ST) with less than three years of regular service and more than one year of regular service, as per instructions contained in PS No.11535 were called for written test. Relevant excerpt of the letter, read out by learned counsel for official respondents, reads thus:-

"The candidates belonging to reserved community (SC/ST) with less then three years of regular service and more than one year of regular service, as per instructions contained in PS No.11535 are being called for written test. Since this selection is a general selection, the panel would be drawn on the basis of merit in terms of Railway Boards letter no. E(NG)I-2008/PM7/4SLP Dt, 19/6/09."

4. Mr. Nitesh Rana, learned proxy counsel for private respondents joined Mr. Kripa Shanker Prasad, learned counsel for official respondents in espousing his plea.

5. Rejoining the submissions, Mr. Yogesh Sharma, learned counsel for applicants submitted that might be the reserved category candidates with one year of regular service were eligible to participate in the selection process, but they could not have been adjusted against general vacancies.

6. We heard the learned counsels for the parties and perused the record.

7. As can be seen from the PS No.11535/98 referred to in circular dated 07.11.2014 SC/ST candidates possessing the requisite qualification should be eligible for being considered against the vacancies reserved for them as per the instructions if they complete the minimum of one year's regular service. A plain reading of the circular clearly suggests that the SC/ST candidates with requisite qualification could be considered only against reserved vacancies. Nevertheless, such candidates, who possessed three 13 years service as on date of initiation on selection process, i.e., 03.06.2014, could be considered against un-reserved vacancies if they could satisfy the general merit. Such is the law declared by Hon'ble Supreme Court in R.K. Sabharwal & others v. State of Punjab & others, (1995) 2 SCC 745.

8. In Sandeep Kumar v. Union of India & others (O.A. No.2596/2011) decided on 11.05.2012, a Division Bench of this Tribunal ruled that only such SC/ST/OBC candidates, who were selected on the same standard as applied to general candidates, should be adjusted against un-reserved vacancies and when a relaxed standard is applied in selecting SC/ST/OBC candidates, e.g. in the age limit, experience, qualification, etc., they should not be adjusted against general vacancies. Paragraph 15 of the Order reads thus:-

"15. At this juncture it would also be relevant to refer to OM dated 1.7.1998 wherein it was clarified as follows:-
"3. In this connection, it is clarified that only such SC/ST/OBC candidates who are selected on the same standard as applied to general candidates shall not be adjusted against reserved vacancies. In other words, when a relaxed standard is applied in selecting an SC/ST/OBC candidates, for example in the age-limit, experience, qualification, permitted number of chances in written examination, extended zone of consideration larger than what is provided for general category candidates, etc., the SC/ST/OBC candidate are to be counted against reserved vacancies. Such candidates would be deemed as unavailable for consideration against unreserved vacancies."

Such is also the position as provided in R.B.E. No.126.2010, which reads thus:-

"Please refer to Board's letters quoted above wherein it has been clarified that SC/ST candidates promoted on their own merit will be adjusted against unreserved points. In this connection it was further clarified that instructions contained in Board's letters of even number dated 7.8.2002 (Bahri's 128/2002, P-147) and 20.6.2003 (Bahri's 103/2003, p-132) shall take effect from 7.8.2002.
14
2. Thereafter, vide Board's letter of even number dated 6.5.2005 (Bahri's 77/2005, p-86), it was clarified that since in the case of promotions by Non Selection method, promotions are made on the basis of seniority-cum-fitness and the concept of merit is not involved in such promotions, instructions contained in Board's letter dated 7.8.2002 and 20.6.2003 referred to above do not apply to the promotions made by Non Selection method.
3. The instructions on the above subject have since been reviewed by the Nodal Department i.e. DOP&T in the light of CAT/Madras order in OA No.900/2005 (S. Kalugasalamoorthy V/s UOI & others), upheld by Hon'ble High Court/ Madras (WP No.15926/2007). Based on the decision communicated by DOP&T in the matter, it is now clarified that SC/ST candidates appointed by promotion on their own merit and seniority and not owing to reservation or relaxation of qualifications will be adjusted against unreserved points of reservation roster, irrespective of the fact whether the promotion is made by selection method or non-selection method. These orders shall take effect from 21.8.1997, the date on which post based reservation was introduced on Railways. However, the staff already promoted prior to issue of this letter may not be reverted. Shortfall in the category of SCs/STs, if any, shall be made good through vacancies arising in future.
4. Accordingly, Board's letters dated 6.5.2005 and 29.1.2009 (Bahri's 19/2009, p-18) referred to above are withdrawn herewith.
5. The above instructions may be brought to the notice of all concerned and may be ensured that the same are strictly and scrupulously implemented forthwith."

9. In view of the aforementioned Order of the Tribunal and Railway Board's letter, there can be no doubt that only such SC/ST candidates, who have not availed the benefit of age relaxation, can be adjusted against general vacancies and not others.

10. In the circumstances, the Original Application is disposed of with following directions:

i) Such reserved category candidates, who fulfilled the eligibility prescribed for un-reserved category candidates in all respects and 15 who could stand in general merit, would be adjusted against un-

reserved vacancies.

ii) Such reserved category candidates, who had completed one year's or more service as on cut-off date determined by the official respondents shall be given benefit of relaxed standard and would be adjusted against reserved category candidates.

iii) Such reserved category candidates, who did not satisfy the condition mentioned in Railway Board's PS No.11535/98 as on cut-off date, i.e., who had not completed three years service, should not be adjusted against un-reserved vacancies.

iv) Such reserved category candidates, who could qualify the examination with general standard but could not be adjusted against un-reserved vacancies because they had not fulfilled all such conditions, which are required to be fulfilled by un-reserved category candidates, may be exempted from written examination against future vacancies, if the official respondents choose to do so.

11. The official respondents may complete the necessary exercise in view of the aforementioned Order as expeditiously as possible preferably within eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this Order. It is made clear that the appointment of reserved category candidates, who could find place in general merit as well as of those who are entitled to be appointed against the reserved vacancies with relaxed standard, should not be delayed anymore and they should offered appointment forthwith. All the vacancies for which process had started should be filled up and the vacancies should 16 not be kept vacant to await ineligible candidates to acquire eligibility. No costs.

(K. N. Shrivastava )                                 ( A.K. Bhardwaj )
 Member (A)                                              Member (J)

February 29, 2016
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