Central Administrative Tribunal - Cuttack
Biswajit Parida vs M/O Railways on 9 April, 2026
1 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
CUTTACK BENCH, CUTTACK
O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019
Reserved on 08.04.2026 Pronounced on 09.04.2026
CORAM:
THE HON'BLE SHRI SUDHI RANJAN MISHRA, MEMBER (J)
THE HON'BLE SHRI PRAMOD KUMAR DAS, MEMBER (A)
Biswajit Parida, aged about 48 years, Son of
Late Sunakar Parida, residing at Plot No.
F/463, C.D.A., Sector-6, Cuttack, at present
working as Railway Supervisor (RS) at
Cuttack.
......Applicant
VERSUS
1. Union of India, represented by General
Manager, E.Co. Rly, Rail Sadan,
Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751017,
Dist. Khurda.
2. Divisional Railway Manager(P) East Coast
Railway, Khurda Road, Dist. Khurda, PIN-
752050.
3. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager,
East Coast Railway, Khurda Road, Dist.
Khurda, PIN-752050.
4. Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, East
Coast Railway, Khurda Road, Dist. Khurda,
PIN-752050.
......Respondents
For the applicant : Mr. S.K.Parida, Counsel
For the respondents : Mr. D.K.Patanaik, Counsel
RAVI KUMAR
2026.04.08
16:43:34 +05'30'
2 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019
O R D E R
PRAMOD KUMAR DAS, MEMBER (A):
After giving fullest consideration to the arguments advanced by the parties, we have gone through the averments made in the OA, counter, rejoinder and notes of submission filed by the applicant and perused the documents placed in support thereof. We feel that for adjudicating the issue involved in this OA, a little bit facts of the matter are absolutely necessary to be recorded.
2. According to the applicant, he was initially appointed as Ticket Collector on 15.09.1997 in E.Co.Rly. and, on 14.05.2004, promoted to the post of Sr. TC/TTE. On 19.09.2006 after qualifying departmental examination, he was empanelled for the post of ECRC [GP Rs. 2800/-] and, on completion of training, he joined as ECRC at Talcher on 09.02.2007. The RS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 came into effect from 01.01.2016 vide RBE No. 90/2016. Under RBE No. 90/2016, the Railway Board issued letter dated 02.08.2016 giving the modalities of fixation of pay, seniority etc. On RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 3 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 01.01.2018, Resp. No.4 published provisional seniority list of Reservation Supervisor, L-6 [GP Rs. 4200/-] wherein his name finds place at Sl. No. 24. While the matter stood thus, the Railway Board issued RBE No. 28/2018 dated 22.02.2018 relating to revision in cadre structure and staffing pattern due to merger of three categories of posts in the Commercial Department over Indian Railways- viz. Ticket Checking (TC), Commercial Clerk (CC) and Enquiry-cum- Reservation-Clerk (ECRC). Thereafter, on 05.07.2018, Resp. No.4, taking into consideration the merger into an unified category, published provisional integrated seniority list of Chief Commercial Clerk-cum-Reservation Clerk, L-6 [GP Rs. 4200/-] as on 01.07.2018 in which his name finds place at Sl. No. 52. Being aggrieved by such merger and the place and position of his name shown in the gradation list, he submitted representation on 30.07.2018, inter alia, praying to keep the proposal of merger in abeyance until acceptance of the proposal of merger by all categories of employees of the Railways. The respondents disposed of his RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 4 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 representation vide letter dated 10.09.2018 stating that date of promotion to GP Rs. 4200/- has been taken into account while preparing the seniority list of Chief Commercial-cum- Reservation Clerk in L-6. Thereafter, he submitted another representation to the ADRM, E.Co.Rly., on 15.10.2018 praying to keep in abeyance the proposal of merger and the integrated seniority list till a decision in the cases filed before the Tribunal on the said proposal of merger. The authority concerned vide letter dated 10.12.2018 communicated the decision on his representation inter alia stating that in terms of para 302 IREM, the seniority among the incumbents of a post in a grade is governed by the date of appointment to the grade. Thereafter, Railway Board issued RBE No. 59/2019 on 05.04.2019 on the subject of merger of three categories of posts in the Commercial Department viz. Ticket Checking Staff (TC), Commercial Clerk (CC) & Enquiry-cum-Reservation Clerk (ECRC) providing therein as under:
"As Railways are aware, consequent to the acceptance of the recommendations of the 7th CPC, Railway Board RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 5 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 had issued orders vide RBE No.28/2018 regarding the merger of Ticket Checking Staff, Commercial Clerks & ECRCs in a phased manner.
2. It has been observed that implementation of RBE No. 28/2018 has led to reported problems at the field level. The integration of seniority of existing CCs and ECRCs has led to either of the groups feeling aggrieved due to their promotional prospects perceived as getting affected on account of the vacancies in their seniority group being thrown open to the other category also due to the merger. Nomenclature of the post in GP 4200/- has also been represented against as has the exclusion of only the TC categories from first phase merger.
3. It was also noted that there were several Court cases pending on this issue in various Benches of the Hon'ble CAT - in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Calcutta, Jaipur, Ernakulam, Madras and in the Principal Bench, New Delhi. In some of these cases, interim stay orders on operation of RBE 28/2018 and subsequent actions taken thereon have also been issued.
4. It has also been noted that implementation of RBE 28/2018 has also not been uniform as reported from various Railways. In some Railways, vacancies that existed as on the date of circulation of the instructions, i.e. 22.02.2018 in the CC or ECRC group were to be filled up exclusively by employees belonging to that group. Only after this was done, the process of merger of the existing cadre to take place. However, this methodology has not been followed in some other Railways where vacancies that existed in the categories of CC and ECRC have not been filled up by the respective seniority groups prior to merger of the existing categories.
5. Further, subsequent to merger above, general re- allotment of functionalities ordered in some units have triggered staff representation and led to court cases.
6. In the light of the above developments, the instructions issued vide RBE 28/2018 ibid have been reviewed in consultation with both the Staff Federations i.e. AIRF & NFIR, and the Commercial RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 6 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 Directorate. Accordingly, while accepting the basic premise of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations that the three Commercial categories of TC, CC and ECRC would eventually require to be merged, the revised methodology of implementing the same has been worked out and is enclosed herewith as Annexure 'A'.
7. The above revised provisions may be brought to the notice of the benches of the Hon'ble CAT wherever cases have been filed in this regard. Wherever, directions of the Hon'ble Court affect implementation of these revised instructions, appropriate action to get these directions revised/lifted to be done before implementation.
8. It may also be noted that while the methodology implementing merger of cadres would be as in Annexure-A, this would not operate to prevent utilization of existing Commercial staff across functional categories, wherever such utilization is considered inescapable in administrative exigencies."
"Annexure 'A' Annexure to Railway Board's letter No. F(NG)1/2016/PM 1/12(Pt.) dated 05.04.2019 Methodology for implementing the merger of Ticket Checking Staff, Commercial Clerks & Enquiry-cum- Reservation Clerks.
(i) Existing cadres as on 22.02.2018 of Commercial Clerk and ECRC categories would continue to be in separate seniority groups as per the pre-22.2.2018 position.
(ii) The designation of the posts as laid down in para 2.1 of RBE 28/2018 would, however, continue with the modification that the post in level-6-GP 4200/- would be designated as Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Supervisor instead of Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk as mentioned in RBE 28/2018.
(iii) While the designation will remain the same, two seniority groups of ECRC and CC categories would continue to be maintained separately and promotions RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 7 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 will also be for vacancies arising in the relevant seniority group only.
(iv) As and when employees in the seniority group of ECRC move up from GP 2800/-/Level-5, the promotional quota of the vacant posts will be filled up by employees in the feeder grade of Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk in GP 2000/- L-3. This would effectively mean that the posts vacated by ECRCs in their entry grade would be filled up by eligible Commercial Clerks.
(v) Considering the functional work profile, recruitment as only stand alone ECRCs in future will not take place.
Such DR is to take place only against the merged designation for all three categories of Commercial employees, i.e. Ticket Checking, Commercial Clerk and ECRC as already underlined in RBE No. 28/2018.
(vi) In short, as regards existing employees, instead of keeping only the TC category separate and merging seniority of CC and ECRCs; it is now recommended that all three seniority groups TC, CC and ECRC be maintained separately for existing employees. Merger into a common seniority and common functionalities will take place for future DR.
2. As seniority groups would continue to be separate, those originally recruited as ECRCs or as Commercial Clerks would continue to be assigned functions that are in line with their categorization to the extent possible. Orders issued to the contrary in the intervening period would be reviewed. However, in administrative exigencies, there is no objection to employees recruited as ECRCS or CCs being assigned work pertaining to the other, in accordance with the common designation that they still belong to.
3. Restoring original seniority groups by revising of RBE 28/2018 now would have implications on selection/suitability tests already conducted in the intervening period. While Railways/Units that have followed the methodology of filling up vacancies that existed as on 22.02.2018 by the respective seniority groups before effective merger of seniority would likely not face issues after separation of seniority now; the RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 8 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 same would not necessarily hold true for Railways/Units that have followed a different methodology. Accordingly, to deal with the situation, the following is recommended;
(a) There will be no reversions on promotions that have already been effected due to the revision in seniority grouping now proposed to be effected.
(b) As a corollary to (a), those employees in the promotional posts now, who would otherwise have not been eligible due to the separation of seniority groups, would continue in their promotional posts as a measure personal to them until vacancies in the promotional grade arise to accommodate them in the normal course.
(c) Those employees who have not been considered for promotion earlier due their position in the erstwhile merged seniority groups, but are now found eligible on account of their seniority in the separate seniority group, are to be considered for promotion in the next selection/suitability test for vacancies against their seniority group. On clearing the promotional test and joining the working post in the promotional grade, they may be accorded proforma benefits of pay fixation without any arrears of wages."
Thereafter, again he submitted representation on 22.01.2022 inter alia stating the loopholes and as to how it will be prejudicial to his interest in case the said RBE is implemented. According to him, in similar situation, upon consideration of representation submitted by some of the aggrieved employees, the respondents intimated in letter dated 17.02.2022 that integrated seniority list is being devised to facilitate a level field to provide opportunity to RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 9 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 the senior staff for promotion, who are left out often for separate seniority units, but, in his case no such devise is made. In the above circumstances, being aggrieved, he has filed this OA praying for the reliefs as under:
"8. Relief(s) sought:-
Admit the Original Application, call for the records and after hearing the parties, Annexure-'A', VI of the RBE No.59/2019, dt.05.04.2019 is to be set aside and further be pleased to direct the Respondents to prepare an integrated seniority list in the merged categories of commercial staff i.e. TC, CC and ECRC as per the 7th pay commission recommendation. And also direct the Respondents to fix the seniority of the applicant with retrospective effect within a stipulated time."
3. The grounds stated in support of the relief pleaded in the OA and reiterated by the Ld. Counsel for the applicant in course of hearing are that he joined as ECRC [GP Rs 2800/-] at Talcher and the qualification for entry into said post is Graduation; whereas the GP of Commercial Clerk is Rs. 2800/- and the entry qualification is Intermediate [+2].In the seniority list published as on 01.01.2018, his name was placed at sl. No. 24 whereas in the revised seniority list after merger published as on 01.07.2018, his name has been RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 10 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 pushed down to 52 and, thus, the merger has cascading adversial effect on his further promotion. The employees working in booking, parcel and goods come under Commercial Clerk. The staff strength of ECRC is much less in comparison to Commercial Clerk. Therefore, the employees working as ECRC since several years are deprived of getting appropriate place and position in the unified cadre so as to get promotion at the right time. The gradation list published as on 01.07.2018 is provisional one. As per clause 2.2 of RBE 28/2018, the ticket checking staff is likely to be merged in the unified cadre in future leading to publication of another integrated seniority list. The unified cadre has been implemented without allowing any financial and service benefits to the employees like him, who have lost their seniority. Hence, according to him, by virtue of the merger as per RBE No. 28/2018, the unequal became equal and, therefore, the said RBE is not sustainable in the eyes of law.
RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 11 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 In the RBE No. 93/2016 it has been stated that downgradation of posts for certain category of Railways was not accepted by the Govt. of India and, when the downgradation was not accepted, preparation of integrated seniority list pushing his place down is, thus, illegal. It is stated that unequal cannot be treated as equal is the law of the land. By virtue of the merger, the posts having less qualification have been merged with the posts having higher qualification violating the fundamental principle that unequal cannot be made equal. Hence, the provisional integrated seniority list of Commercial-cum-Reservation Clerk in L-6 [GP Rs. 4200/-] as on 01.07.2018 issued by the respondents is illegal. Therefore, clause (vi) in Annexure-A annexed to RBE 59/2019 [i.e.(vi) In short, as regards existing employees, instead of keeping only the TC category separate and merging seniority of CC and ECRCs; it is now recommended that all three seniority groups TC, CC and ECRC be maintained separately for existing employees. Merger into a common seniority and common functionalities RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 12 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 will take place for future DR] is liable to be set aside with direction to maintain integrated seniority among the merged category for the interest of justice and equity.
4. Respondents filed their counter stating inter alia that as a matter of policy, the Railway Board after considering the matter, issued clarification on RBE 28/2018 vide RBE No. 59/2019. As per clause (vi) of Annexure -A appended to RBE No. 59/2019, revised separate seniority lists in respect of CC and ECRC were issued on 01.01.2021 and 01.01.2022 wherein the name of the applicant was shown at Sl. No. 21 and 11 respectively. Accordingly, it is stated that the basic issue raised in this OA has been resolved. The applicant is working as ECRC-II, L-6, wherefrom he will be promoted to ECRC-I, L-7. It is stated that in between promotion, if there is stagnation for 10 years, then he will become eligible for financial upgradation upon fulfillment of other conditions provided in the MACP Scheme. The applicant relied on the letter dated 17.02.2022 to establish the discrimination but the said case is not similar to the case in hand inasmuch as RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 13 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 the technical cadre of Engineering department maintained at various fields units under the Assistant Divisional Engineer (Works), Permanent Way and Bridge separately though they have same work and pay. The promotional aspect differs according to their unit even though they belong to same division. To sort out the matter to centralize the post and promotion under Sr. DPO/KUR, decision was taken at Divisional PNM Forum and communicated in letter dated 17.02.2022. In this OA, the letter dated 17.02.2022 is totally different from the present case as its seniority is under the control of Sr. DPO/KUR though they work in Commercial Department. Ld. Counsel for the respondents has submitted that the applicant joined the Railway based on order of appointment which is an agreement between employee and employee. Once, he entered into service on the basis of a contract, he is to be governed by the rules and regulations issued by the competent authority from time to time. Therefore, he is estopped to challenge the decision RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 14 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 taken by the authority as a matter of policy. Accordingly, respondents have prayed for dismissal of this OA.
5. In course of hearing, Ld. Counsel for the applicant has submitted that the Railway Board is not justified in maintaining separate seniority group of TC, CC and ECRC ignoring the 7th CPC recommendation for merger of three categories of posts into a single cadre. The applicant is still continuing in GP Rs. 4200/- [Level-6] whereas his juniors have been promoted to GP Rs. 4600/- [L-7], therefore, issuance of separate seniority list of three category of posts is highly illegal, arbitrary contrary to the settled principle of service jurisprudence since merger cannot be taken place in a phased manner for which applicant loses his seniority. Therefore, the clause (vi) of Annexure-A appended to RBE No. 59/2019 is liable to be set aside with direction to the respondents to prepare an integrated seniority list in the merged category of commercial staff [TC, CC and ECRC] as per the recommendation of the 7th CPC and, as a consequence, to direct the respondents to fix his seniority in RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 15 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 the merged category with retrospective effect within a stipulated time for the ends of justice.
6. In this OA, there is no prayer for quashing the RBE No. 28/2018. The only prayer the applicant has made in this OA is to quash the condition stipulated in clause (vi) of RBE 59/2019 with direction to the respondents to prepare an integrated seniority list in the merged categories of Commercial staff, i.e. TC, CC and ECRC as per the 7 th CPC recommendation.
7. The recommendations of the 7th CPC insofar as merger of the cadres of Commercial Staff is as under:
"11.40.64 There are three categories of Commercial Staff- Commercial Clerks, Enquiry Cum Reservation Clerks (ECRCs) and Ticket Checking staff (TTEs and TCs). They are responsible for commercial duties like issuing of tickets- unreserved as well as reserved, handling enquiries, checking of tickets on board trains, etc. Their present structure, along with the employee strength in each GP is as follows:
Grade Commercial ECRCs Ticket % of Total Pay Clerks Checking Staff Strength 4600 5975 2320 7021 20.28 4200 13648 5800 16072 47.03 2800 6572 2425 11.91 2400 7723 10.23 2000 3679 4.87 1900 4287 5.68 RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 16 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 11.40.65 For Commercial Clerks, the minimum educational qualification stipulated is Class X. Entry into the cadre is only at GP 2000 - 50 percent direct recruitment through RRB; 33 1/3% through LDCE from eligible erstwhile Gr.D staff of Traffic and Commercial Departments with three years of continuous service; 16 2/3% through promotion of matriculate employees in GP 1800 from eligible categories. For ECRCs, graduation is the minimum requirement, with entry GP2800. Entry in Ticket Checking staff is at GP 1900-50% direct recruitment by RRB with the minimum educational qualification of Class X and the remaining 50 percent filled by promotion-33.33% by General Selection and 16.66 percent by LDCE with minimum qualification of Class X. 11.40.66 All the three categories have demanded improvement in their pay structure. Representations have also been received to upgrade the entry level qualification of Commercial Clerks and Ticket Checking staff from the current level of Class X to graduation. It has also been stated that with the proliferation of technology for booking unreserved and reserved tickets, the requirement of Commercial Clerks and ECRCs is going down. At the same time, with an increase in the number of trains, the need for Ticket Checking staff is on the rise.
Hence, it has been suggested that these three cadres should be merged.
*** *** 11.40.69 Hence, the Commission finds merit in the argument that the three categories of Commercial staff should be unified into a single cadre. Accordingly, it is recommended that they should be consolidated into one cadre called Commercial and Ticketing Staff. The cadre will have the following structure after merger:
Grade Pay Level % Distribution of Posts 4600 7 20 4200 6 47 2800 5 22 2000 3 11 RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 17 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 11.40.70 Employees in GP 1900 should be upgraded to GP 2000; those in GP 2400 should be upgraded to GP 2800 and then placed in the appropriate level in the new pay matrix. The inter-se seniority will be as per normal rules of seniority. Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per the requirements. The recruitment in the cadre should be at two levels:
a. At Level 3: 50% from open market through RRB, with minimum qualification of Class XII, 33 𝟏/𝟑 % through General Selection from Traffic and Commercial staff in GP 1800 fulfilling the eligibility criterion, and 16 𝟐/𝟑% through LDCE b. At Level 5: 50% from open market through RRB, with minimum qualification of Graduation, and 50% through promotion.
11.40.71 With this merger, employees in GP 1900 and GP 2400 will get the benefit of upgradation. At the same time, the job content of all three categories will be enriched, as they will be able to join any of the three streams.
Organizational flexibility will be enhanced as the department will have a larger pool of employees for optimal utilization, as per the requirement."
8. We find that taking into consideration para 11.40.64 and 11.40.70, the Railway Board issued RBE No. 28/2018 stating inter alia as under:
"Upgradation of posts proposed from erstwhile GP 1900 to GP 2000, and from erstwhile GP2400 to GP 2800 have already been notified for implementation vide Annexure- B of Railway Board's communication No. PC-VII /2016/RSRP/2 dated 02.08.2016 (RBE No 93/2016). Recommendations regarding the merger of posts in the three categories of TC, CC and ECRC have been under consideration in Board's office. After consultation with both recognized staff Federations (AIRF and NFIR) and with the concerned Directorates in the Railway Board, it RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 18 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 has now been decided to implement the merger into a unified category of 'Commercial and Ticketing Staff in a phased manner. Details of the cadre structure/AVC, staffing pattern and norms of appointment/selection for this unified category are tabulated in the Annexure to this letter.
2. The following modalities may be adopted while switching over to the unified cadre structure detailed in the accompanying Annexure:
2.1 Merger of the three categories will follow a graded approach. In first phase, the Ticket Checking category as a whole, with all its existing incumbents, will continue as a separate category with its existing cadre structure and staffing pattern, while the existing staff working in the categories of CC and ECRCs may be merged. The merged categories of CC and ECRC will accordingly have a four tier structure of posts and functional designation, as below:
i) Commercial-cum Reservation Clerk in Level-3 (entry level)
ii) Senior Commercial-cum - Reservation Clerk in Level-5 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Senior Commercial Clerk and Enquiry-cum-Reservation Clerk that are in Level-5
iii) Chief Commercial -cum-Reservation Clerk in Level-6 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Head Commercial Clerk and Enquiry-cum-Reservation Supervisor that are in Level-6 iv) Commercial Superintendent in Level-7 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Chief Booking Supervisor and Chief Enquiry-cum- Reservation Supervisor that are in Level-7 2.2 In the second phase of the merger, all future recruitments to the relevant category(ies) will be in the unified cadre structure merging Ticket Checking category also with the cadre of CC & ECRC. The final unified cadre structure with designation of posts, staffing pattern and norms for appointment will be as detailed in accompanying Annexure.
2.3 As merger progresses from the first phase (Para in 2.1 above) to the second phase (Para in 2.2 above), RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 19 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 nomenclature(s) of posts will also change correspondingly.
3. 10 + 2 minimum entry qualification has been prescribed for entry into Level-3 of the Ticket Collectors/ Commercial Clerks categories, as may be seen in the accompanying Annexure. It is clarified that this stipulation (of 10 + 2 minimum qualification) will not apply to existing regular staff against promotional intake.
4. Usual rules/principles will apply while determining inter se seniority in the merged categories.
5. Revised training modules necessitated due to the merger above will be prepared and notified separately by the concerned Directorate."
9. Since, several Court cases were filed before various Benches of this Tribunal, viz. Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Calcutta, Jaipur, Ernakulam, Madras and in the Principal Bench, New Delhi and, in some of the cases, interim stay orders on operation of RBE 28/2018 and subsequent actions taken thereon have also been issued and it was reported that implementation of RBE No. 28/2018 has led to problems at the field level, in consultation with both the Staff Federations, i.e. AIRF & NFIR, and the Commercial Directorate, the Railway Board issued the clarificatory order vide RBE No. 59/2019, quoted above. The RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 20 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 applicant in this OA also fingered towards the RBE No. 28/2018.
10. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Railway Board Vs. P.R. Subramaniyam, 1978 (1) SCC 158, held that the orders issued by railway board have statutory force. Further, in the case of Prabhat Ranjan Singh & ANR. Vs. R.K. Kushwaha & Ors. [Civil Appeal No(S). 9176 of 2018 @ SLP (C) No(S). 22444 of 2017] decided on September 07, 2018, it has been held that there can be no manner of doubt that the Railways is not bound by the memorandum issued by the DoPT and are empowered to frame its own rules to lay down the service conditions of its employees and, that, the IREM has statutory force and has been issued in exercise of powers vested under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution.
11. It is also a well-settled legal principle that the government (and statutory employers) has the authority to unilaterally alter service conditions--such as pay scales, promotion criteria, and retirement age--through RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 21 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 amendments to statutory rules (e.g., under Article 309 of the Constitution) and, that, the Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation does not have any role to play in matters that are strictly governed by the service regulations. This is an exercise that is undertaken by the State in discharge of its public duties and should not brook undue interference by the Court. The Court and Tribunal must respect the policy decisions of the Government unless there is clear evidence of arbitrariness or mala fide intentions.
12. It is not the case of the applicant that there was integrated seniority list of TC, CC and ECRC, which has been altered by the respondents. The 7th CPC recommended for merger of the cadre and when it was effected the same led to various court cases and, therefore, in consultation with the Staff Federations, i.e. AIRF & NFIR, and the Commercial Directorate, issued the clarification vide RBE No. 59/2019, one of which is that as regards existing employees, instead of keeping only the TC category separate and merging seniority of CC and ECRCs; it is now RAVI KUMAR 2026.04.08 16:43:34 +05'30' 22 O.A.No. 260/00106 of 2019 recommended that all three seniority groups TC, CC and ECRC be maintained separately for existing employees. Merger into a common seniority and common functionalities will take place for future DR and, this clarification is with reference to the RBE No. 28/2018, which has not been challenged by the applicant in this OA. In the said premises, since the RBEs were issued by the Railway Board, in absence of any such allegation of proof of malice or arbitrariness, we are not inclined to interfere on the same.
13. In the result, the OA sans any merit is dismissed. Pending MAs, if any, also stands disposed of. Parties to bear their own costs.
(Pramod Kumar Das) (Sudhi Ranjan Mishra)
Member (Admn.) Member (Judl.)
RK/PS
RAVI KUMAR
2026.04.08
16:43:34 +05'30'