Central Administrative Tribunal - Hyderabad
J Krishna Rao vs M/O Railways on 26 April, 2024
OA/1298/2015
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
HYDERABAD BENCH
OA/020/1298/2015
HYDERABAD, this the 26th day of April, 2024
Hon'ble Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne, JudicialMember
Hon'ble Ms. Shalini Misra, Administrative Member
1. J.Krishna Rao, S/o late Simhachalam, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
2. D.Devendra Reddy, S/o D.V.Yella Reddy, aged 41 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
3. D.L.L.V.Sudheer Reddy, S/o Yogananda Reddy, aged 40 years, Occ: Loco
Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
4. R.B.N.Raju, S/o R.S.Rama Raju, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Rajahmundry R.S.
5. K.Eswara Rao, S/o Nooka Raju, aged 46 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Rajahmundry R.S.
6. B.S.N.Murthy, S/o Koteswara Rao, aged 43 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
7. V.A.N.Murthy, S/o Laxminarayana, aged 45 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
8. N.S.Prakash, S/o N.Kameswar Rao, aged 45 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
9. K.Narasinga Rao, S/o K.Dharma Raju, aged 43 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller. South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
10.P.V.V.Prasad, S/o P.Surya Rao, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Rajahmundry R.S.
11.N.Srinivasa Rao, S/o N.Kondala Rao, aged 48 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
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OA/1298/2015
12.K.A.R.Prem Kumar, S/o K.Koneswara Rao, aged 45 years, Occ: Loco
Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
13.Hari Prasad Tiwari, S/o T.V.V.S.Prasad, aged 45 years, Oce: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller. South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
14.Ch.V.Koteswara Rao, S/o Ch. Venkata Rao, aged 39 years, Occ: Loco
Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
15.M.Narasinga Rao, S/o M.Venkata Rao, aged 39 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
16.Sk.Rahiman, S/o Sk.Badesaheb, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Vijayawada R.S.
17.K.Narasimha Rao, S/o K.Adinarayana aged 41 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
18. S.Bhaskar, S/o S.Subbaiah, aged 53 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods), O/o
The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Bitragunta R.S.
19. G.Suresh, S/o G.Audiseshaiah, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Bitragunta R.S.
20. P.Srinivasulu, S/o P.Ramanaiah, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Bitragunta R.S.
21. T.Malyadri, S/o T.Malakondaiah, aged 45 years,
Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller,
South Central Railway, Bitragunta R.S.
22. G.Sahadeva Reddy, S/o G.sidda Reddy, aged 47 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Bitragunta R.S.
23. K.Ramesh, S/o K.Nageswara Rao, aged 43 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods),
O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway, Vijayawada R.S.
24. K.K.V.S.Sarath Babu, S/o Veerabhadra Rao, aged 41 years, Occ: Loco
Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
25. V.Malakonda Rayudu, S/o V.Venkateswarlu, aged 48 years, Occ: Loco
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OA/1298/2015
Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
26. D.V.S.Ramalingam, S/o D.Lakshmana Rao, aged 44 years, Occ: Loco
Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada R.S.
27. G.V.V.Ratnaji, S/o G.K.Mohan Rao, aged 39 years, Occ: Loco Pilot
(Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller, South Central Railway,
Rajahmundry R.S.
...Applicants.
(By Advocate : Mr. KRKV Prasad)
Vs.
1. Union of India represented by The Chairman, Railway Board, Ministry of
Railways, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi.
2. The General Manager, South Central Railway, Rail Nilayam,
Secunderabad.
3. The Chief Personnel Officer, South Central Railway, Rail Nilayam,
Secunderabad.
4. The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, South Central Railway,
Vijayawada division, Vijayawada.
5. P.Molakaiah, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller,
South Central Railway, Vijayawada division, Bitragunta R.S.
6. T.Sunil Kumar, Occ: Loco Pilot (Goods), O/o The Chief Crew Controller
(Diesel), South Central Railway, Vijayawada division, Vijayawada R.S.
... Respondents
(By Advocate: Mrs. B Gayatri Varma, Sr. CGSC)
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OA/1298/2015
ORAL ORDER
(As per Hon'ble Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne, Judicial Member) Heard Mr. KRKV Prasad, learned counsel for the applicants and Mrs. B Gayatri Varma, learned counsel for the respondents.
2. By this Original Application the applicants are seeking the following relief(s):
"to call for the records pertaining Memorandum No.Mech/Rg/26/2015, dated 24.06.2015 and Office Order No. Mech/RG/31/2015 dated 29.07.2015 and declare the action of the respondents in placing the names of the unwilling employees at S.No. 2,3,7, 12 (retired), 92and 127 also the juniors to the applicants from S.No. 136 to 150 in the select list dated 24.06.2015 while ordering ad-hoc promotion to the post of Loco Pilot (Passenger) with the consequential posting order dated 29.07.2015 in favor of some of the said juniors to the applicants as illegal, arbitrary, unjust and is in violation of the law decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and set aside and quash the said select list to the extent of unwilling and retired employees also from S.No. 136 to 150, duly setting aside and quashing the promotion order dated 29.07.2015 to the extent of S.No. 90 to 96 and direct the official respondents to revise the said impugned | proceedings accordingly by deleting the names of unwilling and retired employees and also juniors to the applicants from the said select list, duly obtaining willingness of all the employees coming up within zone of consideration and order ad-hoc promotion to the post of Loco Pilot (Passenger) in favour of the applicants forthwith and grant all consequential benefits and pass such other order or orders as deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice."
3. Brief facts of the case in a nutshell are as follows:
The applicants are working as Loco Pilot (Goods) in Vijayawada Division of South Central Railway. They are eligible to be promoted either for regular or ad-hoc promotion as Loco Pilot (Passenger). In the feeder cadre seniority list of Loco Pilot (Goods), the names of the applicants are between S.No. 503 to 534, while the employees who belong to SC/ST category whose names are enlisted in the impugned select list are between S.No. 557 to 560;
578 to 581 and down below. It is contention of the applicants that the Page 4 of 8 OA/1298/2015 deliberate action of following roster point and 'own merit' even in ad-hoc arrangement is not only in violation of the law decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, but also the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble High Court at Hyderabad on 29.04.2015. The learned counsel for the applicants further submitted that in the impugned proceedings dated 24.06.2015, the names of the juniors to the applicants are enlisted at S.No. 136 to 150 and among them, the employees at S.No. 136, 137, 138,144 and 145 are yet to be given the pre-
promotional training. Since the employees at Sl. No. 139, 140, 141, 142, 146, 147, 148, 149 and 150 have been sent for the training, they have been promoted except 149 and 150 vide impugned posting order dated 29.07.2015. The applicants on knowing about the issuance of impugned proceedings dated 24.06.2015, submitted representations dated 23.07.2015 with a request to publish revised select list considering deletion of the names of unwilling employees and also Hon'ble Supreme Court decisions in the matter of reservation in promotion. The applicants learnt that the employees whose names are enlisted in the impugned proceeding dated 24.06.2015 at Sl. No. 2, 3, 7, 92, 127 were not willing to take the subject promotion and the employee at Sl. No. 12 has already retired. Thus, in terms of the law decided by this Tribunal in O.A. No. 333 of 2013, which has been confirmed by the Hon'ble High Court in WP No.20809/2014 vide order dated 28.07.2014 and also by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in SLP (C) No.7990/2015 CC No.3196/2015 dated 09.03.2015, the action of enlisting the names of unwilling employees and juniors to the applicants by observing the policy of reservation, is illegal, arbitrary and unjust. Being aggrieved, the applicants filed the present O.A. and prayed for the aforesaid relief.
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OA/1298/2015
4. After notice, the respondents appeared through their counsel and opposed the relief on the ground that the issue of reservation in promotions to SC/ST was finally decided by the Hon'ble High Court of AP/Telangana in a batch of Writ Petitions by common order dated 29.04.2015 by directing the Railways to undertake and complete the exercise of gathering data and forming the opinion and the parameters laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj's case in not later than six months. Accordingly, assessment has been prepared for 156 vacancies comprising of 12 SC, 7 ST and 137 UR and selection process initiated to fill up the vacancies for the post of Loco Pilot (Passenger) on ad-hoc basis for a period of 4 months. Even SC/ST employees, who are within the zone of consideration against unreserved vacancies will be considered for promotion, as per Railway Boards orders under RBE No. 126/2010 (CPO/SC Serial Circular No. 122/2010) (Annexure R-1). The learned counsel for the respondents further submitted that some of the employees have given unwillingness and one of the employees retired after finalizing the suitability adjudged by the Competent Authority. As such the contention of the applicants on the contrary is not correct.
5. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the pleadings on record.
6. The learned counsel for the applicant further relied upon the order passed in OA/333/2013 dated 28.04.2014, wherein this Tribunal held as under:
"In the result, we are inclined to allow this OA. The respondents are directed to finalize the panel for promotion to the post of Loco Pilot (Goods) after calling for the willingness/unwillingness of the candidates in the zone of consideration and delete the names of unwilling employees. In respect of promotion of candidates belonging to reserved communities, the respondents are directed to Page 6 of 8 OA/1298/2015 follow the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in M.Nagaraj Vs. Union of India. No order as to costs."
The learned counsel further argued that as per the law decided by this Tribunal in O.A. No. 333 of 2013, which order of this Hon'ble Tribunal was confirmed by the Hon'ble High Court and also by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, enlisting the names of unwilling employees and juniors to the applicants by following the policy of reservation, is illegal, arbitrary and unjust. If the exercise relating to willingness or otherwise has been taken up before issuing the select list, the zone of consideration would have been accordingly changed to consider the names of willing employees who are eligible for such promotion and who are in the seniority list below such unwilling employees.
7. The learned counsel for the applicants further relied upon the order passed by this Tribunal in OA/468/2023 dated 24.01.2024, wherein the applicants are similarly situated, this Tribunal held in favour of the applicants, which reads as follows:
"4. When the matter has been taken up for consideration, the learned counsel for the applicants has tendered a letter dated 02.01.2024 in respect of the formation of panel to the post of Train Managers (Goods) in Level - 05 against 60% quota - Operating Department, referring to the SCR's letter No. SCR/P-HQ/PERS (Optg) 119/2021 dated 06.10.2023. The matter has been examined by the Board and the Board has approved SCR's proposal and granted dispensation to the General Manager/SCR to amend the panel suitably by qualified and eligible candidates, only to the extent of unwilling candidates already empanelled and joined earlier against the higher grade Station Manager (SM) category. This has been approved as a one-time measure and not to be cited as a precedent in the future.
5. The learned counsel for the applicants further submits that if the applicants' candidatures are considered against the remaining vacant posts, the purpose of filing this O.A. will be fulfilled.
6. The learned counsel for the respondents seeks further time to get instructions from the department. It is to be noted that the letter is very clear and the Railway Board has already taken a decision to consider such eligible candidates' candidatures against upgrading the panel and removing the unwilling candidates from the said select list. Therefore, the respondents are directed to comply with the said instructions and prepare a Page 7 of 8 OA/1298/2015 fresh panel, including the names of the applicants, if they are otherwise eligible and entitled as per the selection list, within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order.
7. The O.A. is disposed of. No order as to costs."
8. In view of the submissions made by the parties, it is clear that the applicants are similarly situated as that of the applicants in OA/468/2023. Therefore, the respondents are directed to prepare a fresh panel, including the names of the applicants, if they are otherwise eligible and entitled as per the selection list, within a period of two (02) months from the date of receipt of the order.
9. Accordingly, the O.A. is disposed of. No order as to costs.
(SHALINI MISRA) (DR. LATA BASWARAJ PATNE)
ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER
/SB/
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