Central Administrative Tribunal - Ernakulam
Isro Staff Association Through Its ... vs Space on 28 February, 2025
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CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
ERNAKULAM BENCH
Original Application No.180/00148/2023
Friday this the 28th day of February 2025
CO RAM:
HON'BLE Mr.JUSTICE K.HARIPAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE Ms.V.RAMA MATHEW, ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER
1. ISRO Staff Association No.TC-25/1512,
Housing Board Junction, S.S.Kovil Road,
Trivandrum - 695 001 through its General Secretary,
G.R.Pramod, Aged 42 years,
S/o.Gopalakrishnan Nair,
Senior Assistant, Project Accounts,
VSSC, Trivandrum - 695 022.
2. Deepak.M.,
Aged 38 years,
S/o.Kumar,
Technician G,
Ammonium Perchlorate Experimental Plant,
Aluva - 683 112.
Residing at MONU Villa,
Near Mythri Lane,
Chunangam Veli Church Road,
Erumathala P.O., Aluva - 683 112.
3. VSSC Employees Union,
Thumba P.O., Trivandrum - 695 022,
through its General Secretary Nidheesh.I.N.,
Aged 41 years,
S/o.C.K.Narayanan Nambiar,
Driver-cum-Operator (D),
Central Safety Division,
VSSC, Trivandrum - 695 022.
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4. Ajai Joseph,
Aged 43 years,
S/o.Joseph,
Technician - B,
Ammonium Perchlorate Experimental Plant,
Aluva - 683 112.
Residing at Cheranappadavil House,
Eden Gardens, Opp. V Care Poly Clinic,
Chembarakky, South Vazhakkulam P.O.,
Aluva - 683 105. ...Applicants
(By Advocates Mr.T.C.Govindaswamy, Mrs.Kala.T.Gopi,
Mr.Kailesh.T.Gopi & Ms.Nishitha Balachandran)
versus
1. Union of India
represented by Secretary to the Government of India,
Department of Space, Antariksh Bhavan,
New BEL Road, Bangalore - 560 094.
2. The Additional Secretary,
Department of Space,
Government of India, Antariksh Bhavan,
New BEL Road, Bangalore - 560 094.
3. The Director (Department of Space),
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,
Trivandrum - 695 022.
4. The Senior Head,
Personnel and General Administration,
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,
Trivandrum - 695 022.
5. The Secretary to the Government of India,
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions,
Department of Personnel and Training,
New Delhi - 110 001.
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6. Space Employees Association,
VSSC/LPSC/HSU/ISRO,
Building No.T21, TERLS, VSSC, ISRO P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 022,
represented by its General Secretary, Shri.Rajesh.R.N.,
Aged 39 years, S/o.Natarajan.D.,
Technician 'G', FQ & MTF, QCM/QCG-MM/MME,
VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 022.
Residing at Harichandnam, Jai Nagar,
Kattayikonam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 586.
7. Sajith Kumar S.,
S/o.M.Somasekharan Nair,
Aged 40 years,
Fireman C, VSSC, RPP, Veli Thumba P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 022.
Residing at Usha Vilasom, Vetiyoorkavu P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 013. ...Respondents
(By Advocates Mrs.O.M.Shalina, SCGSC [R1-5]
& Mr.V.Sajithkumar [R6-7])
This application having been heard on 31 st January, 2025 the
Tribunal on 28th February 2025 delivered the following :
ORDER
HON'BLE Ms.V.RAMA MATHEW, ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER The factual matrix are as under :
The 1st applicant is the ISRO Staff Association having its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram. This association represents the Group 'C' and 'B' Non-Gazetted Employees of the VSSC at Thiruvananthapuram. Likewise the 3 rd applicant is the VSSC Employees A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -4- Union having its headquarters Thiruvananthapuram. 2 nd and 4th applicants are representative members of the aforementioned associations.
2. The above associations are the unions functioning under the ISRO in the Department of Space (DoS). VSSC at Thiruvananthapuram is one of the major centres of the ISRO. There are other unions under the ISRO and the Group 'B' Non-Gazetted Employees of each unit having independent cadres. The recognition of the service associations are granted with reference to the representative character of the associations. The service associations form part of the Joint Consultative Machinery, the functioning of which was set up under the 2 nd Central Pay Commission. The scheme is adopted by the DoS as per Office Letter bearing D.O No.1/4(5)/77-I dated 17.09.1977. In terms of the above mentioned JCM scheme there will be a departmental council at the headquarters and regional councils in different centres/units. The recommendations of the service association would be as per the terms of the Government of India orders then in existence and 1 st and 3rd applicant associations were recognized by the Government during the year 1980 and is continued without any break. The Central Civil Services (Recognition of Service Association) Rules, 1993 were framed and A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -5- circulated by the Government of India through the DoP&T. These rules were circulated vide its letter bearing No.2/10/80-JCA dated 09.11.1993, produced as Annexure A-2. The DoS implemented Annexure A-2 Recognition of Service Association Rules with the permission of the DoP&T as per letter bearing No.13/1(1)/93-II dated 30.05.1996. As the 1st and 3rd applicants met with the conditions of recognition of service association in Rule 3 the applicant's associations were recognized vide order No.12/2(1)/2000-I dated 24.07.2000, produced as Annexure A-4. This granting them membership of the departmental council in the regional council for representing the staff. It was again reconstituted on 24.09.2002 after conducting verification of membership as per the terms of Rule 5 of the CCS (RSA) Rules. Re-verification was conducted as directed by the DoP&T on a 5 years basis in the year 2008 and the associations were again recognized and the departmental council was reconstituted consequent to the re-verification on 15.05.2008. In 2014 another re-verification was undertaken by the respondents and the same was forwarded to the proper authority for according recognition. The formal recognition or extension of recognition, however, is yet to happen.
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3. Vide Annexure A-10 O.M.No.A.24012/1/2012-I (Vol.III) dated 02.09.2015 the 1st respondent has stated that the applicant associations are qualified for recognition for the purpose of JCM under the CCS (RSA) Rules, 1993 and also allotted seats for each of the association under the JCM based on the numerical strength of the staff. The numbers indicated at Annexure A-3 for the 1 st and 3rd applicants' association is 11 (6+5). There was also a direction in the said annexure to the said association to send their nominations to the staff side of the departmental council against the seats allotted to them as mentioned at the earliest in form B so that the required formalities could be completed for reconstitution of the departmental council of JCM on receipt of the approval for recognition of service associations from the competent authority, which was also done. Notwithstanding the absence of the extension of the recognition informal, regional council and informal departmental council meetings were held as indicated by letter No.1.1/15-Per dated 07.10.2015 and letter No.1.2/16-Per dated 09.02.2016 issued by the 3 rd and 4th respondents, as also on an yearly basis upto 1.2/2/Per dated 27.01.2023 issued by the 4 th respondent.
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4. The functioning of the departmental councils and regional councils as provided for in the JCM scheme not being in the proper form in most departments, the issue was taken up with the DoP&T and on that basis, orders were issued by the DoP&T to ensure that the departmental councils are constituted and meetings are held regularly as communicated vide O.M.No.4/3/2019-JCA dated 16.01.2020 and No.4/3/2019-JCA dated 18.08.2021 issued by the DoP&T, produced as Annexure A-17 and Annexure A-18. In the staff side meeting in the National Council JCM as communicated under No.NC-JCM-2021/NC meeting dated 26.06.2021 also flagged this issue. The ISRO was specifically flagged as one of the organizations where the departmental council of the JCM is yet to be re-constituted. This communication letter is produced as Annexure A-19. The National Council JCM held on 26.06.2021 also minuted the issue and required the Secretary (Personnel) to monitor and to ensure that the departmental council meetings are held regularly and the recognition of staff associations is granted in time. This issue was also flagged regularly by 1 st applicant and 3rd applicant associations and was also raised as an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha.
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5. However, subsequent to all these, on 27.03.2023 the 4 th respondent issued an order bearing No.1.2/23/Per dated 27.03.2023, produced as Annexure A-24, which communicated the modalities for conducting the departmental level and centre level meetings with representatives of the DoS/ISRO centres/units till such time the formal approval for recognition of service associations from the Government is received. Accordingly, in order to resolve matters of common concern, the following would be the system for conducting meetings with representatives of the employees in VSSC and IISU, Thiruvananthapuram with immediate effect and until further orders :
1. The existing Staff Grievance Redressal Machinery and the Welfare mechanism in the Centre will be strengthened and the officers and staff concerned will be sensitized to ensure the disposal of any grievances received from the employees within the stipulated time and ensure strict compliance of the instructions on the subject and also to extend the welfare measures of the common concern of employees as far as possible.
2. Centre level meetings with the representatives of employees will be held once in six months with those who are nominated by the Director, VSSC to participate in the Centre level meetings chaired by Director, VSSC and members of the Committee as constituted by Director, from time to time.
3. At Departmental level, online/virtual meetings will be held once in a year chaired by the Secretary, DOS/Chairman, ISRO and other Senior Officials of A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -9- DOS/ISRO. For the Departmental level meeting, Director, VSSC will nominate representatives from the ealier recognized fora/Associations/Units affiliated to National Level JCM to attend the meeting. Departmental level meeting will be held for discussion of matters which were not resolved at Centre level and which require Departmental level examination.
4. Pending approval from the Government for recognition of Service Associations, claim for any kind of entitlements like (i) subscription from eligible employees being deducted against membership of Service Associations, (ii) TA/DA for attending meetings/events etc., (iii) mementoes not exceeding Rs.2000/- once in every two years to RC/DC JCM Members, etc., will be on hold.
6. As per Annexure A-24 above, the representative of the 1 st applicant and 3rd applicants' association would not be members of the Staff Grievance Redressal Mechanism but individuals chosen by the department directly. The said letter also stopped deduction of subscription from eligible employees against the membership and also TA/DA for attending meeting/events etc. and receiving mementos, effectively withdrawing the recognition of the service association from the process of verification. Rule 5 of the CCS (RSA) Rules, 1993 provides for verification of the membership. The verification of the membership for the purpose of recognition of the service association is being done by the check off system in the pay rolls ie., on the basis of the A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -10- deduction of subscription from the pay rolls, detailed instructions regarding this to be issued separately. Rule 5.4 of the said Rules states that the Government may at any time order a special verification of membership if it is of the opinion, after an inquiry that the service association does not have the required membership. The condition subject to which recognition will be continued is listed under Rule 6, which is produced in its entirety below :
(a) The Service Association shall not send any representation or deputation except in connection with a matter which is of common interest to members of the Service Association.
(b) The Service Association shall not espouse or support the cause of individual Government servants relating to service matters.
(c) The Service Association shall not maintain any political fund or lend itself to the propagation of the views of any political party or a member of such party.
(d) All representations by the Service Association shall be submitted through proper channel and shall be addressed to the Secretary, Department of Space/Head of the Department or Office.
(e) A list of members and office bearers and uptodate copy of the rules and an audited statement of accounts of the Service Association shall be furnished to the Government annually through proper channel after the general annual meeting so as to reach the Government before the 1st day of July each year.
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(f) The Service Association shall abide by and comply with all the provisions of its constitution/bye-laws.
(g) Any amendment in the constitution/bye-laws of the Service Association, after its recognition under these Rules, shall be made only with the prior approval of the Government.
(h) The Service Association shall not start or publish any periodical, magazine or bulletin without the previous approval of the Government.
(i) The Service Association shall cease to publish any periodical, magazine or bulletin, if directed by the Department to do so, on the ground that the publication thereof is prejudicial to the interests of the Central Government, the Government of any State or any Government authority or to good relations between Government servants and the Government or any Government authority, or to good relations betwen the Government of India and the Government of a foreign State.
(j) The Service Association shall not address any communication to, or enter into correspondence with a foreign authority except through the Government which shall have the right to withhold it.
(k) The Services Association shall not do any act or assist in the doing of any act which, if done by a Government servant, would contravene any of the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and
(l) Communications addressed by the Service Association or by any office bearer on its behalf to the Government or a Government authority shall not contain any disrespectful or improper language.
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7. It is not the case of the respondent that the applicants' association are in violation of any of the conditions listed here. Rule 7 of the CCS (RSA) Rules, 1993 lists the conditions under which withdrawal of recognition can happen ie., only in failure to comply with any of the conditions for recognition and that only after giving an opportunity to the service association to present its case, withdraw the recognition accorded to such association. There is a relaxation clause under Rule 8. However, it does not appear that there has been a conscious recognition of the relaxation provision. It has been argued by the applicants that the effect of Annexure A-24 would be to effectively withdraw the recognition of the service associations and any process of verification would no longer be possible as the verification is on the basis of the check off system in the pay rolls ie., on the basis of the deduction of subscription.
8. Heard both sides in extenso. It appears from the above that the question which needs to be addressed here is the sequence of events which need to happen as per the CCS (RSA) Rules as this would effectively determine whether the failure to grant/approve the recognition of the association by the concerned authorities can become a cause of action for effective de-recognition of a service association. It has been A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -13- argued by the respondents that the employee organizations also impleaded in this O.A is Respondent Nos.6 & 7, which is another association ie., Space Employees Association represented by its Secretary, which currently as per Annexure A-24 has become the effective representative of the staff vide orders issued under Annexure A-24, which is sought to be struck down.
9. It is admittedly stated that verification of membership of service associations was carried out in VSSC on 07.08.2014. Final position of the membership of service associations based on the letter of authorization submitted by the employees in the re-verification held on 07.08.2014, the 1st applicant received 44.27% of authorization, 3 rd applicant received 32.64% of the authorization and the additional respondent received 3.5% of the authorization. It is, therefore, admitted that the 1st and 3rd applicants' service associations secured the 1 st and 2nd position respectively. The approval of the Government is yet to be received and the matter is under process. It is argued that the recognition of the service associations and unions after re-verification of membership is valid for a period of 5 years from the date of orders recognizing the associations and unions.
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10. It has been argued that since the Government has not accorded approval for recognition of the service associations the applicants cannot claim the facilities extended to the recognized associations pending recognition and since the approval of the Government has not been received for recognition of the service associations, the JCM in the department is due to be dismantled from August, 2019 onwards and pending approval the department conducted periodical informal meeting of the regional and departmental councils from time to time. Therefore, there is an existing grievance redressal mechanism in the VSSC and this mechanism is functioning effectively to redress the grievance of the employees on various matters. Informal meetings were continued to be held with members of the associations who qualified for recognition under the CCS (RSA) Rules, 1993 on various occasions during the period on various issues under the Chairmanship of the Secretary, DoS and the Chairman, ISRO. Representations were also received from some other associations ie., Space Employees Association which did not qualify in the verification process during 2014 requesting for extending similar facilities/subscription of new members etc., as that of qualified association. Considering the illegality in continuing informal meeting indefinitely and to ensure that the legitimate grievances of the employees are heard, it has been decided to continue the departmental level meeting A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -15- with the earlier recognized fora/associations/units affiliated to National Level JCM without extending any of the entitled facilities for the service associations till the formal approval is received from the Government. Therefore, O.M dated 08.03.2023 was issued as a stop gap measure to address the legitimate grievances of all staff and to settle the grievances amicably.
11. It is an admitted fact that the applicants' associations qualified for recognition under CCS (RSA) Rules and it is argued that the decision is to continue departmental level meeting with the earlier recognized fora/association until formal approval is received from the Government. It is further argued that the verification exercise lapsed in 2019; it is unclear as to how subsequent verification exercise can be taken under CCS (RSA) Rules which is under the check off system, if the authorization for deduction of the membership fees is discontinued and the subscriptions are not collected. It is also not the case of the respondents that the service associations have been de-recognized as per the terms of the Rule 7 of the CCS (RSA) Rules as they did not meet the condition of Rule 6 of the CCS (RSA) Rules as cited in the preceding paragraphs.
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12. It should also be noted that the respondents organization deducted members fee for the association and not as a statutory deduction from the salary which found a part of the pay and allowances deductibles but as an agency function to enable ease of both collection and verification. This was done on the basis of a specific authorization from each employees separately and was not done unless such authorization existed. This was not recorded as a part of pay and allowances and in the service book of employee but as a separate register entry in the membership record of the union/association. That being the case, it is open to question whether such a deduction can actually be stopped without withdrawal of the authorization given by the member and without intimation of the withdrawal of the authorization from the member association. That being the case, Clause 4 of Annexure A-24 directing stopping of this deduction without withdrawal appears to be beyond the exercise of its power as an administration.
13. While, it is not within the purview of this Tribunal to issue any directions regarding re-constitution of the formal redressal machinery, however, we do take note of the fact that Clause 4 of the Annexure A-24 is in violation of the Rule 6 and Rule 7 of the CCS (RSA) Rules and it is, therefore, not an enforceable order. Therefore, we direct that these A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -17- clauses be deleted. In so far as the remaining part of Annexure A-24 is concerned, it is an administrative matter to be considered by reference to the DoP&T and it would be for examination as to how it would be appropriate for the nominees of the additional respondent to represent the interest of the VSSC when they meet, when in the previous verification they did not secure adequate representation. This, however, is again not a matter which falls within the purview of this Tribunal. Ordered accordingly.
14. In view of the above, the O.A is disposed of. No order as to costs.
(Dated this the 28th day of February, 2025) V.RAMA MATHEW JUSTICE K.HARIPAL ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER asp A S PEETHAMBARAN 2025.02.28 15:32:16+05'30' -18- List of Annexures in O.A.No.180/00148/2023
1. Annexure A-1 - A copy of the letter bearing D.O.No.1/4(5)/77-I dated 17.09.1977 issued by the 1st respondent.
2. Annexure A-2 - A copy of the letter bearing No.2/10/80-JCA dated 09.11.1993 along with its Annexures issued by the DoP&T.
3. Annexure A-3 - A copy of the letter bearing No.13/1(1)/93-II dated 30.05.1996 issued by the DoP&T.
4. Annexure A-4 - A copy of the order bearing No.12/2(1)/2000-I dated 24.07.2000 issued by the 1st respondent.
5. Annexure A-5 - A copy of the order bearing No.12/2(1)/2000-I dated 24.09.2002 issued by the 1st respondent.
6. Annexure A-6 - A copy of the Office Memorandum bearing No.12/1/(1)/2002-I dated 18.02.2008 issued by the 1 st respondent.
7. Annexure A-7 - A copy of the order bearing No.12/1(1)/2002-I dated 15.05.2008 issued by the 1st respondent.
8. Annexure A-8 - A copy of the Note of the Department of Space bearing No.12/1/1/2002-I dated 08/09.01.2015.
9. Annexure A-9 - A copy of the I.D.Note bearing No.12/1/1/2002-I dated 20.07.2015 issued by the Department of Space.
10. Annexure A-10 - A copy of the O.M.No.A.24012/1/2012-I (Vol.III) dated 02.09.2015 issued by the 1st respondent.
11. Annexure A-11 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.1/15/Per dated 07.10.2015 issued by the 3rd respondent.
12. Annexure A-12 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.2/16-Per dated 09.02.2016 issued by the 4th respondent.
13. Annexure A-13 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.2/17-Per dated 16.02.2017 issued by the 4th respondent.
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14. Annexure A-14 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.2/19-Per dated 11.10.2019 issued by the 4th respondent.
15. Annexure A-15 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.2/22-Per dated 11.01.2022 issued by the 4th respondent.
16. Annexure A-16 - A copy of the letter bearing No.1.2/23-Per dated 27.01.2023 issued by the 4th respondent.
17. Annexure A-17 - A copy of the O.M bearing No.4/3/2019-JCA dated 16.01.2020 issued by the DoP&T.
18. Annexure A-18 - A copy of the letter No.4/3/2019-JCA dated 18.08.2021 issued by the DoP&T.
19. Annexure A-19 - A copy of the letter bearing No.NC-JCM- 2021/NC Meeting dated 26.06.2021.
20. Annexure A-20 - A copy of the relevant pages of the Minutes of the 48th Meeting of the National Council (JCM) held on 26.06.2021 under No.3/4/2021-JCA dated 14.07.2021 issued by the Deputy Secretary in the office of the DoP&T.
21. Annexure A-21 series - A copy of the letters bearing No.ISROSA/01-02/2020 dated 12.02.2020 and 20.12.2020 issued by the 1st applicant.
22. Annexure A-22 - A copy of the letters bearing No.VSSCEU/2021/12 dated 23.08.2021 and dated 24.06.2021 issued by the 3rd applicant Association.
23. Annexure A-23 - A copy of the Unstarred Question No.1895 answered by the Minister of State under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in the Prime Minister's Office dated 16.03.2023.
24. Annexure A-24 - A copy of the letter No.1.2/23/Per dated 27.03.2023 issued by the 4th respondent.
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25. Annexure A-25 - A copy of the order bearing No.3.3/23/Per dated 06.10.2023 issued by the Senior Administrative Officer in the office of the 3rd respondent.
26. Annexure A-26 - A copy of the Office Order bearing No.3.3/23/Per dated 21.07.2023 issued by the Senior Administrative Officer, VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram.
27. Annexure A-27 - A copy of the Office Memorandum bearing No.4/3/2019-JCA dated 14.12.2023 issued by the Department of Personnel.
28. Annexure MA-R1(a) - A copy of the Circular No.1.17/14-Per dated 26.08.2014.
29. Annexure MA-R1(b) - A copy of the Letter bearing No.12/1/1/2002-1 dated 07.09.2007.
30. Annexure R-1(a) - A copy of the Communication No.3/5(2)82-I dated 16.09.1983.
31. Annexure R-6(a) - A copy of the O.M.No.2/13/98-JCA dated 24.05.2001 issued on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training.
32. Annexure R-6(b) - A copy of the O.M.No.2/13/98-JCA dated 11.02.2002 issued on behalf of the DoPT.
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