Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Bachan Singh Rawat & Ors vs Uoi & Ors on 29 January, 2013
Central Administrative Tribunal
Principal Bench, New Delhi.
OA-2402/2010
MA-2232/2011
Reserved on : 18.01.2013.
Pronounced on : 29.01.2013.
Honble Mr. Jog Singh, Member (J)
Honble Mr. Shekhar Agarwal, Member (A)
1. Bachan Singh Rawat & Ors.,
R/o A/305, Moti Bagh-1,
New Delhi.
2. Rakesh Kumar I,
R/o Shri Niwas Puri,
New Delhi.
3. Rakesh Kumar II,
1/34, Sector-2, Rajender Nagar,
Sahibabad, Ghaziabad,
UP. . Applicants
(through Sh. M.K. Bhardwaj, Advocate)
Versus
UOI & Ors.
1. Union of India through
Secretary,
Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi-1.
2. Prasar Bhari,
Broadcasting Corporation of India,
Directorate General : All India Radio,
Akashwani Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi-1.
3. Radhey Shyam Sharma,
serving as Driver, SD, AIR,
New Delhi. . Respondents
(through Sh. S.M. Arif, Advocate)
O R D E R
Mr. Shekhar Agarwal, Member (A) The applicants have sought the following relief:-
(i) Direct the respondents to give the seniority to the applicants and place in the seniority as per their date of appointment taking into account the services of Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma counting his services w.e.f. 6.11.1996 i.e. the date of his redeployment in AIR Delhi office as per the respondents own scheme and instructions and to issue a fresh seniority list accordingly.
To allow the OA of applicant with all other consequential benefits and cost; and Any other relief/rules may be granted to the applicant which deemed o be proper and reasonable in he eye in law.
2. Brief facts of the case are that the applicants are working as drivers in Delhi Zone of All India Radio. Applicant No.1 was appointed as such in the year 1990 and applicants No.2 and 3 were appointed in 1995. One Sh. Radhey Shyam Sharma, who was working as a Motor Driver in Alwar Zone of All India Radio was redeployed in Delhi Zone. Initially vide orders dated 22.11.1996 and 16.08.2001 he was denied any benefit of seniority on the basis of service rendered by him in Alwar Zone and was placed below the other Motor Drivers working in All India Radio, Delhi at that time. However, subsequently vide order dated 27.09.2006 the respondents decided to re-fix the seniority of Sh. Sharma w.e.f. 14.03.1990 i.e. the date of his initial appointment as Motor Driver at All India Radio, Alwar. Aggrieved by this order, the applicants have approached this Tribunal through this O.A.
3. We have hard the learned counsel for both sides and have perused the material placed on record.
4. The orders dated 27.09.2006, 22.11.1996 and 16.08.2001 clearly indicate that Sh. Radhey Shyam Sharma was treated as a surplus employee in Alwar Zone and was redeployed in Delhi Zone where vacancies of drivers were available. A copy of the seniority list of Staff Car Drivers in ordinary grade working in the offices of All India Radio Zone produced by the applicants along with the OA also clearly indicates that Sh. Radhey Shyam Sharma was treated as an employee who had come from surplus cell and joined All India Radio, Delhi on 06.11.1996. Both sides have also admitted that as per instructions of Department of Personnel & Training, surplus employees are not entitled for the benefit of past service rendered in the previous organization for the purpose of their seniority in the new organizations and such employees are treated as fresh entrants in the matter of seniority/promotion. Thus, it is clear that if Sh. Sharma was a surplus employee redeployed in Delhi Zone he was to be placed below all drivers working in that Zone prior to his joining.
5. However, the respondents argued that Shri Sharma cannot be treated as a surplus employee since he remained in the same organization and was only transferred from one Zone to another. According to respondents, earlier they had made a mistake which they have rectified subsequently.
6. The issue, therefore, to be decided is whether Sh. Sharma has to be treated as a surplus employee or not?. In this connection, we perused the order dated 27.09.1996, which reads as under:-
Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma, Motor Driver, who has been rendered surplus at All India Radio, Alwar, is hereby redeployed as All India Radio, New Delhi (Broadcasting House), in thee same capacity, with immediate effect.
2. Shri Radhey Shyam will have no claim of seniority and he will be treated as junior most to all the Motor Drivers working at All India Radio, New Delhi. Shri Radhey Shyam will, however, be entitled to TA/DA and joining time. It is clear from the above that Sh. Sharma was treated as an employee who was rendered surplus in All India Radio, Alwar. Again order dated 22.11.1996 clearly indicate that Sh. Sharma, who had been redeployed, was treated as a surplus employee. The said order reads as under:-
: Redeployment OF Surplus staff against the post of Motor Driver in the pay scale of Rs.950-1500.
: Directorate order No.24/96-SIV (A) file No.4/41/94-SIV(A)/719 dated 27.09.96.
On his redeployment vide Directorates order referred illegible and being relieved of his duties on 31.10.96 (AN) from India Radio, Alwar vide their order No.Alw/1(6)/96(6)/96/S/8371 dated 18.10.96, Sh. Radhey Shyam Sharma, Motor Driver has reported duty on 6.11.96 (FN) at this station as Motor Driver.
Sharma will have no claim of seniority and he will be treated junior most to all the motor drivers working at All India Radio, Delhi. He will however be entitled to TA/DA. Further, order dated 16.08.2001 reads as under:-
Sub:- Counting of seniority in respect of Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma, Motor Driver, AIR, New Delhi.
Reference letter No.DEL.1 (5)/2000-01/SIV(A) 1322, dated 11.06.2001 received from AIR, New Delhi, on the above subject.
2. The case has been examined in the light of instructions on the subject issued by DoPT. As per the existing instructions, in the event of redeployment of an employee declared surplus, the past service rendered prior to redeployment is not counted towards seniority in the new organization/new posts. Also the cadre of motor driver is a local one seniority of this cadre is maintained on zonal basis. In the event of transfer from one zone to another zone, a person has to become the junior most among the employees in the new zone in the grade to which he belongs. Since the transfer of Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma was from Rajasthan Zone to Delhi Zone, the request for counting the service Shri R.S. Sharma, Motor Driver to Delhi Zone, the request for counting the services Shri R.S. Sharma, Motor Driver rendered at AIR, Alwar for the purpose of seniority of drivers at AIR, New Delhi cannot be acceded to.
He may be informed accordingly. Again Sh. Sharma has been treated as a surplus employee and denied the benefit of seniority. Then we perused the order dated 27.09.2006 by which he benefit of seniority was allowed to Sh. Sharma. This order reads as under:-
In supersession of Directorate order No.24/96 SIV (A) Vide file No.4/41/94-S IV (A)/719 dated 27th September 96, the seniority of Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma, Motor Driver is to be counted w.e.f. from 14.3.90 i.e. the date of his initial appointed as Motor Driver at AIR, Alwar. Shri Radhey Shyam Sharma will be entitled to all other related benefits as a result of counting of his past services at AIR, Alwar and re-fixation of his seniority in the grade of Motor Driver. There is no mention of the fact that Sh. Sharma had mistakenly been treated as surplus employee earlier and now being treated as an employee of transfer. In the seniority list of ordinary grade drivers furnished by the applicants against the name of Sh. Sharma it is mentioned clearly that he has come from surplus cell to All India Radio, Delhi w.e.f. 01.11.1996. From the above, it is clear that the explanation given by respondents is more of an after thought and not a rectification of mistaken earlier committed. It has also been admitted by both sides that the cadre and seniority of drivers is decentralized and is maintained zone-wise only. In normal course, there would have been no transfer to a different zone. In this case the transfer/redeployment was made because there was no vacancy available in Alwar Zone on which Sh. Sharma could have been continued. In our opinion, even if it is assumed that this is a transfer case, such a transfer is not different from redeployment of a surplus employee of another organization for the simple reason that giving him benefit of seniority of his past service prejudices the employees working in Alwar Zone in the same manner as an employee coming from a different organization.
7. Learned counsel for the applicants has cited the decision of the Honble Supreme Court in the case of A.P. SRTC and Ors. Vs. V. Veeraiah, [(2000) 9 SCC 425] to support his contention. However, we feel that this decision is not applicable in the present case as this is not a case of transfer on request.
8. On the basis of above, we come to the conclusion that the action on the part of respondents of treating Sh. Sharma as an employee on transfer and allowing him benefit of past service cannot be sustained. The order dated 27.09.2006 is hereby quashed and set aside. It is directed that Sh. Radhey Shyam Sharmas seniority will be fixed in terms of the earlier order of the Directorate General All India Radio dated 16.08.2001.
9. The O.A. is allowed in above terms. There shall be no order as to costs.
(Shekhar Agarwal) (Jog Singh)
Member (A) Member(J)
/Vinita/