Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Cdr.Supriya Sethu (Retd) vs Union Of India on 7 January, 2022
Bench: D.Y. Chandrachud, A.S. Bopanna
MA 1315/2021
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ITEM NO.19 Court 4 (Video Conferencing) SECTION XIV-A
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Miscellaneous Application No.1315/2021 in C.A. No.2181/2020
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 17-03-2020
in C.A. No.2181/2020 passed by the Supreme Court of India)
CDR. SUPRIYA SETHU (RETD) Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA Respondent(s)
(With appln.(s) for IA No.93788/2021-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA
No.150720/2021 - APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION and IA No.150730/2021 -
EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT)
Date : 07-01-2022 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE D.Y. CHANDRACHUD
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA
For Petitioner(s)
Ms. Pooja Dhar, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. R. Balasubramanian, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Siddhant Kohli, Adv.
Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv.
Ms. Neela Kedar Gokhale, Adv.
Mr. Anukalp Jain, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
NEETU KHAJURIA
Date: 2022.01.10
15:47:57 IST
Reason:
MA 1315/2021
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UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1 The application for clarification has been filed by two officers of the Indian Navy, namely, (i) Commander Supriya Sethu – Applicant No 1 (“A-1”) and Commander Pawan Preet Mann – Applicant No 2 (“A-2”).
2 The facts insofar as they are material to the cases of the above two officers are set out below, in terms as agreed to by Counsel :
(I) Commander Supriya Sethu – Applicant No 1
5 August 1996 - Date of Commissioning
7 August 2010 - Original date of release after completing 14 years’
service
13 June 2016 - Reinstatement in service following the order of the
Supreme Court
20 November 2020 - Release on completion of 20 years’ service. The above officer belonged to the ATC cadre and in terms of the judgment of this Court was not entitled to Permanent Commission.
(II) Commander Pawan Preet Mann – Applicant No 2 7 August 1995 - Date of Commissioning 7 August 2009 - Date of release after completing 14 years’ service 13 June 2016 - Reinstatement in service following the order of Supreme Court The above officer was entitled to be considered for and has been granted MA 1315/2021 3 Permanent Commission.
3 The issue in dispute pertains to the manner in which the period when they were out of service should be treated. The relief, which has been sought in the application, is in the following terms:
“…clarify that Para 96(xi) of the judgment of this Hon'ble Court dated 17.03.2020 covers the case of the Appellants to the extent that they are entitled to all consequential benefits for the period they were wrongly released from service till the date of their reinstatement.”
4 Mr R Balasubramanian, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents sumits that the benefit of the period when the applicants were out of service should not be granted to them.
5 On a considered view of the matter, and having regard to the letter and spirit of the decision of this Court, we are of the view that the applicants should be granted the benefit of the period when they were out of service prior to their being reinstated following the order of this Court. This period shall be treated for the purpose of continuity of service without a break and shall be reckoned for all purposes. However, no salary will be payable for the period when the officers were out of service. All the benefits to which officers are eligible would be computed on the basis that there was no break in service. 6 Consequently, (i) the pensionary payments due to A-1 shall be computed on MA 1315/2021 4 the basis of the entire length of service including the above period; and (ii) as regards A-2, the period shall be taken into account for all purposes including for computing time scale promotions in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations as well as in computing the ultimate pensionary benefits to which the officer would be entitled in future. 7 In the counter affidavit, which has been filed on behalf of the Indian Navy, it has been stated that A-2 was considered for promotion to the rank of Captain (Select Rank) by PP2 held in August 2021. It has been stated that the competent authority has given approval to promote the officer to the rank of Captain (Time Scale) with effect from 7 August 2021. However, the benefit of the time scale promotion will be given only in 2027.
8 Ms Pooja Dhar, Counsel for A-2 submits that since the Competent Authority has fairly decided to grant A-2 promotion as Captain (Time Scale) from 7 August 2021, there is no reason to defer this until 2027. Mr Balasubramaniam urged that A-2 will be eligible only after she has exhausted 3 chances for promotion and since she has been considered once the next dates for considering her will fall in 2022 and 2023, after which she will be granted Time Scale promotion. Counsel for the applicants on the other hand states that the ACRs for the relevant period were not available since A-2 was out of service before being reinstated by the orders of this court. 9 A-2 is stated to be the senior most woman officer of the Indian Navy and her juniors have already ready received Time Scale promotions due after 26 MA 1315/2021 5 years of service, but this has not been granted to A-2. Since A-2 has been granted the benefit of continuity of service for the period when she was out of service, her entitlement to promotion to the rank of Captain (Time Scale) shall be re-evaluated having due regard to the date of 7 August 2021, which has been set out in the affidavit. The officer shall be entitled to compute the period when she was out of service for the said purpose. A-2 would be at liberty to make a further representation to the Competent Authority so that after reckoning the entire length of service, her case for time scale promotion as Captain (Time Scale) may be considered by the Competent Authority. 10 The Miscellaneous Application is accordingly disposed of. 11 Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
(CHETAN KUMAR) (SAROJ KUMARI GAUR)
A.R.-cum-P.S. Court Master