Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Rajesh Kumar vs M/O Railways on 16 January, 2019
Central Administrative Tribunal
Principal Bench, New Delhi
OA 2630/2017
MA 2762/2017
New Delhi, this the 16thday of January, 2019
Hon'ble Ms. Nita Chowdhury, Member (A)
Hon'ble Mr. S.N. Terdal, Member(J)
1. Rajesh Kumar (Aged about 57 years)
S/o Late Sh. Jai Dayal
Group „D‟ under AXEN BL Tilak Bridge
New Delhi.
R/o H.No. 14/4, Shivaji Colony
Rohtak (Haryana).
2. Raghuvir Singh (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Sh. Gopal Singh
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o H.No. 176/2, Railway Colony
KishanGanj, Sarai Rohilla, Delhi - 110007.
3. RajinderParsad (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Sh. Pardhan Chand
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o Village & PO Maira, Tehsil Jawali
District Kangra, H.P.
4. Trilok Singh (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Sh. Dhan Singh
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o Qr. 11-B/4, Railway Colony
Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi - 26.
5. ChanderDutt (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Sh. Tula Ram
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/NR/SSB
R/o Qr. No. 106/23, Railway Colony
Delhi KishanGanj, Delhi.
6. Bhagwan Singh (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Late Sh. Diwan Singh
Group „D‟ under AXEN/BL/N.Rly/TKJ
R/o H.No. 33, Street No. 1, B-1 Block
ParvatiAnchal, Sant Nagar, Burari, Delhi-84.
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7. Dinesh Kumar (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Sh. Om Prakash
Group „D‟ under AXEN/Bridge Line/Tilak Bridge
New Delhi-110002
R/o House No. 49, Shivpuri, Sector 9, Vijay Nagar
Ghaziabad, U.P.
8. Suresh Kumar (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Late Sh. Gajay Singh
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o Village KastlaKashMewad, PO Pilakhwa
District Hapur (U.P.) Pin - 245304.
9. Faqir Chand (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Sh. Rafe Singh
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o (Not mentioned)
10. Shree Kishan (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Sh. Shyam Lal
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o G-56, East Vinod Nagar, Delhi - 91.
11. Darwari Lal (Aged about 58 years)
S/o Sh. Banwari Lal
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o Village Mehella, PO Veer Pur, Tehsil Karshana
District Allahabad (UP).
12. Swami Nath (Aged about 57 years)
S/o Sh. Sarju
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o 195/B-3, Railway Colony, PaharGanj, New Delhi.
13. BhagwanDass (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Sh. Ram Bhorasey
Group „D‟ under SSE/Bridge/M/SSB
R/o 480-A, Shiv DurgaVihar, Lakkarpur, Faridabad.
14. Kriya (Aged about 59 years)
S/o Sh. Jagdhari
Group „D‟ under SSE/Dayabasti (Spl)
R/o Village Erni, PO Tekwa, Distt. Aajabgarh, U.P.
...Applicants
(None)
Versus
3
1. Union of India through
The Chairman
Railway Board
Ex-officio Principal Secretary
Govt. of India, Ministry of Railways
Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
2. The General Manager
Northern Railway, HQs Office
Baroda House, New Delhi-01.
3. The Deputy Chief Engineer/Bridge Line
Northern Railway, Tilak Bridge
New Delhi - 01
...Respondents
(By Advocate : Sh. ShailendraTiwary)
ORDER (ORAL)
Ms. Nita Chowdhury:
MA No. 2762/2017 for joining together is allowed for the reasons stated therein.
2. Nobody has come from the applicant‟s side. Counsel for the respondents appeared and informed that this is a case of LARSGESS Scheme which has been discontinued since 2017 by the Railway Board‟s letter No.E (P&A)I-2015/RT-43 dated 26.09.2018. Hence, the pleas made in this OA stand infructuous.
3. Since the counsel for the applicant is not present today, we proceed with the matter under Rule 15 of the CAT (Procedure) Rules, 1987. We have also examined the OA in which the reliefs sought for extension of benefits under LARSGESS Scheme are reproduced hereunder:-
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"8.1 to allow the OA and direct the respondents to consider the cases of the applicants under the LARSGESS Scheme in view of in view of the Railway Board‟s Order dated 29.04.2015 (Ann. A-4) within reasonable time say within a month henceforth and also deeming the applicants to retired from under service from the date they became eligible and accordingly they applied under the LARSGESS Scheme and consider and release the appointment in favour of their Wards on the suitable post with all consequential benefits of pay and allowances and seniority etc., and 8.2 to pass any other or further order or direction as the Hon‟ble Tribunal may deem just and proper as per facts and circumstances of the case besides cost and expenses of the present litigation to the tune of Rs. 50,000/-."
4. In a similar case, i.e. OA No. 960/2016 (Pala Ram v. Union of India &Ors.), it is found that the Railway Board, vide its letter No.E(P&A)I-2015/RT-43 dated 26.09.2018, has terminated the LARSGESS Scheme in view of directions of Hon‟ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana and the orders of Hon‟ble Supreme Court in SLP (C) No. 508/2018 dated 08.01.2018. The said order of the Railway Board reads as under:-
"Sub: Termination of the LARSGESS Scheme in view of directions of Hon‟ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana and the orders of Hon‟ble Supreme Court of India in SLP (C) No. 508/2018 dated 08.01.2018.
Ref: Board‟s letter of even number dated 27.10.2017.
The Hon‟ble Punjab and Haryana High Court in its judgment dated 27.04.16 in CWP No. 7714 of 2016 had held that the Safety Related Retirement Scheme 2004 (later renamed as the Liberalised Active Retirement Scheme for Guaranteed Employment for Safety Staff (LARSGESS, 2010) "prima facie does not stand to the test of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India" It had directed "before making any appointment under the offending policy, let its validity and sustainability be revisited keeping in view the principles of equal opportunity and elimination of monopoly in holding public employment." Thereafter, in its judgment dated 14.07.17 (Review Petition RA-CW-330-2017 in CWP No. 5 7714 of 2016), the Hon‟ble High Court reiterated its earlier direction and stated "such a direction was necessitated keeping in view the mandate of the Constitution Bench in State of Karnataka Vs. Uma Devi, (2006) 4 SCC 1."
1.1 In the Appeal against the judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, while disposing of the SLP (C) No. 508/2018 vide its order dt. 8.01.18, declined to interfere with the directions of the High Court.
2. In compliance with the above directions, Ministry of Railways have revisited the scheme duly obtaining legal opinion and consulted Ministry of Law & Justice. Accordingly, it has been decided to terminate the LARSGESS Scheme w.e.f. 27.10.2017 i.e. the date from which it was put on hold. No further appointments should be made under the Scheme except in cases where employees have already retired under the LARSGESS Scheme before 27.10.17 (but not normally superannuated) and their wards could not be appointed due to the Scheme having been put on hold in terms of Board‟s letter dated 27.10.17 though they had successfully completed the entire process and were found medically fit. All such appointments should be made with the approval of the competent authority."
5. Quite clearly, the scheme of LARSGESS has now been terminated w.e.f. 27.10.2017. Hence, at this stage, applicants cannot be given any benefits under LARSGES Scheme as the said Scheme is not in existence.
6. In view of the above facts and circumstances, nothing remains to be adjudicated in this matter and the OA is accordingly dismissed as having become infructuous. No order as to costs.
(S.N. Terdal) (Nita Chowdhury) Member (J) Member (A) /lg/