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Shri Rajinder Kumar Bajaj/respondent No. 2 was appointed as a Postal Assistant on 02.08.1965 and was confirmed on 01.03.1969. He was placed in the next higher grade firstly on introduction of One Time Bound Promotion Scheme (OTBP) on 30.11.1983 and then again under the 'Biennial Cadre Review (BCR) Scheme' on completion of 26 years of service on 01.10.1991. The said respondent No.2 sought transfer from Faridkot Division where he was recruited to Bhatinda Division which request was acceded to vide an order dated 17.06.1994 as per the terms and conditions specified therein. The contents of the order read as under:-

9. There can really be no quibble over the aforesaid proposition and this issue is no more res-integra in view of the aforesaid judicial pronouncements and thus respondent No.2 would hardly be in a position to contend now that he should get benefit of seniority in the cadre of transferred Department.

10. It is pointed out to us that the other aspect urged by respondent No.2 before the Tribunal was that he, having been given certain financial benefits under the OTBP & BCR Schemes, the past service ought to be counted for the purposes of promotion. In this behalf, learned counsel for the petitioner has explained that even this issue is no more res-integra in view of the judicial pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Vs. R.Santhakumari Velusamy and others 2011(9) SCC 510. The BCR Scheme was explained as an up-gradation scheme to give relief against stagnation which neither involved creation of any new posts nor involved advancement to a higher post. The scheme was thus held not to involve any process of selection for conferment of the benefit of higher pay scale.

22. In this case, the BCR scheme did not involve creation of additional posts but merely restructured the existing posts as a result of which 10% of the posts in Grade III were placed in a higher grade (Grade IV) to give relief against stagnation. This is evident from the terms of the BCR scheme and the clarification contained in the letter dated 7.5.1993 that no posts were sanctioned, as far as 10% BCR was concerned.

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24. To sum up, the BCR scheme was an upgradation scheme to give relief against stagnation. It did not involve creation of any new posts. It did not involve advancement to a higher post. It did not involve any process of selection for conferment of the benefit of higher pay-scale. The upgradation was given to the senior most 10% of BCR scale employees in Grade III strictly as per seniority. BCR scheme as per circular dated 16.10.1990 was thus a scheme for upgradation simplicitor without involving any creation of additional posts or any process of selection for extending the benefit. Such a scheme of upgradation did not invite the rules of reservation."