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CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 3131 and 3132 of 1988.

From the 'Judgment and Order dated 15.4.1987 of the A.P. Administrative Tribunal in R.P. No. 1909 of 1985. K. Madhava Reddy, G. Prabhakar and Narasimhu P.S. (NP) for the Appellant.

S. Ramachandran, B. Kanta Rao and N. Venkatarayudu for the Respondents.

Ms. Rani Chhabra and B. Rajeshwar Rao for the Interveners. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY, J. These appeals are directed against the order of the A.P. Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad dated April 15, 1987 directing the State Govern- ment to consider the cases of Officers for promotion to the category of Additional Director of Medical and Health Serv- ices and equivalent posts on the basis of seniority includ- ing service in their lower cadre.

The appointment in the A.P. Medical and Health Services is regulated by the statutory rules called "The Special Rules for the A.P. Medical and Health Services, 1982"

(called shortly as the "Rules").

All the respondents were originally recruited as Civil Assistant Surgeons upon selection by the State Public Serv- ice Commission. The minimum qualification for Civil Assist- ant Surgeon is M.B.B.S. The post of Civil Assistant Surgeon is equivalent to the post of Assistant Professor. They are inter-transferable posts but a Post Graduate Degree is necessary for posting as Assistant Professor. The Civil Assistant Surgeon is also posted as Tutor in the teaching side if he has no Post Graduate Degree qualification. In the select list prepared by the Public Service Commission, respondents 1 to 12 were ranked above the other respondents, but they were not considered for promotion to the category of Additional Director and other equivalent posts. Their juniors in the original cadre were appointed to such posts, and that was their grievance before the A.P. Administrative Tribunal.

There are three requirements for eligibility for considera- tion for promotion to the category of Additional Director and equivalent posts: (i) He should be in cadre 2 and 3 in Class I; (ii) He should have a minimum service of two years in the said categories; and (iii) He should have a total service of not less than three years.

Two years service in the category appears to mean two years service as Professor and this is not in doubt or dispute. The dispute, however, is about the requirement of service of three years. Whether that service should be only in Class-I categories 2 and 3 or inclusive of service in Class-II is the question for consideration. The Tribunal appears to have accepted the latter view. It has been held that promotion to the post of Additional Director and equiv- alent posts is to be made on the basis of total period of service in including service in the lower categories subject to the condition that the person should be holding the post of Professor or equivalent post for at least two years. Mr. Madhava Reddy, learned counsel for the appellants argued that the view taken by the Tribunal would be contrary to the rule of seniority in the cadre of Professors. The seniority for zone of consideration for promotion should always be of the feeding cadre and not from any other cadre. Reference was made to Rule 10 of the Rules and also to Rule 33(a) of the Andhra Pradesh State and Subordinate Services Rules. Counsel also contended that the minimum three years of service provided under rule 2 in any event must be in class-I in any category and it can never be in Class-II Service.

Unit 2 Class I Category-2 viz. (i) Professors (Clinical and nonclinical).

Unit 3 Class I Dental Professors.

provided that Deputy Civil Surgeons and Assistant Professors shall have separate seniority in order of speciality"

Rule 33(a) of the A.P. Subordinate Service Rules pro- vides that seniority of a person in service, class, category or grade shall, unless he has been reduced to a lower rank as a punishment, be determined by the date of his first appointment to such service, class, category or grade. It seems to us that the seniority in the category of professors in the teaching and non-teaching cadre or in the lower cadre based on speciality wise may not be relevant for preparation of a penal for promotion to the cadre of Additional Director and other equivalent posts in Category. Equally the service rendered as Deputy Civil Surgeon in category 5 cannot also be the basis for preparing the panel for consideration. As observed earlier, Deputy Civil Surgeon is a common category in all the Branches; Branch-I teaching cadre; Branch-II non-teaching cadre and Branch-III Laboratories. It is a part of the category of Civil Assistant Surgeons, and not cadre post. It is just like selection grade post covering in all 15% of total cadre strength of Civil Assistant Surgeons. The posts are distributed in all the three Branches and promo- tion to the posts depends upon the available vacancies in every branch.