Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 26: In a significant judgment, which will streamline the entire Education Department vis-à-vis direct recruit lecturers and promotees, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat has directed the State through Commissioner Secretary, School Education Department to finalize the seniority list of lecturers in accordance with the statutory rules and quota within a period of three months. The High Court has further directed that promotions, if any, in the Education Department shall be effected in accordance with the seniority list so prepared.
This judgment was passed in a writ petition filed by direct recruit lecturers of the Education Department through Advocate Wasim Sadiq Nargal, wherein they challenged regularisation of 400 senior lecturers/lecturers, beyond promotion/DPC quota from 1992 to 1998.
The petitioners challenged the final seniority list, which was issued in 2006 in violation of Education Gazetted Services Recruitment Rules and without adhering to quota of 50:50 between direct recruits and the promotees laid down in Suraj Parkash Gupta’s case.
The petitioners prayed before the High Court that the seniority list be finalized in consonance with the Recruitment Rules of 1992 by giving weightage to quota as per Supreme Court judgment passed in Suraj Parkash Gupta case by pushing down the excess promotees, who have been promoted in excess of their quota meant for direct recruits from respective dates on which the vacancies in their quota become available.
Advocate Nargal appearing for the petitioners argued that respondents have made appointments/promotions in violation of interim order passed by the Court on April 25, 2011 and respondents without finalizing the seniority list as per mandate of law, have been according promotions as senior lecturers and subsequent promotions as a result of which the promotional avenues of direct recruits were jeopardized.
It was further argued that 50:50 quota has been provided in recruitment rules at the time of entry in the Education Department as lecturer and this quota/ratio has not been followed by the Education Department. “The quota, which was meant for direct recruits, who are selected/appointed after facing tough competition through Public Service Commission, has been usurped by promotees as a result of which the promotional avenues of direct recruits are marred”, the counsel for the petitioners further argued.
It was averred in the petition that huge promotions were made by the Education Department with effect from 1992 to 2006 in flagrant violation of rules/quota and Supreme Court judgment and the Government was under legal obligation to have maintained seniority of all direct recruits and promotees in conformity with Rule 24 of CCA Rules and as per Rule 10 of SRO-83.
“Rule of quota being statutory one, it was obligatory on part of Government not to have deviated from the quota/rules due to administrative exigency or expediency”, counsel for the petitioners submitted, adding “no retrospective seniority/promotion can be granted from the date when the employee is not even borne in the cadre so as to adversely affect the direct recruits appointed validly by PSC as such promotion of private respondents would revoke from the date vacancy in their quota becomes available rendering the previous service as fortuitous”.
They submitted that huge departmental promotions were made by the respondents from 1992 to 2006 on stopgap/adhoc/temporary basis and subsequently they were regularized illegally on strength of Cabinet decision No.165/15 dated October 21, 1998 without consulting the PSC and the Cabinet decision cannot be applied prospectively to the detriment of direct recruits as the said decision was by way of one time exception.
The petitioners prayed that the regularization of the departmental promotees under the garb of Cabinet Decision of 1998 cannot sustain the test of law. “It is not expected of a Government to brazenly favour one set of employees so as to defeat the bonafide claim of other employees”, counsel for the petitioners submitted, adding “it was obligatory on the part of Government to have pushed down the excess promotees by placing them in subsequent vacancies in their quota in later years before initiating the process of promotion to various set of employees and any such service outside the promotion quota can be termed as fortuitous”.
After hearing counsel for the petitioners and AAGs H A Siddiqui and Ravinder Sharma and Advocate Abhinav Sharma for the respondents, Justice Bhat directed the officials to finalize the seniority list of lecturers working in Education Department in accordance with the statutory rules and quota within a period of three months.
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