Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 26: In a major development, High Court has restrained the State Government from making further promotions and adjustments of KAS officers at the level of Special Scale and also from induction of KAS officers into IAS till next date of hearing.
The direction was passed in an application mentioning that Government was still planning to make promotions of the KAS officers and even trying to induct some of them into IAS despite the fact that issue of seniority is yet to be settled by the High Court.
Advocate Abhinav Sharma appearing for the applicants raised certain questions whether the Government is bound to prepare year wise select list for vacancies of particular year in terms of Rules, whether the induction of officers is to be made against the vacancies of particular calendar year in terms of select list prepared for that year even at a later stage, whether the officers inducted against the vacancies of earlier years have to figure senior to the officers who have been inducted in the year 2008 against the leave reserve and deputation reserve posts, whether the officers inducted against the vacancies of particular calendar year are entitled to seniority from that year.
He further said whether leave reserve, training reserve and deputation reserve posts can be filled up on substantive basis, whether the officers who could not get promoted because of non-availability of slots in their feeding services could be promoted in 2008 on the excuse of there being lagging behind in terms of SRO issued in 2005.
He submitted that on consideration of these issues, the Division Bench allowed all the appeals filed vide judgment dated 18.04.2016 whereby the Single Bench judgment has been set aside. “The Single Bench is now required to hear all the writ petitions afresh. The Division Bench had passed interim directions but because of final decision of the appeals, the interim directions have come to an end”, he added.
He further submitted that the respondent State Government has now initiated a process for making further promotions in favour of the officers whose induction and seniority in KAS Cadre is under challenge.
“The process is going on and in case those officers are promoted then in that eventuality irreparable loss will be suffered by the petitioners and it will give rise to multiplicity of litigation. The litigation will also get protracted and prolonged in case further process of promotion to higher scales is not stopped”, he said, adding “the respondents have also initiated process for making induction in IAS cadre in favour of the officers and in case the same is done then the petitioners will again suffer irreparable loss and the petitioners will be required to challenge such inductions”.
It was also submitted before the High Court that in case the process is not stopped then in that eventuality the litigation will get further delayed and prolonged and the petitioners have already suffered a huge loss when the respondent State Government made adjustment of such officers against Special Scale KAS Cadre Posts.
It may not be out of place to mention here that the Supreme Court had also stopped promotion in Special Scale Cadre and Division Bench had also passed similar interim directions, the counsels for the petitioners said, adding “in view of the changed circumstances the further process of promotion to higher scale KAS cadre posts and IAS cadre posts deserves to be stopped till final decision of the writ petition”.
Terming the induction of 49 officers in KAS Cadre as illegal and grossly violative of rules and norms, the counsel for the petitioners said that their further promotion is now being undertaken at the cost of the rights of the petitioners and the balance of the convenience also lies in favour of the petitioners and against the respondents.
After hearing battery of lawyers from both the sides, Justice B S Walia directed State to go ahead with the process of the promotion but not to act upon the same for making the promotion into KAS and induction into IAS till disposal of writ petition.
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