Service law – Seniority – Members of the cadre of Junior Engineers – Inter-se seniority of the incumbents appointed to the post of Junior Engineer on direct recruitment basis and those whose posts of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, were upgraded to Junior Engineer – Direct recruitment of the Junior Engineers in 2003 – Circulation of tentative seniority list, however its finalization remained pending – During the interregnum 47 posts of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, working in the Department upgraded to Junior Engineer (Class-II Gazetted) and thereafter, seniority list finalized – Appellantsdirect recruitees shown in the beginning of the seniority list, however, the respondents who were upgraded as Junior Engineer in 2007 were shown much below – Aggrieved thereagainst, writ petitions filed by the incumbents upgraded as Junior Engineers – Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the same as the Sectional Officer, Grade-I, whose post was upgraded only in 2007 as Junior Engineers could not be treated to be senior to the Junior Engineers, directly recruited in 2003 and the impugned seniority list was upheld – However, the Division Bench set aside the order passed by the Single Judge – Correctness:
Held: Division Bench of the High Court totally misdirected itself while examining the 1997 Rules; the date of appointment of the respondents as Sectional Officer, Grade-I and the date of their regularization as such – Said facts were not of any relevance – Date on which they became members of the cadre of Junior Engineers coming from two different sources is to be considered – Dates on which the Sectional Officer, Grade-I, were promoted as such either on officiating basis or their promotions were regularlised as per the order of 2007 will not have any bearing to the instant case – Even if the Sectional Officer, Grade-I, are treated to be working from the date they were officiating as such, nothing hinges on that as far as the seniority in the cadre of Junior Engineers is concerned – Post of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, on which they were working was upgraded to that of Junior Engineer (Class-II Gazetted) in 2007 – Pay-scales of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, was ₹4500- 7000 and of Junior Engineer was ₹6000-9750, meaning thereby that the respondents were working on a lower non-gazetted post – Division Bench committed blatant error that upgraded Sectional Officer, Grade-I, are directed to be given seniority in the cadre of Junior Engineers from a date on which they were not even born in the cadre as it was only after 2007 upgradation order that they became Junior Engineers, which was much after the direct recruitment made in 2003 – Impugned order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court set aside – Seniority list of the Junior Engineers upheld – Nagaland Engineeing Services Rules, 1997. [Paras 9-16]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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