STATE OF ORISSA Vs. PRAVANJAN PATNAIK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Pravanjan Patnaik, respondent in the appeal herein, was working as Upper Division Assistant Grade II in the ministerial service of the State of orissa. He qualified the final accounts examination in December 1966 and was promoted to the post of Upper Division Assistant Grade I on 23/1/1967. Sixteen Upper Division Assistants who were senior to Patnaik and who had not qualified the final accounts examination had already been promoted as Upper Division Assistants Grade I on various dates earlier to the promotion of Patnaik. Patnaik was placed junior to the sixteen officials in the cadre of Upper Division Assistants Grade 1. He challenged his seniority position before the orissa Administrative tribunal on the ground that having qualified the examination earlier to the sixteen officials, he was entitled to be placed senior to them in the cadre of Upper Division Assistants Grade I despite his being junior to them in the lower cadre. It is not disputed that the sixteen officials were not impleaded as parties before the tribunal. The tribunal allowed the contention of Patnaik and declared him senior to the sixteen officials. This appeal by the State of orissa is against the judgment of the tribunal.

(2.) Promotion to the post of Upper Division Assistant Grade I is governed by the rules called orissa Ministerial Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Clerks and Assistants in the District Offices and Offices of the Heads of Department) Rules, 1963 (the Rules). Rules 18 (2, 21 (1 (b) , 24 (2 and 25 which are relevant are reproduced hereunder:

(3.) Learned counsel for the appellants has further invited our attention to another set of rules called "the orissa Ministerial Service (Regularisation of Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Irregular Recruits in the Offices of Heads of Department, District Offices and Subordinate Offices) Rules, 1975" (the 1975 Rules). Rule 5 (3 of the 1975 Rules which is relevant is as under: