PUNJAB STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD Vs. KULDIP SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The respondent was a Junior Engineer in the service of the appellant Board. The next post of promotion from the post of Junior Engineer is Assistant Engineer. According to the respondent, he was entitled to be promoted as Assistant Engineer in 1989. However, such promotion was refused to him only on the ground that he had not taken the departmental examination. The respondent took the departmental examination successfully on 20.03.1990. Thereafter, he had been continuously submitting representations to the appellant for promotion as an Assistant Engineer. It may be mentioned that in 1990 one Sumesh Bansal was appointed as an Assistant Engineer on a temporary basis and his appointment was made subject to the rights of a candidate who may be appointed in the regular course. The appellant did not however revert Sumesh Bansal nor did they promote the respondent as they should have in the post of Assistant Engineer. In 1994 Sumesh Bansal filed a suit in which he asked for an injunction restraining the appellant from reverting him to the post of Junior Engineer. The respondent was a party to the suit. An interim injunction was granted in the suit as prayed for by Sumesh Bansal. The upshot of this interim order was that the post of Assistant Engineer which should have been given to the respondent was occupied by the said Sumesh Bansal. In all the proceedings filed by Sumesh Bansal the appellant had consistently taken the stand that the post against which Sumesh Bansal was temporarily appointed was reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate which the respondent was. Sumesh Bansal's suit was ultimately dismissed on 21.10.2000. However, he was confirmed in the post by the appellant.

(3.) Consequently the respondent filed a writ petition in 2000 before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The High Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the appellant to decide the dispute raised by the respondent on merits. The appellant passed an order on 26.09.2002 promoting the respondent with effect from 14.12.2001 instead of 20.03.1990 being the date when the respondent had passed the departmental examination.