RAMA RAO Vs. M G MAHESHWARA RAO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By the judgment under appeals the High Court partly allowed the writ petition filed before it by the employees in the ministerial cadre of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal. Writ Petition Nos.16143-1646 of 1997 challenged the decision of the Administrative Tribunal dismissing an application filed by them before the Tribunal. Feeling aggrieved by the decision rendered by the High Court in the writ petitions both sides are before us with these appeals. Civil Appeal Nos.7474-7477 of 2003 is filed by those belonging to the Stenographer Cadre and Civil Appeal Nos.7478-7481 of 2003 filed by the ministerial cadre.

(2.) For convenience, hereafter, the parties are referred to as Stenographers and Assistants.

(3.) The Karnataka Administrative Tribunal was constituted on 6.10.1986. The Government of Karnataka sanctioned the cadre strength and framed the Cadre and Recruitment Rules, 1986. The appointments of stenographers were made in the year 1988. The Government published on 23.9.1992 a new set of draft rules. The stenographers filed objections to the draft rules. On 31.5.1993 the Government published the Recruitment Rules. Though the stenographers made representations to the Government, their representations were rejected. Thereupon they filed application Nos.2250-2252 of 1993 and 2253-2258 of 1998 before the Administrative Tribunal challenging the prescription of degree and test as qualifications for promotion to the post of Junior Judgment Writer in the Rules. It is seen that the assistants or any one that would be affected from that branch by an adjudication, were not impleaded in the proceeding. The Administrative Tribunal allowed the applications and quashed the Rules in part. Essentially, what the Administrative Tribunal did was to alter the qualifications provided for promotions in the cadre of stenographers by doing away with the higher qualifications prescribed. The striking down of the Rules was done by a Bench presided over by the Vice-Chairman of the Administrative Tribunal. Thereafter the vice-chairman proceeded to promote the stenographers on the basis of the qualification prescribed by him on the judicial side. The assistants felt aggrieved by the promotions thus given. They, therefore, moved application Nos.3585-3592 of 1995 and other connected applications before the Administrative Tribunal challenging the decision of the Administrative Tribunal dated 6.7.1994 as also the promotions given to the respondents in those applications, the promoted stenographers. The applications were opposed on various grounds. By order dated 21.4.1997, the Administrative Tribunal dismissed the applications. It was challenged by the Assistants before the High Court in the writ petitions already referred to. The High Court, by the judgment under appeal, allowed the writ petitions in part holding that the Administrative Tribunal had no jurisdiction to alter the qualifications for promotions as it had done and since promotions were made on the basis of this unauthorized interference with the Rules prescribing qualifications for promotions, the promotions were bad. As a logical follow up, instead of setting aside all the promotions, the High Court set aside only the promotions of non-graduate stenographers and declined to interfere with the promotions of the graduate stenographers. The non-graduate stenographers are aggrieved by the setting aside of the judgment of the Administrative Tribunal and the quashing of the promotions of non-graduates. The Assistants are aggrieved by what they call the failure of the High Court to give effect to its own judgment and in not setting aside the illegal promotions given to all stenographers including the graduate stenographers. That is how these sets of appeals are before us.