B JAYARAJU Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners were lecturers in the Government Polytechnic College under the Directorate of Technical Education. Respondent nos.3 to 8 were earlier lecturers in the Government BDT Engineering College, Davangere. A proposal was mooted in the year 1992 to transfer BDT Engineering College to Kuvempu University. Accordingly, by a Government Order dated 01.06.1992, options were given to the lecturers in BDT Engineering Colleges to continue in government service or not. Respondent nos.3 to 8 exercised their option to continue in the government service. By virtue of notification dated 23.03.1993, they were included in the list of lecturers who had expressed their desire to continue in government services. Consequently, by an Official Memorandum dated 23.04.1997, they were allotted to different Government Polytechnic Colleges. It was stipulated in the said order that their seniority would be determined as per Rule -6 of the Karnataka Government Servants (Seniority) Rules, 1957. In the final seniority list of the lectures and other cadres of Government Polytechnic Colleges published in notification 10.11.2004, they were assigned ranking on the basis of their entry into government service. Six years later by an order dated 19.01.2010, they were granted seniority by placing them higher in rank than the petitioners. Questioning the same, the petitioners approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal through the instance application.

(2.) IT was firstly contended that the final seniority list having attained finality in the year 2004, the question of altering the same almost 5 years thereafter would be unjustified. Hence, the seniority list which was challenged after five years, having been accepted, interference with the same is wholly unwarranted. That they having been appointed much prior to the respondents, they cannot be placed lower in ranking to the respondents.

(3.) ON the other hand, the learned counsel for the State contends that the cadre of the respondents was higher than the cadre of the petitioners. That they were lecturers in the Engineering Colleges, which was higher in the grade of lectures in the Government Polytechnic Colleges. Therefore, it is submitted that they form a different class and as per Rule -6 of the Seniority Rules, they have to be placed above those lecturers.