DWARKA PRASHAD SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein had filed the Original Application No.1788/95 before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi. His grievance was that though he had been working as Caretaker in Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting since 1973 (i.e. for more than 24 years when he filed the said Original Application), he had not been given a single promotion. The relief was claimed primarily on the ground that at the time of his appointment, he was not informed that the post of Caretaker was an ex-cadre post and in any case in all the sister offices of the respondent No.1 even the ex-cadre posts of Telex Operators were placed at the bottom of the LDC seniority list and they were made eligible for promotions to the posts of UDCs. It was also his case that since 1990 the respondents were actually taking the work of Assistant from him, and therefore, he should be inducted alongwith his post into the Assistant cadre of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS for short) with seniority from the date he was appointed as the Caretaker.

(2.) The respondents had contested the aforesaid Original Application on the ground that the petitioner was holding an ex-cadre post, and therefore, could not be inducted into the Assistant grade of CSS. He had in fact made a request to this effect in 1989 whereupon he was asked as to whether he would be interested for being considered for induction into the Central Secretariat Clerical Service(CSCS) with seniority determined from the date of induction and in reply to this the petitioner had expressed his unwillingness. In any case since there was no provision for induction of the post of Caretaker into the UDC and it was not found to relax the rules, the post of Caretaker being the isolated post, the decision was communicated to him rejecting his request.

(3.) After hearing both the sides, the learned Tribunal dismissed the Original Application as the prayer of the petitioner was found to be legally unsustainable. However, before parting with the case, the learned Tribunal made the following observations: