SURESH PURI Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed with the following prayers:

(2.) The petitioner joined the State Bank of Travancore (for short, 'SBT') (which later merged with the respondent Bank in April, 2017) in May, 1981 as a Probationary Officer and superannuated on November 30, 2017. It is stated in the petition that the respondent No. 1 is a Nationalised Bank discharging public functions, and as such is an entity of the State and qualifies as 'State' under Article 12 of the Constitution of India. According to Mr. Kotla Harshvardhan, learned counsel for the petitioner, this Court has the power to issue writs even against an authority which is located outside its territorial jurisdiction if a part of the cause of action arose within the Court's territorial jurisdiction. In this regard, he has relied upon the judgment in the case of Shanti Devi vs. Union of India, 2020 SCC OnLine SC 908. It is his case that since a part of the cause of action has arisen in New Delhi, the present Writ Petition is maintainable before this Court.

(3.) As far as the facts in the present case are concerned, it is stated that in the year 1985, the petitioner was sent on deputation to State Bank of India (for short, 'SBI-), Toronto, Canada and in the year 1988, he was posted in Mumbai for setting up a Foreign Exchange Dealing Cell. In 1993 the petitioner was promoted as a Scale-III Officer (Middle Management Grade Scale). Thereafter, the petitioner served in various branches of the Bank in Bangalore, Pune, Bhopal and Delhi. It is stated that the petitioner had an outstanding track record and under him, the branches at Bangalore, Pune, Bhopal and Delhi registered unprecedented achievements and exceptional performance. The petitioner became eligible for promotion to Scale-IV Post in the year 1998, however despite his excellent performance he was not promoted. In the year 2004, the petitioner approached this Court vide W.P. (C) No. 940/2005 seeking inter alia issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondent Bank to promote the petitioner to Scale-IV Post w.e.f 1998 along with consequential benefits. It is submitted that this Court had admitted the said petition on July 30, 2008 and the same is pending adjudication.