ANIL KUMAR Vs. JAGJIT SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, against the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) dated 10.01.2014 in O.A. No. 2479/2012, in which the CAT allowed the application of the Applicant/Respondent, and directed the Petitioner - Department to consider him for promotion to the post of Head Clerk after he became eligible for that post w.e.f. 17.05.2008.

(2.) THE brief facts of this case are that the Applicant/ Respondent was appointed as Clerk on 26.07.1990 and later, as a Senior Clerk on 17.05.2006. The next promotion available for him was to the cadre of Head Clerk, for which the rules prescribed an eligibility condition of two years service in the cadre of Senior Clerk. The petitioner completed this period on 17.05.2008. As on that date, the sanctioned cadre strength of Head Clerks was 17, of which 3 posts were reserved for SC candidates. One out of those was vacant. The respondent was not considered for promotion. He applied on 24.11.2009 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) seeking the details about availability of SC posts. The Railways, on 07.05.2010, informed him that three posts of Head Clerk in the Ministerial cadre in the SC category were in Commercial Branch and during the period from 2002 to 2007, two SC candidates were promoted against unreserved posts but adjusted against the SC points in the roster. On the basis of this information, he represented on 13.04.2010 and followed it with a reminder dated 20.03.2012 requesting the Railways to consider him for promotion to the post of HC reserved for SC category as per the roster point from due date. By letter dated 03.05.2012, the response to the representation, by the Petitioner -Railways was inter alia, that:

(3.) THE Applicant contended that in accordance with a Circular dated 21.08.1997 issued by the Railway Board, candidates belonging to reserved categories who are appointed on the basis of their own merit and not on account of reservation should not be counted and considered towards the quota meant for reserved vacancies. The Railway Board's letter dated 07.09.2002, too was relied on; it clarified that: "the SC/ST candidates appointed by promotion on their own merit and not owing to reservation or relaxation of qualification will not be adjusted against the reserved points of the reservation roster. They will be adjusted against unreserved points". Reliance was also placed on a Railway Board Circular dated 01.09.2010 which stated, inter alia, that: