UNION OF INDIA Vs. OM PRAKASH & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition filed by the Union of India, assails the order dated 27.02.2015 passed by the Principal Bench, Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi ("Tribunal") allowing OA No.2430/2014 filed by the respondents. The petitioner/Union of India also assails the order dated 03.07.2015, whereby the Tribunal has rejected its Review Application No.157/2015.

(2.) The aforesaid Original Application was filed by the respondents/applicants seeking inter alia a direction to the petitioner to only consider only them, along with other eligible Highly Skilled Grade-I (hereinafter referred to as "HS-I") employees, for promotion to the post of Chargeman Grade-II in accordance with the Recruitment Rules. The grievance of the respondents was that persons holding the post of Master Craftsman (MCM) were erroneously being considered for promotion to the post of Chargeman, by virtue of executive instructions issued in contravention of the Recruitment Rules.

(3.) The respondents while working as HS-I employees in the Ordnance Factory, Muradnagar, District Ghaziabad, U.P., approached the Tribunal being aggrieved by two letters dated 5th May, 2014 and 22nd May, 2014, issued by the petitioner, whereby persons working on the post of MCM were also declared as eligible for promotion to the post of Chargeman. The case of the respondents was that as per the applicable Recruitment Rules, i.e., Indian Ordnance Factories (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Group "C" Supervisory and Non Gazetted Cadre Rules, 1989, employees working on the post of MCM were not eligible for promotion to the post of Chargeman and, therefore, the action of the petitioner in considering such employees for promotion to the said post, was not only dehors the said Rules, but was detrimental to their interest as it was only HS-I employees who formed the feeder cadre for Chargeman-II. While opposing the OA, the only stand taken by the petitioner before the Tribunal was that even though there was no provision for considering MCMs for promotion to the post of Chargeman in the Recruitment Rules, guidelines by way of letters dated 15th May, 2014 and 22nd May, 2014, had been issued to include MCMs in the feeder cadre for the post of Chargeman. It was contended that the guidelines were only supplementing the Recruitment Rules, and had been issued for the benefit of the employees themselves. Therefore, there was no infirmity in the petitioner's consideration of MCMs for promotion to the post of Chargeman.