SHRI SANJAY CHANNA Vs. UNION OF INDIA THROUGH SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF ROAD, TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS AND NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA, THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE issue involved in all these Original Applications are the same and, therefore, they are disposed of by this common order. OA No. 3949/2012 being the lead case, the brief facts thereof are considered hereunder: -

(2.) THE Respondent No. 2, namely, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI for short) issued an advertisement in March, 2004 inviting applications for appointment to the post of Manager (Technical) on deputation basis. Such appointments are governed by Rule 13 of the National Highways Authority of India(Recruitment, Seniority and Promotion) Regulations, 1996. The Applicant was selected and then appointed vide order dated 13.7.2004. He joined the said post on 26.8.2004. While he and other similarly placed officers were working on the said post, the Respondents invited applications for appointment to that post through lateral entry. They challenged the aforesaid action of the Respondents vide OA No. 2807/2009 and connected cases. This Tribunal, vide order dated 09.10.2009 directed the Respondents to maintain status quo. During the pendency of the said OAs, the Respondent No. 2, amended the aforesaid Regulations, 1996 vide National Highways Authority of India (Recruitment, Seniority and Promotion) Third Amendment Regulations, 2009 and notified it on 23.10.2009. By the said amendment, the educationists with two years of continuous service were allowed to be absorbed at the level of General Manager and below. But, vide clause 13(5)(g), it was incorporated that the officers should be less than 56 years of age as on 1st day of January of the year in which, they are considered for absorption. Rule 13 of the said amended Regulations deals with absorption and it is reproduced as under: -

(3.) BASED on the aforesaid amendments, the Respondents issued Circular dated 29.08.2012 inviting fresh application and the Private Respondents applied in pursuance to the said Circular. As the Applicant had already applied in response to the circular dated 28.11.2009, he did not apply again. As the selection process in the case of the Applicant was completed in the year 2010 and the result of the selected candidates were not declared, he has filed MA No. 10105/2012 In OA No. 2807/2009 (supra) for execution of the order dated 25.03.2012. On receipt of the notice in the said MA, the Respondents handed over the copy of the impugned Annexure A -1 order dated 07.11.2012 informing him that his application was forwarded to the Screening Committee constituted by the Competent Authority in NHAI for scrutiny along with other applications and the Screening Committee considered his application and found eligible. Accordingly, his name was recommended to the Selection Committee for the final selection but Selection Committee has not recommended his candidature based on his performance during his tenure as discernable from his Annual Confidential Reports and Descriptive Assessment Report furnished by his CGM (Tech.) RO. A copy of the said letter dated 07.11.2012 issued to Shri B. Ravi Shankar Applicant in OA No. 3841/2012 is produced as under: -