V CHANKERAIAH Vs. DIRECTOR GENERAL RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these writ petitions common questions of fact as well as law arise for consideration. Hence they are disposed of through a common judgment.

(2.) IN W.P. No. 15161 of 1991 and W.P. No. 20028 of 2000 the petitioners are individual employees. In W.P. No. 15493 of 2000, the petitioner is the South Central Railway Protection Force Association. Reference to petitioners in this judgment shall be to the individual employees.

(3.) THE Railway Protection Force (hereinafter called RPF) was constituted in the year 1957 under Act 23 of 1957. The Force comprises of several categories of personnel. For the purpose of this writ petition the relevant classification is one between the main Force on the one hand and the followers on the other. The personnel in the main Force undertake the main protection activities as such. Those in the category of followers undertake the supplementary functions such as cooking, washing, maintenance of gardens, tailoring, cobbler etc. This category of employees later on came to be designated as ancillary staff under the R.P.F. Rules. 1987. Depending on their seniority or mode of appointment etc., these categories of personnel were fitted into three categories viz. Head Constable, Naik, Constable with respective suffixes, having regard to the type of job assigned to them.