Y MOHAN RAO Vs. BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BHARAT Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the 1st respondent herein, issued an amended transfer Policy, on 7. 5. 2008, for being followed, while effecting transfers of different categories of employees. The petitioners are employees of Group-B category of the bsnl. They feel aggrieved by Clauses 11 (d)and 12 (i) of the Transfer Policy.

(2.) THE petitioners were initially working in Group-C category. In the recent past, they were promoted to Group-B, for which the unit of appointment and seniority is Secondary Switching Area (SSA ). SSAs are said to be almost coextensive with the revenue districts in the State. All of them were given postings in Group-B, within the same SSAs.

(3.) THE stay, or tenure of an employee at a particular unit of appointment, such as ssa circle, becomes an important factor, to identify an employee, for transfer to another place or unit. Clauses 11 (d) and 12 (i) of the transfer Policy direct that while reckoning the tenure of an employee at SSA, the service rendered by him in the previous cadre would also be taken into account. This has resulted in the service of the petitioners, rendered in Groups C and B categories, being clubbed for determining the tenure, in the context of deciding their transferability. The grievance of the petitioners is that while the tenure of the direct recruit Group-B employees is reckoned from the date of his posting in the SSA, a discriminatory treatment is accorded to them, by adding the service in the feeder category also.