A. MALLI BABU Vs. UNION OF INDIA REP. BY ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSION, DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition was filed by an employee of the East Coast Railway, Visakhapatnam, with the following prayer:

(2.) Respondents 5 to 7 in the writ petition are the Divisional Railway Manager, the Senior Divisional Personnel Officer and the Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer of the East Coast Railway, Visakhapatnam. The allegation made against them is that they awarded marks for the record of service and had undertaken evaluation of answer sheets of the written examination irregularly, warranting a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The written examination in question is in relation to recruitment to the post of Junior Engineer Grade-II in the service of the East Coast Railway.

(3.) In terms of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1) (1997) 3 SCC 261, in so far as service matters relating to the Central Government and its instrumentalities are concerned, the Court of the first instance is the Central Administrative Tribunal constituted under the provisions of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. It is only after the said Tribunal renders an adjudication on merits that cause would arise for the party aggrieved thereby to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.