ANUPAMA SARKAR Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the writ petitions are set up in the common background facts and relief and hence those are clubbed together for disposal by a common order. There is no dispute that the petitioners are borne in the Grade-IV of Tripura Engineering Services. They have also completed seven years of service as required for promotion to the next grade i.e. Grade-III [Rule 15 (4) of Tripura Engineering Service Rules, 1984]. That apart, the petitioners have cleared the departmental examination and hence the petitioners do not suffer from any disability vis-à-vis Rule 21 of Tripura Engineering Service Rules, 1987.

(2.) The grievance of the petitioners is that the departmental examination as conducted by the Tripura Public Service Commission, is held, twice in a year, in May and November as per the schedule as provided in the Schedule-A of the Tripura Engineering Officers Training and Departmental Examination Rules, 2008, but for the pandemic situation, according to the petitioners, the examination was held on 10th and 11/8/2021, as evident from the notification dtd. 22/6/2021 issued by Tripura Public Service Commission [Annexure-3 to the writ petition].

(3.) There is no dispute that the petitioners have come successfully in the said examination and they are now eligible for consideration for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer borne in the Grade-III of Tripura Engineering Service. The result of the said examination has been published by the memorandum dtd. 8/10/2021. For the said delay in holding the examination, a few Junior Engineers, borne in the Grade-IV of Tripura Engineering Service, have been promoted in Grade-III (Civil) on ad-hoc basis in the scale of pay of Rs.15,600.00 to Rs.39,100.00 (PB-4) with grade pay of Rs.7,000.00 (level-17) of Tripura Pay Matrix, 2018 prospectively. However, those ad-hoc appointments are subject to the final outcome of the SLP(C)19765-19767 of 2015. The petitioners did not come within the zone of consideration when the Departmental Promotion Committee had been screening the eligible candidates for promotion to the Grade-III of Tripura Engineering Service on adhoc as they did not clear the departmental examination which is the mandatory basic for consideration of promotion to the Grade-III.