BISWABASH BEHURIA Vs. CHAIRMAN, COAL INDIA LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner seeks direction to opposite parties to restore his seniority as per All India Merit List for Welfare Officer (Trainees) fixing a deemed date of his entry into E -2 Grade as 24.06.1996 and further direction to promote him to the E -4 Grade with effect from the date his immediate juniors in E -3 Grade, were so promoted, i.e. from 22.09.2008, with all consequential benefits due to him.

(2.) THE petitioner being successful in recruitment tests conducted by Coal India Limited was selected for appointment as Welfare Officer (Trainee) w.e.f. 11.06.1994. Initially he was placed under training for a period of two years as per terms and conditions of the appointment and on successful training his service was confirmed. Accordingly he was appointed as Personnel Officer in E -2 Grade, vide Office order dated 10.04.1997. Petitioner's service was placed under the South Eastern Coal Fields Limited, a subsidiary Company of Coal India Limited, but his seniority was being maintained all through as per the Common Coal Cadre of the parent company. The petitioner was promoted as Sensor Personnel Officer in E -3 Grade w.e.f. 02.03.2000 pursuant to his joining against said post and he discharged duties at the Headquarters of Mahanadi Coal Field Limited at Sambalpur. While he was so continuing around second week of June, 2007, he came across a copy of a purported Global Seniority List of Executive Cadre employees of the company in E -3 grade showing his Seniority as on 22.01.2006 and to his dismay he found that his name was placed much below some of his immediate juniors without any reasons. Therefore, he applied for information under the Right to Information Act on 21.08.2007 with regard to merit list of Welfare Officer (Trainees) recruited in 1994, Global Seniority Lists of E -1, E -2 and E -3 Grades of 1994 batch, his appointment letter dated 11.06.1994 along with terms and conditions and other enclosures besides other relevant documents. The same were supplied to him on 12.12.2007. So far as supply of Global Seniority Lists of E -1, E -2 and E -3 Grades of 1994 batch is concerned, the same has not been supplied. Upon perusal of the All India Merit List of Welfare Officer (Trainees) of 1994 batch, it appears that the some of the persons placed ahead of the petitioner in the Global Seniority List were actually below him in the All India Merit List of Welfare Officer (Trainees). Being aggrieved by such erroneous fixation of seniority, the petitioner submitted representation to opposite party no. 1 on 31.12.2007 which was duly forwarded to the controlling authority by letter dated 2/3.01.2008. But the representation of the petitioner was rejected as communicated to him by letter dated 13.02.2008, Annexure -9. It was stated that on examination of the representation, the same was found to bear no merit so far as deemed date of entry in E -2 Grade of the petitioner recorded as 1.8.1996; whereas for the rest of his batch mates with whom he compared his seniority, the same was 24.06.1996 and the sonority has been fixed as per norms and conditions of the Global Seniority List in EIS Data base. In the meantime, opposite party nos. 5 to 59 have been promoted to E -4 Grade on 22.09.2008. Hence this writ petition.

(3.) IT appears from the extract of the report of the Committee constituted by the Chairman, Coal India to go into the issue relating to determination of the inter se seniority of the Executives, circulated to all subsidiary companies, vide letter No. C5A/52106(2)/538 dated 19.05.1980, Clause -17 deals with deemed date of entry into a Grade, which is quoted below: