SURENDRA KUMAR MOHAPATRA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) As all these writ petitions involve common questions of law, the same are taken up for hearing together. For better appreciation W.P. (C) No. 6355 of 2012 is taken up first as the leading case. W.P. (C) No. 6355 of 2012 has been filed by the petitioners, who are working as Office Assistants in different branches of Neelachal Gramya Bank, Bhubaneswar challenging the arbitrary action of the opposite parties in giving promotions of Office Assistants (Multipurpose Group 'B' Clerical) Cadre to Officer JMG Scale-1 Cadre under the Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and Employees) Rules, 2010.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that the petitioners on being duly selected were initially appointed as Junior Clerks and subsequently promoted to the post of Senior Clerks. In the year 2007 Puri Gramya Bank was amalgamated with Dhenkanal Gramya Bank and Neelachal Gramya Bank was created. Thereafter the posts of petitioners re-designated as Office Assistants (Multipurpose Group 'B' Clerical). After creation of Neelachal Gramya Bank on 30.8.2007 a provisional seniority list of the Office Assistants was prepared. The appointment and promotion of Officers and other employees of Rural Banks were governed under the Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and other Employees) Rules, 1998. However, in the year 2010, the Central Government in exercise of its power under section 29 of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 Rules called Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and Employees) Rules, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as "Rules, 2010") superseding the Rules, 1998. Rule 8 read with Rule 11 of the Rules, 2010 empowers to prepare a guideline for recruitment and promotion to different categories of Officers and employees of Group 'A', 'B' and 'C posts by way of direct recruitment or promotion. For recruitment and promotion to the post of Officer Junior Management (Scale-1) under classification Group 'A' mode of appointment shall be 50 % by direct recruitment and 50 % by promotion from Group 'B'. The petitioners" belong to Group 'B' category holding the post of Office Assistant (Multipurpose). While matter stood thus, the Bank issued a notification on 11.6.2011 under Annexure-2 for promotion from the post of Office Assistant (Multipurpose Group 'B' Clerical) Cadre to Officer JMG Scale-1 Cadre to fill up 97 vacant posts in accordance with Rules, 2010. As per the aforesaid notification, written test was conducted on 4.9.2011 and interview was conducted from 16.11.2011 to 19.11.2011. The petitioners were confident about their promotion as they are senior and they have unblemished service career but the authorities given promotion to their juniors basing upon their Performance Appraisal Report, though they have secured much less mark in the written test and interview.

(3.) A counter-affidavit has been filed by opposite party No. 4-Bank inter alia taking the stand that a person in his Performance Appraisal Report need not have any adverse remark but that does not necessarily mean that he is having all 'excellent' remark in his Performance Appraisal Report. The Bank as per the prevailing practice awarded marks, keeping the evaluation of the particular candidate's performance, different grades namely 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', and 'E' and these grades are awarded in order to facilitate the promotion process by converting the grades to numerical by the following procedure: