V.P.GUPTA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner in the present writ petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, has sought judicial review of order dated 8th May, 2001 of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, whereby original application filed by the petitioner, seeking quashing of order dated 28th January, 1998, Annexure A-l, regarding the year of allotment, for the purpose of seniority in the cadre of Indian Administrative Service, stands dismissed.

(2.) Relevant facts may be stated thus. Petitioner was appointed to H.P. Administrative Service (hereinafter referred to as the State Service) in the year 1974. In the seniority list of State Service issued on December 4, 1978, his name figured at Sr. No. 41, while names of some ex-servicemen members of the service appeared at Sr. Nos. 68, 69, 87, 107 and 109. In the seniority list, issued on 16th August, 1983, ex-servicemen members of the service were shown seniors to the petitioner and several other officers. Their names were shown at Sr. Nos. 15 to 20, while the name of petitioner was shown at Sr. No. 31. Two writ petitions, being CWP No. 407 of 1983 and CWP No. 37 of 1985 were filed by two batch-mates of the petitioner, named Rattan Lal and S.N. Katwal, challenging the seniority list, wherein ex-servicemen, who though ranked junior to the petitioner and his above named batch-mates were placed above them in the seniority list, issued on August 16, 1983.

(3.) During the pendency of those writ petitions, State Administrative Tribunal was constituted and the writ petitions were transferred to that tribunal. The tribunal decided the two petitions in favour of the batch mates of the petitioner and ordered that all the members of the first batch of the service (i.e. the batch of the petitioner) are entitled to rank higher in seniority to the private respondents (ex-servicemen), whose names were shown at Sr. Nos. 15 to 20 in the seniority list issued on August 16, 1983. Judgment of the tribunal was appealed against and the Hon'ble Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on 18th October, 1994.