YASH PAUL Vs. STATE OF J & K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is aggrieved and has challenged the order No. DCJ(Adm) 180 of 2018 dtd. 4/1/2018 passed by respondent No. 3, whereby the petitioner has been granted the benefit of 1st in-situ promotion notionally w.e.f 1/1/2015 and monetarily benefit w.e.f 1/4/2017.

(2.) The petitioner claims that he entered the Government service as Orderly in the department of Revenue and after serving for number of years was promoted as Junior Assistant on 3/12/2005. He submits that he completed 09 years satisfactory service on the post of Junior Assistant without getting any substantive functional promotion to the next higher post of Senior Assistant. The petitioner, who had been stagnating on the post of Junior Assistant for the last more than 09 years, became entitled to the 1st higher standard pay scale of Rs.5200.0020200+Grade Pay of Rs.2400.00 w.e.f 1/1/2015 in terms of Rule 5(iv)(b) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Higher Standard Pay Scale Scheme) Rules, 1996 issued vide SRO 14 of 1996 read with SRO 225 of 1997. It is the grievance of the petitioner that though he became entitled to 1st in-situ promotion w.e.f 1/1/2015, but the respondents took three years to process his case and issue formal orders of his placement in the next non- functional pay scale by giving him the benefit of the provisions of SRO 14 of 1996. The order, which should have been issued in January, 2015 was actually issued on 4/1/2018. It is, thus, urged that though the respondents have found the petitioner entitled to 1st in-situ promotion w.e.f 1/1/2015 but have not granted him the monetarily benefits from the aforesaid date. The order impugned dtd. 4/1/2018 provides that the petitioner would be entitled to 1st in-situ promotion w.e.f 1/1/2015 on notional basis and would be entitled to monetarily benefits w.e.f 1/4/2017 which, claims petitioner, is not permissible in law.

(3.) The petitioner asserts that the order impugned insofar as it does not provide him the monetarily benefit with effect from the date of his in-situ promotion, i.e. 1/1/2015 is illegal, contrary to rules and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.