STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. FAROOQ AHMED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these batch of appeals, we are required to deal with the following question:

(2.) THE Supreme Court in State of Haryana vs. Haryana Veterinary & AHTS Association and Another (1), held that service rendered on ad hoc basis will not be counted for grant of selection scale. A Division Bench, however, in State of Rajasthan vs. Uma Shanaker Agarwal & Ors. (2), had distinguished the judgment of the Supreme Court and took the view that the period of ad hoc service rendered by an employee should be counted for the purpose of granting him selection scale. This view was taken on the ground that the Haryana Rules, on the basis of which AHTS case was decided by the Supreme Court were different than the rules with which we are concerned. Two of us doubting the correctness of the view of the earlier Division Bench referred the matters to the Full Bench. This is how the matters have come up before us.

(3.) ON February 17, 1998, the Government of Rajasthan in supersession of all past orders on the subject issued a fresh order, prescribing Selection Grade to employees in Class IV, Ministerial and Subordinate Services and those holding isolated posts. The order to the extent is relevant, is reproduced below: "with a view to providing relief to the employees in Class IV, Ministerial and Subordinate Services and those holding isolated posts, three selection grades on completion of service of nine, eighteen and twenty seven years were prescribed vide this Department Order No. F. 20 (1) FD (Gr. 2)/92 dated 25. 1. 1992. This order was amended from time to time. Consequent upon revision of pay scale of the State Government employees from 1. 9. 1996 under Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay Scales) Rules, 1998, the matter has been considered and in supersession of all orders issued in this regard in the past, the Governor has been pleased to order that the Government servants of the categories mentioned hereunder and who are drawing pay in the pay scales prescribed under the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay Scales) Rules, 1998 may be granted Selection Grades as indicated below: 1. This order shall be applicable to all Government servants in Class-IV, Ministerial and Subordinate Services ad those holding isolated posts and drawing pay in Revised Pay Services and those holding isolated posts and drawing pay in Revised Pay Scales, 1998, the maximum of which does not exceed Rs. 10,500/ -. This order shall not apply to Government servants in the State Services as defined in the Rajasthan Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal Rules, 1958 and to those who have got selection grade equivalent to the pay scales of the lowest post of State Service to which they are eligible for promotion or selection grade of 8000-13500 whichever is lower in terms of this order. 2 (i) The first Selection Grade shall be granted from the day following the day on which one completes service of nine years, provided that the employee has not got one promotion earlier as is available in his existing cadre. (ii) The second Selection Grade shall be granted from the day following the day on which one completes service of eighteen years, provided that the employee has not got two promotions earlier as might be available in his existing cadre and the first Selection Grade granted to him was lower than the pay scale of the lowest post of State Service to which he is eligible for promotion or selection grade on 8000-13500 whichever is lower. (iii) The third Selection Grade shall be granted from the day following the day on which one completes services of twenty seven years, provided that the employee has not got three promotions earlier as might be available in his existing cadre and the first or the second selection grade granted to him, as the case may be, was lower than the pay scale of the lowest post of State Service to which he is eligible for promotion or selection grade of 8000-13500 whichever is lower. 3.The service of nine, eighteen or twenty seven years, as the case may be, shall be counted from the date of first regular appointment in the existing cadre/service in accordance with the provisions contained in the Recruitment Rules. The period during which a Government servant remained/remains on extraordinary leave with or without medical certificate shall also be counted for reckoning the period of service for grant of selection grade: Provided that if an employee subsequent to his first appointment to a post in a cadre/service, as a result of direct recruitment, is appointed to some other post in the same cadre or any other cadre, service from the date of latter appointment shall be taken into consideration for the purpose of grant of Selection Grade; Provided further that if an employee subsequent to his first appointment to a post in a cadre/service, in accordance with provisions contained in the relevant Service Rules, is promoted to a post in some other cadre, then in such a case service from the date of promotion shall be taken into consideration for the purpose of grant of selection Grade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Grant of Selection Grade shall not affect the seniority in the cadre nor the sanctioned strength of each category of posts in the cadre.''