BRAJ KISHORE JHA Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has approached this Court seeking a direction upon the respondents for grant of promotion / notional promotion in the rank of Head Assistant (Pradhan Sahayak) with effect from 01.02.1999 and also for grant of outstanding increment.

(2.) The petitioner was initially appointed as Correspondent Clerk on 03.01.1968 in the Water Resources Department. The petitioner successfully completed the departmental examination in Accounts and thereafter, he was promoted to the post of Junior Selection Grade cum Head Clerk with effect from 15.09.1988 and thereafter, he was granted Senior Selection Grade with effect from 01.03.1995. Ignoring the claim of the petitioner for the post of Head Assistant, the respondents promoted one Uma Shankar Singh who had not even passed the Accounts Examination and one Shiv Raj Rai who was even junior to the petitioner. These persons were promoted with effect from 01.02.1999 and therefore, the petitioner has also raised a claim for being promoted to the post of Head Assistant with effect from 01.02.1999. Although the petitioner submitted representations to the authorities, those representations were not decided and since the petitioner was to superannuate with effect from 31.01.2003, he had to approach this Court seeking the aforesaid directions upon the respondents.

(3.) A counter-affidavit has been filed in which a plea has been taken that for promotion to the post of Head Assistant, the seniority of the employee is to be counted from the date of promotion to the post of Head Clerk and since the other persons were senior to the petitioner in as much as they were promoted to the post of Head Clerk before the petitioner, therefore they were promoted to the post of Head Assistant ahead of the petitioner.