Important Point
The surplus employees having been rendered surplus in the parent department on being redeployed in another department under the provisions of Central Civil Services (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990 can not claim the benefit of the counting of past services rendered by them for the purpose of seniority or as experince for promotion in the redeployed organisation.

Judgment

Pattanaik, J.-These appeals are directed against the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench, dated 27.5.1994 and 27.10.1994 passed in Original Application Nos. 160, 161 and 163 of 1993. It may be stated that the Union of India preferred applications for review but the Tribunal dismissed those Review Applications by order dated 27.10.1994 holding that there is no error apparent on the face of the record.

2. The question for consideration in these appeals is whether surplus employees having been rendered surplus in the parent department, on being redeployed under the provisions of Central Civil Services (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Rules’) can claim the benefit of the counting of past services rendered by them for the purpose of seniority or experience in the redeployed organisation.

3. The brief facts are the respondents were the employees in the office of the Rehabilitation and Reclamation Organisation having joined the said organisation in February, 1987. They became surplus in the parent organisation and thereafter under the provisions of the Rules were appointed in the All India Radio on different dates. In drawing up the seniority list of the employees in the All India Radio as their past services were not taken into account and their experience in the parent organisation was not taken as the requisite experience required for promotion in the All India Radio, they approached the Central Administrative Tribunal by filing different OAs. The Administrative Tribunal having allowed those OAs and having held that the past serv­ices rendered in the parent organisation would count for the purpose of seniority as well as experience the Union of India has come up in appeals.

4. Though the respondents have been duly served with the notices but none of them have entered appearance. But some of the respondents have sent their submissions to this Court which are on record and we have, therefore, perused those submissions

5. Mr. N. Goswami, the learned senior counsel appearing for the appel­lant-Union of India submitted that under the Rules an employee after redeployed is not entitled to take the benefit of his past services rendered prior to redeployment either for the purposes of seniority or even as experience for promotion in the redeployed organisation in view of the specific provisions to that effect in the Rules itself. The Tribunal, therefore, committed serious error in directing that the past services should be taken into account. We find considerable force in the aforesaid contentions. The President of India made the Rules in exercise of powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution for regulating the redeployment and readjustment of surplus staff against vacancies in the Central Civil Services and Posts. The expression ‘redeployment’ has been defined in Rule 2(f), thus:

“2(f) `Redeployment’ means the appointment of a surplus employee against a vacancy in a Central Civil Service or post in accordance with these rules;”

The expression ‘surplus staff’ and ‘surplus employee’ have been defined in Rule 2(g) thus:

“2(g) ‘Surplus staff and `surplus employee or employees’ means the Central Civil Servants (other than those employed on ad hoc, casual, work-changed or contract basis) who-

(a) are permanent, or, if temporary, have rendered not less than five years’ regular continuous service; and

(b) have been rendered surplus along with their posts from the Ministries, Departments, Offices of the Government of India, as a result of-

(1) administrative and financial reforms, including inter alia, res­tructing of an organisation, zero base budgeting, transfer of an activity to a State Government, Public Sector Undertaking or other autonomous organisation, discontinuation of an on-going activity, and introduction of changes in technology; or

(2) studies of work measurement undertaken