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1997 Supreme(SC) 1086
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
G.B.Pattanaik : G.N.Ray
A.P.State Electricity Board
Versus
R.Parthasarathi
Case No. : 5559 , 5560 of 1997
Date of Decision : 8/11/97
Experience gained in a parent government department prior to permanent absorption into a statutory board counts toward the total experience required for promotion, unless the service regulations explicitly mandate that such experience must be gained exclusively within the board.
Headnote:(A) Service Regulation Act - Regulation 14 - Promotion to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer - Eligibility criteria - Experience requirement - Whether experience gained in the parent department of State government service prior to permanent absorption in the Electricity Board can be counted towards the required ten years of experience - Regulation does not specify that the experience must be exclusively within the Electricity Board - Total experience, whether served partly in State government and partly in the Electricity Board, fulfills the eligibility criterion for promotion. (Para 2, 3)
(B) Seniority vs. Eligibility - Seniority of an absorbed employee is fixed below existing employees in the Board - While seniority is relevant for selection among those in the zone of consideration, it does not override the basic experience requirement for eligibility. (Para 3)
(C) Interpretation of Regulations - Conditions of absorption are distinct from promotion regulations - Applying absorption conditions to determine eligibility for promotion under the Service Regulation Act is an error in interpretation. (Para 3)
Facts of the case:
An employee was permanently absorbed into the service of a State Electricity Board from a parent department in the State government. A dispute arose regarding whether the experience gained in the State government service could be counted towards the ten-year experience requirement for promotion to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer as prescribed under Regulation 14 of the Service Regulation Act.
Findings of Court:
The court found that Regulation 14 does not explicitly state that the required ten years of experience must be served exclusively within the State Electricity Board. Therefore, combined experience from both the State government and the Board satisfies the eligibility criteria.
Issues: Whether experience rendered in the parent department in the State government service before permanent absorption in the State Electricity Board can be taken into consideration for eligibility for promotion to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer under Regulation 14 of the Service Regulation Act.
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that in the absence of a specific restriction in the service regulations, total experience (including prior government service) counts toward eligibility. It further clarified that seniority and eligibility are distinct; while seniority affects the order of promotion, it cannot substitute for the lack of required experience.
Result: Impugned order of the division bench of the High court set aside and appeals disposed of.
(1) LEAVE granted.
(2) HEARD learned counsel for the parties. The short question that arises for consideration in this appeal is whether an employee to be eligible for promotion to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer under Regulation 14 of the Service Regulation Act , the experience rendered in the parent department in the State government Service before becoming permanently absorbed in the A. P. State Electricity Board can be taken into consideration or not. Under Regulation 14, the post of Assistant Executive Engineer has to be filled by way of promotion and the person to become eligible to get such promotion must possess either BE degree in Electrical, Civil, Mechanical or Telecommunication of a University in India or any similar qualification recognised as equivalent to such degree or such employee holding LEE, LCE or LME Diploma has ten years experience as Additional Assistant Engineer.
(3) IT appears to us that it has not been indicated in the service regulation that such experience of ten years must be in the service of the State Electricity Board of A. P.. In our view, if an employee of the a A. P. Electricity Board has obtained total experience of ten years by serving partly in the State government and partly in the A. P. State Electricity Board, such employee fulfils the criterion of eligibility for being considered for promotion to the said post of Assistant Executive Engineer. It may be indicated that there is no dispute to the fact that when an employee is permanently absorbed in the service of the A.P. State Electricity b Board, his seniority will be fixed below junior Assistant Engineers already working in the Electricity Board. Such inter se seniority will be a relevant factor when a number of employees come in the zone of consideration on the basis of ten years experience for being considered for promotion to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer. Mere seniority in the cadre will not enable an employee to be considered for such promotion if he lacks experience of c ten years as indicated. The High court, in our view, has misread the said Regulation 14 by taking into consideration clause (h) of the conditions of absorption in the service of the State Electricity Board. Such clause (h) has nothing to do with the question of promotion under Regulation 14 of the Service Regulation Act . In the aforesaid circumstances, the impugned order of the division bench of the High court cannot be sustained and the same is set aside. The appeals are accordingly disposed of without any order as to cost.
