IMPORTANT POINT
Employees of the Corporation are entitled to benefits under the modified Career Advancement Scheme as per Memo No. 3015-F, which supersedes earlier provisions.

JUDGMENT :

(Raja Basu Chowdhury, J.) :

1. The present writ petition has been filed, inter alia, praying for a direction upon the respondent no.4 to afford the petitioner with the benefits of second Carrier Advancement Scheme (in short, “CAS”) with effect from February, 2013 in terms of the Memo No. 3015-F dated 13th March, 2001.

2. The petitioner is an employee of the respondent no.2 (hereinafter referred to as the “Corporation”) and had joined the service of the Corporation sometimes in the month of February, 1997 as a clerk. It is the petitioner’s case that after the Government of West Bengal had taken a decision to implement CAS in the Corporation, the OSD and Ex Officio Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Transport Department, by letter no. 2676-WT 7T/18/2005 dated 14th August, 2007 had called upon the Managing Director of the Corporation to implement CAS in the Corporation with effect from 1st August, 2007 in terms of the Memo No. 7552(80)F dated 4th September, 2000. Pursuant to and in terms of the aforesaid, the Corporation by following the Memo No. 3015-F dated 13th March, 2001, which contains elaborate guidelines for implementation of CAS, had awarded its employees the benefits of CAS.

3. Accordingly, the employees who had joined the service of the Corporation after 1994 on completion of eight years of service without getting any promotion became entitled to get the first benefit of CAS. Since, the petitioner had joined the Corporation in February, 1997 and was regularised in service as per Rules, the petitioner was granted the first benefit of CAS with effect from February, 2005, on completion of eight years of service. It is also the petitioner’s case that most of the employees, who had previously joined the Corporation, were awarded the first and the second benefit of CAS upon completion of eight and sixteen years of service respectively, by treating 1986 to be the base year as provided for in the aforesaid guidelines.

4. According to the petitioner, the entire scheme for payment of CAS in terms of Memo dated 13th March, 2001 was made available to the eligible employees of the Corporation and several employees were offered second CAS benefit upon completion of sixteen years of service in February, 2013. The petitioner contends that unfortunately, in his case despite the petitioner completing sixteen years of service in February, 2013, the second CAS benefit was not made available to him. In the facts noted above, the petitioner had made a representation dated 5th June, 2015 calling upon the Managing Director of the Corporation to release the benefit of the second CAS but the same did not yield any result.

5. Being aggrieved with the failure on the part of the Corporation to extend the second CAS benefits to the petitioner upon completion of sixteen years of service without promotion, the present writ petition has been filed.

6. Mr. Basu, learned advocate representing the petitioner, by placing reliance on the Memo dated 21st June, 1990 bearing No. 6075-F, issued by the Government of West Bengal, Finance Department, Audit Branch, submits that by the said Memo, the Government considering the career prospects of the employees holding various posts and services under the State Government and with the object to improve the standard of administration and career prospects of such employees at all levels, as announced in the Government policy statement dated 30th December, 1989, had caused implementation of CAS in respect of the Government employees. By referring to the Memo dated 4th September, 2000, he submits that the Joint Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Finance Department had conveyed the Government’s decision to extend the benefits of CAS to all the employees of the various Corporations/undertakings covered by the Third Pay Commission in terms of the conditions laid down in the Finance Department Memo No. 6075-F dated 21st June, 1990, as applicable to the State Government employees. Later th