The completion of training does not confer employment rights without valid appointment; fraud in documentation disqualifies claims for promotion.

JUDGMENT :

PARTHA SARATHI SEN, J.

1. In this set of writ petitions the order dated 10.05.2023 as passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, Kolkata (hereinafter referred to as the said Tribunal) in connection with O.A. 350/ 419/ 2016, O.A. 350/176/2018, O.A. 350/177/2018, O.A. 350/178/2018, O.A. 350/179/2018, O.A. 350/180/2018, O.A. 350/181/2018, O.A. 350/182/2018, O.A. 350/183/2018 and O.A. 350/184/2018 is assailed.

2. It is pertinent to mention herein that by a common judgment and order the said Tribunal disposed of the afore-mentioned 10 original applications.

3. Since identical questions of facts and laws are involved in these writ petitions and since the subject matter of challenge in these writ petitions is the common order dated 10.05.2023 as passed by the said Tribunal, we propose to dispose of the instance writ petitions by a common judgment. For our convenience, we also propose to deal with the facts as involved in WP.CT 20 of 2024 who is the original applicant before the said Tribunal in OA 350/180/2018.

4. For effective adjudication of the instant writ petitions, we propose to deal with some relevant facts leading to filing of the said 10 original applications before the said Tribunal and those are as under:

(i) Purportedly by an order dated 15.06.2024 the respondent no. 2 authority selected some Group D staff for the post of Commercial Clerk and Ticket Collector and directed to be spared for undergoing the training.

(ii) The writ petitioner in WP.CT 20 of 2024 claimed that he had completed such training at Zonal Railway Training Institute at Bhuli, Dhanbad and on completion of the same he was awarded with a training completion certificate dated 20.09.2004 by the said institute (Annexure A-4). Likewise, the other petitioners of the captioned mentioned writ petitions had also claimed to have undergone training in the same institute and they have claimed that they have been issued with similar such certificates from the same institute.

(iii) Even after completion of the alleged training the writ petitioners were not given appointment in the post of Commercial Clerk/ Ticket Collector by the railway authority and thus, they approached the said Tribunal by filing O.A. 653 of 2012 which came to be disposed of on 13.08.2013 whereby and whereunder the said Tribunal directed the respondent no. 2 herein to pass a reasoned and speaking order on the claim put forth by the petitioners considering the documents as has been annexed with the said original applications.

(iv) In case of writ petitioner of WP.CT 20 of 2024 such reasoned order dated 22.11.2013 was passed by the respondent no. 2 authority whereby and whereunder the said respondent no. 2 authority came to a factual finding that the writ petitioner in WP.CT 20 of 2024 has miserably failed to prove his initial appointment letter for the Group D post, pay slip, PF No. etc. and thus held that the said petitioner failed to establish that he was an employee of Eastern Railway at any point of time and/or he was selected for promotion to the post of Ticket Collector/Commercial Clerk as wrongly claimed.

(v) The respondent no. 2 authority also came to a finding that the writ petitioner(s) got wrongful entry in the Zonal Training School, Bhuli, Dhanbad on the basis of some fake documents which tantamount to fraud and thus, the matter was taken up for investigation by the CBI authority.

(vi) In case of other petitioners, almost identical speaking order was passed by the respondent no. 2 authority.

(vii) The writ petitioners in WP.CT 20 of 2024 challenged such reasoned