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2019 Supreme(Del) 855
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
S. Muralidhar, I.S. Mehta, JJ.
Manoj Kumar - Appellant
Vs.
Union of India And Others - Respondents
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 868 of 2018, 3637 of 2018, 6300 of 2018, 8189 of 2018; Civil Miscellaneous Application No. 14443 of 2018, 24243 of 2018
Decided On : 25-03-2019
Nandadevi Deka, Adv., Anurag Ahluwalia, Adv., Jagat Arora, Adv., Ritu Arora, Adv., Murad Khan, Adv., Manoj Gupta, Adv., Jasmeet Singh, Adv., Aditya Madaan, Adv., Devank Maheshwari, Adv., Ankur Chhibber, Adv., Praveena Gautam, Adv., Jitesh P. Gupta, Adv., Pawan Shukla, Adv., Raja Ram, Adv., Dev P. Bhardwaj, Adv., Jatin Teotia, Adv.
The court emphasized that the grounds for refusal of NOC by the Respondents were not justified, and the petitioners should be granted NOC for the posts in the respective PSUs, as per the revised pay scale criteria after the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).
Headnote:
NOC - Indian Air Force - AFO No. 04 of 2012, AFO No. 33 of 2017, 7th Central Pay Commission - The court granted relief to the petitioners, finding that the grounds for refusal of NOC by the Respondents were not justified. The Respondents were directed to grant NOC to the Petitioners for the posts in the respective PSUs within 4 weeks from the judgment date. The court also directed the concerned PSUs to issue appointment letters to the Petitioners within 8 weeks from the issuance of NOC.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, all serving in the Indian Air Force, were declined a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for taking up employment with Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) due to changes in pay scale criteria after the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC). They applied for permission to appear for civil posts, but the web portal would not accept applications for posts with a pay scale less than Rs.56,100/-, as per the revised criterion.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the grounds for refusal of NOC by the Respondents were not justified and granted relief to the petitioners, directing the Respondents to grant NOC to the Petitioners for the posts in the respective PSUs within 4 weeks from the judgment date. The concerned PSUs were also directed to issue appointment letters to the Petitioners within 8 weeks from the issuance of NOC.
Issues: The main issue was the refusal of NOC by the Indian Air Force to the petitioners for applying to civil posts in PSUs due to changes in pay scale criteria after the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the grounds for refusal of NOC by the Respondents were not justified, and the petitioners should be granted NOC for the posts in the respective PSUs. The court also directed the concerned PSUs to issue appointment letters to the Petitioners within 8 weeks from the issuance of NOC.
Final Decision: The writ petitions were allowed, and the court granted relief to the petitioners, directing the Respondents to grant NOC to the Petitioners for the posts in the respective PSUs within 4 weeks from the judgment date. The concerned PSUs were also directed to issue appointment letters to the Petitioners within 8 weeks from the issuance of NOC.
S. Muralidhar, J.
These are four petitions which arise under similar set of facts and seek almost identical relief’s. They are accordingly being disposed of by this common order.
2. All the four Petitioners have been declined a No Objection Certificate ("NOC") by the Indian Air Force (represented by Respondent No.2) for taking up employment with Public Sector Undertakings ("PSUs").
3. The facts in WP (C) 868 of 2018 are that the Petitioner, Corporal Manoj Kumar was enrolled in the services of Respondent No.2 on 31st March 2010 as an Airman. In terms of AFO No. 04 of 2012 issued by Respondent No.2, an Airman who has completed seven years' service can apply for civil posts having a maximum of pay scale not less than Rs. 39,100/- i.e. equal in to a group "A" Government post. On 14th August 2017, a notification was issued by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection ("IBPS") for the post of Probationary Officer (Group "A") in the said institute which prepares candidates for appearing in the bank probationary exams.
4. In terms of AFO No. 04 of 2012, the Petitioner applied online for permission to apply for the said job. His attempts at filing up the form online on 18th August 2017 failed since the web site would not accept applications for a post having a pay scale of less than Rs.56,100/-. The Petitioner states that on same day he forwarded an online query seeking a clarification with respect to the non-acceptance of his application. The Petitioner received a reply from the AFRO Wing as under:
"Owing to implementation of 7th CPC, the pay scale criterion has been revised for grant of permission to appear by airmen/NCs(E) in Gp 'A' post in Central/State Govt as well as Govt undertaking & PSUs. The revised criterion as clarified by the Competent Authority, has already been disseminated to all concerned vide this office RRD/619 dated 06 Mar 17, hence the pay scale criteria as envisaged in AFO 04/12 in not to be taken into consideration after the dissemination of revised scale. Please refer the ibid signal."
5. The RRD/619 dated 6th March 2017 referred to above was the advice given by the AFRO to all Command Headquarters stating inter alia that after the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission ("CPC") recommendations with effect from 1st January 2001 that permission to apply for post in the PSUs in Category 1 in terms of AFO No.04 of 2012 was admissible only where the pay scale of the post for which an application is made is at par with level 10 and above of the Government of India notification issued for the 7th CPC.
6. In super session of AFO No. 04 of 2012, Respondent No.2 issued AFO No. 33 of 2017 which came into effect on 8th December 2017. Para 21 made it clear that AFO No. 33 of 2017 "shall take effect from the date of issue". It was clarified that "cases of permission and NOC already issued prior to the effective date of this AFO shall be processed by the Stations/Commands/AFRO as per provisions of the previous AFO."
7. The results of the main exams were released on 28th December 2017. The Petitioner successfully cleared the main exam. He again on 1st January 2018 applied for issuance of an NOC. In this he mentioned that he could not apply for permission to appear in the exam because the online module on AFRO's site was not accepting the basic pay below Rs.56,100/- whereas as per AFO No. 04 of 2012 the criterion for the pay band was Rs.15,600-Rs.39,100/- only.
8. The Petitioner again applied on 17th January 2018 to Respondent No.2 regarding issuance of NOC but received no reply.
9. The final interview for the post was scheduled on 31st January 2018. In the absence of an NOC from the Respondents, the Petitioner could not have appeared for the final interview. In those circumstances, the Petitioner filed the present petition on 29th January 2018. On 30th January 2018, the following order was passed by this Court:
"W.P.(C) 868/2018 & CM No.3683/2018 (bv the petitioner for stay)
1. Issue notice. Learned counsels for the
