Employees on fixed pay are entitled to have their seniority counted from their initial appointment date, despite transfer conditions relinquishing seniority.

JUDGMENT :

(A.S. SUPEHIA, J.)

1. Admit. Mr. Gaurav Chudasama, learned advocate waives service of admission on behalf of the respondents.

2. The present appeal filed under clause 15 of the Letters Patent, 1865 is directed against the judgment dated 22^nd July 2022 passed by the learned Single Judge directing the appellant - State to operate the seniority of the respondents employees from the initial date of appointment post the period of five years in light of the Government Resolution dated 18th January, 2017 and 20^th January, 2018.

BRIEF FACTS

2.1 All the respondent-employees(original writ petitioners) are appointed as Revenue Talati and Revenue Clerks in the year 2009-10 on fixed pay for a period of five years under the respondent-Revenue Department as per the policy of fixed pay of the State Government. The State Government introduced the policy of appointing the Government employees on a fixed pay initially by the resolution issued by the Finance Department on 16^th February, 2006. Thereafter another Resolution was issued on 22^nd January, 2009 by the General Administration Department (GAD) regulating the period of five years of fixed pay of such employees. The appointment orders of the respondents reflect that they were appointed for a fixed period of five years and on successful completion of five years’ contractual period they were thereafter placed in the regular pay scale. This is done in view of the policy of the State Government. The appointment orders refer to the policy dated 16^th February 2006 issued by the Finance Department of the State Government.

2.2 Accordingly all the respondents, after completion of successful five years, have been placed in the regular pay scale.

2.3 After they were placed in the regular pay scale, they sought request transfers to other districts and accordingly such requests were allowed and they were transferred to their choice of district on the condition of foregoing their seniority of the service rendered in the earlier districts in the year 2016-17.

2.4 One of such orders is dated 15^th February, 2016 passed in case of employee Smt. Poojaben Pravindan Gadhavi, incorporating the condition no.1, that from the date of reporting in the new district, her name will be placed at the end of the seniority in the cadre of Revenue Clerk of the respective district and no request for fixing the seniority from the initial date of appointment shall be entertained in future. An undertaking was also obtained from the respondents to the effect that they will not claim seniority from their date of appointment after they join the new districts and the service, which they have rendered in the earlier districts will not be counted for the purpose of seniority. Thus, all the respondents joined their new district as per their choice giving up their claim for seniority of service rendered by them in the earlier districts.

2.5 It appears that thereafter the State Government issued a Resolution dated 18^th January, 2017 (Finance Department) clarifying the fixed pay policy of the State Government and the period of five years rendered by the employees on fixed pay. The State Government decided that the period of five years which an employee has rendered on a fixed pay and the employees who have been appointed in view of the Resolution dated 16^th February, 2006 issued by the Finance Department, the five years fixed pay service shall be counted for all purposes including promotion, seniority, higher pay scale and all the retirement benefits. However, this Resolution stipulated a cut-off date of 1 st February, 2017 for its prospective implementation. This gave rise to the cause of the filing of the captioned writ petition by the respondents. The respondents challenged the Government Resolution dated 18^th January, 2017 and also prayed for directing the State- authorities to treat the seniority from their original date of appointment and not from the date of order of reporting at the transferred districts. The learned Single Judg