T. Nanda Kumar Singh, J.

1. The two main prayers sought for in the present writ petition are (1) to treat the promotion of the petitioner to the post of Director on regular basis w.e.f. the date on which respondent Nos.8 and 9 were promoted and to re-fix seniority of the petitioner so as to place him above respondent Nos. 8 and 9 in the seniority list of Directors; and (2) modify/amend the impugned order of promotion issued under No.IWAI/Estt/2/2001 dated 26.4.2001 in so far as it described the promotion of the petitioner on ad hoc basis and to treat the promotion of the petitioner as regular at par with that of respondent Nos.8 and 9 with all consequential benefits, if necessary by holding review DPC after construction of ACR for the years 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 from the appropriate competent authority. Heard Mr. B.C. Das, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. M.Chanda, learned counsel and Mr. S. K. Ghosh, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. N.Choudhury, learned CGC appearing for the respondents.

2. The fact sufficient for deciding the matter in issue in the present writ petition is briefly noted :

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (for short 'IWAI') is a Central Government Organisation constituted under the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985 enacted by the Parliament. The IWAI is a 'State' under Article 12 of the Constitution of India, In the first Board meeting of IWAI held on 12.11.1986, decision was taken by the Board to continue with all the Rules and Regulations of the Central Government relating to the recruitment and other terms and conditions of their officers and employees. This decision was notified by the Central Government in the Gazette on 29.10.1991. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (Adoption of Rules) Regulations, 1991 was made effective w.e.f. 27.10.1986. The Rules and other subsequent amendments were made applicable with regard to the maters contained in Section 8 (service matter) of IWAI Act, 1985 till the specific regulations were framed and notified under Section 35 of the IWAI Act. It implies that all the Central Government Rules and Regulations would prevail till the Government notifies any Regulations under Section 35 on service matters as per Section 8 of the IWAI Act. Since then, IWAI has been following all the Central Government Rules in respect of service matters for its employees and has also implemented the recommendations of the 4th and 5th Central Pay Commission in respect of their employees.

3. The petitioner was initially appointed as Deputy Director in the respondent Organisation i.e. IWAI in 1987 in the scale of Rs. 3000.00-4500.00 (revised 10,000.00 to 15,200.00). Along with the petitioner, there were four other persons in the cadre of Deputy Director in the IWAI and their respective positions in the seniority list as shown on 1.9.1991 are as follows :

1. Shri S.Bhattacharjee,

2. Shri Arun Roy (petitioner)

3. Shri R. P. Khare (respondent No.8) &

4. Shri M.K. Saha.

As per the said seniority list as on 01.09.1991 petitioner was the second seniormost Deputy Director. Respondent No.9, Shri S.Dandapat, joined IWAI on 27.10.1987 as Deputy Director on deputation and remained on deputation till he was repatriated to the Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) on 31.05.1989. Later on transferred to the surplus staff establishment cell of MOST vide office order No.269/91 dated 01.11.1989 for his deployment elsewhere. Subsequently on his request vide application dated 18.08.1990, respondent No.9, Shri Dandapat was allowed to join the IWAI again on deputation initially for two years w.e.f 01.10.1990 and thereafter he was permanently absorbed w.e.f. 01.01.1993.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that since respondent No.9, Shri Dandapat, was repatriated from IWAI on 31.05.1989 on his own request and again deputed to IWAI w.e.f. 01.10.1990 and ultimately absorbed in IWAI w.e.f. 01.01.1993, his seniority cannot be counted w.e.f. 01.08.1984 i.e. from the date of initial deputa