(As per Mr. Sudhi Ranjan Mishra, Judicial Member)

The OA has been filed seeking the following relief:

“…to declare the action of the respondents in issuing the New Recruitment

Rules by re-designating the post of Technician vide No. GSR 902 (E) dated

16.12.2014 by merging Unconnected cadres and further issuing combined

seniority list vide No. 1-12/2014-Estt, dated 22.06.2015 by clubbing

several Group „C‟ cadres at All India Level, which adversely affect the

service conditions/ promotion avenues of the applicants is highly illegal,

arbitrary and unconstitutional and to quash and set aside the same and

consequently, direct the respondents to revive the Amended Recruitment

Rules in regard to the cadre of Technical Assistant in regard to the

promotions by relaxing / modifying the educational qualifications and

further revise the seniority list dated 22.06.2015 excluding the cadre of

Electrician Gr.I and other unconnected cadres etc, by restoring the

seniority of the applicants fixing Zone wise with all consequential

benefits…”

The 1^st applicant was initially appointed as Mate-I in 1994, as Tractor

Driver in 1995 and promoted as Technician (re-designated as Senior Technician)

in 2007. The 2^nd applicant was appointed as Mate-II in 1993, Tube Well

Operator in 1995 and promoted as Senior Technician in 2007. The 3^rd applicant

was initially appointed as Technician (re-designated as Senior Technician) in

2007. Likewise, the 4^th applicant was initially appointed in 1992 as Mate-II,

Tractor Driver in 1995 and promoted as Senior Technician in 2010. All of them

are presently working as Senior Technicians. As per the old recruitment rules,

the next promotional post is Technical Assistant (pre-revised Training Assistant),

for which the Technician is the feeder post and all of them are fully eligible for

promotion to the said post. While so, the respondents issued Office Order dt.

17.09.2013 re-designating Training Assistant as Technical Assistant and also re-

designating the feeder cadre post of Technician as Senior Technician after

clubbing it with Electrician Gr. I and a common Seniority list was published on

01.12.2014. Thereafter, revised recruitment rules were notified on 16.12.2014.

Page 3 of 7

The post of Technician and Electrician Gr. I are two different cadres with

different nature work and there is no similarity except the Grade Pay of Rs.2400/.

Due to this clubbing, the promotional chances of the erstwhile Technicians will

be effected. In the seniority list as on 01.01.2013, the applicants were placed at

Sl. Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 5 respectively, whereas in the revised seniority list in the cadre

of Senior Technicians as on 01.12.2014 after merger of posts of Technician and

Electrician Gr. I, their seniority was fixed at Sl. No. 2, 3, 5 & 6 respectively, by

placing one Electrician Gr. I as senior to the applicants. They submitted

representations ventilating their grievance and thereafter, the 1^st applicant filed

OA No. 609/2015 and during the pendency of the said OA, new recruitment rules

were notified vide G.S.R. 902 (E) dated 16.12.2014. As per the new RRs, the

mode of recruitment and the required qualification have been changed.

It is contended by the applicants that the new RRs for the post of

Technical Assistant adversely effected the service conditions of the promotes.

Prescribing the educational qualifications, as applicable to the direct recruitees,

for promotion to the post of Technical Assistant, promotional avenues of the

applicants will be affected and there will be no candidate for promotion on this

yardstick and there will be total stagnation in the cadre of Senior Technician.

They further contend that even acquiring the qualification of Diploma in

Agricultural Engineer at this point of time would be very difficult. The

respondents have modified the seniority of the applicants without properly

considering their representations and issued a combined seniority list of Group C

posts of all the four Farm Machinery Tr