ORDER

Hon'ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member (A) :

The instant OA has been filed by the applicants under section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following reliefs :-

“1) direct the respondents to forthwith convene DPC(s) for consideration of the applicants for purposes of their promotion to the next higher post on year-wise panel basis and promote them accordingly, with all consequential benefits, and ii) pass any order/relief/direction(s) may deem fit and proper in the interests of justice in favour of the applicants.”

The factual matrix of the case as per the counsel of the applicants is that the applicant nos. 1 to 8 are presently working as Assistant Accounts Officer (AAOs) in Pay & Accounts Division (PAD) cadre of Border Security Force. They were promoted to the said post vide order dated 03.07.2006. Earlier, the post was known as Junior Accounts Officer, which was later re- designated as Assistant Accounts Officer vide orders dated 27.05.2009 and 16.06.2009. The applicants fulfilled all the eligibility conditions for promotion to the post of Senior Accounts Officer/Accounts Officer as per the applicable Recruitment Rules, which require five years of service for promotion. Their names also appeared in the relevant seniority list. Several vacancies existed in the cadre of Accounts Officer in PAD than. These vacancies arose due to the retirement of officers on 01.02.2013, 01.03.2014 and 30.06.2014, and also due to the promotion of three Senior Accounts Officers to the post of Assistant Director (Accounts) vide order dated 21.02.2012. Despite the availability of vacancies and eligibility of the applicants, no promotion was granted and the applicants have been stagnating in the same post for about 7 to 9 years. As per the instructions issued by the DoPT, the respondents are required to convene the DPC every year to fill the available and anticipated vacancies in time. The Government of India has also directed the departments to strictly follow the prescribed time schedule for convening DPC. It has further been provided that responsibility may be fixed in case of delay in holding DPCs. The applicants belong to the PAD cadre of BSF and had opted to continue in the same cadre when options were called for under the orders issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Therefore, their service conditions continued to be governed by the existing Recruitment Rules (RRs). However, despite several representations made by the applicants, the respondents have not convened the DPC or considered them for promotion. Due to this inaction of the respondents, the applicants have been deprived of their rightful promotional opportunities. Applicant nos. 9 to 11 who are working as Senior Accountants are eligible for promotion to the post of Assistant Accounts Officer, which is the feeder post for further promotion. Since promotions have not been made to the higher posts, the promotional chain has been blocked and applicants are adversely affected. Being aggrieved by the non action of the respondents the applicants are before this Tribunal to ventilate their grievances.

The counsel of the applicants argued assiduously on the following grounds :-

“A. The impugned action/inaction of the respondents is absolutely illegal, unconstitutional, unfair, unjustified and arbitrary.

B. The DoP&T has been time and again issuing and reiterating instructions requiring all the Ministries/Departments of the Union to convene DPCs in advance for purposes of filling of clear as well as anticipated vacancies after taking note of the situation that delay in promotion is unhealthy not only for the employees but also for the Government. The instructions have been given a mandatory character. Even then the respondents have failed to adhere to the aforesaid instructions which shows lack of administrative will and lethargy.

C. The applicants are governed by the Recruitment Rules notified in the year 2001. They have been stagnating for now