Treat OA as representation for notional promotion consideration per recruitment rules and prior court directions.

O R D E R

M.S.LATIF, M (J)

01/ Through the medium of this petition, the petitioner has sought following reliefs :

“To direct the Respondents to consider and grant Notional Promotion to him to the post of Fisheries Development Officer (FDO) (Gazetted) with retrospective effect from 10-10-2014, the date on which the Petitioner attained statutory eligibility under SRO-102 of 1998 with further direction to grant the Petitioner all consequential benefits, including fixation of seniority in the Gazetted cadre, pay-scale benefits, and other service entitlements, maintaining full parity with his counterparts. The petitioner has further sought a direction to the respondents to implement the judicial mandate issued in his favour in SWP No. 1028/2012, by considering his case for promotion against the available vacancy from the date such vacancy first became due to the petitioner and also consider him for subsequent promotion to the rank of Assistant Director Fisheries, as has been done in the case of similarly placed officials. The petitioner has also sought a direction, as an interim measure that the respondents be directed to keep one post of Fisheries Development Officer (FDO) or Assistant Director (as applicable) vacant/reserved for the Petitioner, so as to protect his seniority and rights during the pendency of these proceedings.”

02/ What emerges out of the pleadings made in this OA is that the petitioner was initially appointed by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 1997 through merit-based selection process, which was based on his technical competence and academic merit. It is submitted by learned counsel of the petitioner's initial appointment, his uninterrupted tenure thereafter and his unblemished service stands firmly established on the basis of departmental records. The said position has also been acknowledged and verified by the respondents in the official Subject Order or Proposal bearing No. DF/Adm/2018/107 dated 23-04-2019. A copy of the said order is annexed as Annexure-I wherein the Petitioner's date of first appointment and his placement in the departmental record have been duly reflected at Serial No. 17, leaving no scope for ambiguity or dispute regarding his lawful induction into service and continuous service progression thereafter.

03/ Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that subsequent to his initial appointment, the petitioner, in view of his technical proficiency, diligence and competence in discharge of his official duties and in recognition of his meritorious performance, he was advanced to the post of Fisheries Development Assistant in 2003, which advancement, duly reflected in the petitioner's service profile, evidences that the petitioner secured his first significant career progression within a span of approximately six years from the date of his induction into service and further establishes a consistent record of merit, efficiency and professional capability on the part of the petitioner prior to the stage when the normal functioning of the departmental promotional mechanism came to be affected owing to protracted litigation.

04/ Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was formally elevated to the rank of Inspector Fisheries or Farm Manager in terms of Fisheries Order No. 603 of 2008 dated 30-12-2008 and while the formal order of promotion was issued in December 2008, the respondents acknowledged the petitioner's prioreligibility, experience and service by conferring the said promotionwith retrospective effect from 01-01-2007, reflecting that thepetitioner had attained the requisite qualification, experience andservice by conferring the said promotion with retrospective effect from 01-01-2007, reflecting that the petitioner had attained the requisite qualification, experience and service eligibility and was fit to discharge the duties and responsibilities attached to the Inspectorate cadre from the beginning of the year 2007. This recogni