Seniority and promotions are cadre-specific; grant of a higher pay scale based on qualification does not amount to substantive promotion or change of cadre status unless specifically provided by recruitment rules.

Per: - Ram Mohan Johri, Administrative Member

1. The SWP No.85/2008 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.2410/2020 by the Registry of this Tribunal.

2. The present matter was filed before the Hon’ble High Court seeking following relief: -

a) “ An appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of certiorari quashing Government order No.366-PDD of 2007 dated 20.12.2007 issued by the respondent No. 1 in so far as it tends to promote the private respondents to the post of Incharge Assistant Engineers.

b) An appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to give benefit of promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer to the petitioner also w.e.f. the date the private respondents have been given the effect of the said promotion alongwith all consequential benefits.

c) Any other relief, which this Hon'ble Court, in the facts and circumstances of the case, deems fit and proper.

3. The present Transfer Application arises out of SWP No. 85/2008, which stood transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu to this Tribunal and was registered as T.A. No. 2410/2020.

4. The applicant has filed the present proceedings seeking quashment of Government Order No. 366-PDD of 2007 dated 20.12.2007, to the extent the private respondents have been promoted/placed as Incharge Assistant Engineers. The applicant further seeks a direction to the official respondents to grant him the benefit of promotion/placement to the post of Assistant Engineer from the date such benefit was granted to the private respondents, along with all consequential benefits.

5. The case of the applicant, in brief, is that he was initially appointed as Draftsman in the Power Development Department in the year 1978 in the pay scale of Rs. 300-580. He claims that at the time of his appointment, he possessed a three-year diploma in Electrical Engineering, whereas the qualification prescribed for the post of Draftsman was only a two-year Draftsman course. According to him, the three-year diploma was the qualification prescribed for the post of Section Officer, now redesignated as Junior Engineer, carrying the higher pay scale of Rs. 340-700.

6. The applicant submits that under SRO 149 of 1973, diploma holders in Engineering were entitled to be placed in the pay scale of Rs. 340-700, attached to the post of Section Officer/Junior Engineer. Since he was placed in the lower pay scale despite possessing the higher qualification, he submitted a representation immediately after joining. The said representation was forwarded by the Chief Engineer to the Administrative Department and thereafter, vide order dated 17.05.1993, he was granted the benefit of higher pay scale of Rs. 340-700 with effect from 04.11.1978, i.e., from the date of his initial appointment.

7. The grievance of the applicant is that though he was granted the pay scale attached to the post of Section Officer/Junior Engineer from his initial date of appointment, he was not extended the corresponding benefit of seniority in the cadre of Section Officer/Junior Engineer. It is pleaded that the respondents, in the year 1972, had upgraded the posts of similarly situated Draftsmen possessing three-year diploma qualification and had fixed their seniority in the higher pay scale post from the date of their initial joining.