When railway recruitment occurs through both direct and departmental channels (GDCE) within the same cycle, seniority between promotees and direct recruits must follow the alternation prescribed by Rule 302; administrative delays in panel processing cannot defeat the seniority rights of departmental candidates.

Judgment

(As per Hon'ble Sandeep Shah J.)

1. Date of conclusion of arguments 08.04.2026

2. Date on which judgment was reserved 08.04.2026

3. Whether the full judgment or only the operative part is pronounced: Full Judgment

4. Date of pronouncement 21.04.2026

1. The petitioners have filed the present writ petition challenging the validity and propriety of the impugned order dated 21.10.2024 passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Jodhpur Bench, Jodhpur, whereby the Tribunal while disposing of the Original Application No.268/2015 filed by the respondents-original applicants, quashed and set aside the Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) Seniority Lists dated 30.01.2015 and 02.07.2015.

Factual matrix:-

2. Brief facts of the case are that respondent-applicants were initially appointed to Group ‘D’ posts (Gangman/Trackman, Khalasi, Gateman) in the year 2008 and were posted at various railway stations under the control of North Western Railway, Jodhpur Division. The petitioners issued notification dated 29.06.2009, notifying 25% of direct recruitment quota posts in various Group ‘C’ categories through the General Departmental Competitive Examination (GDCE), for which applications were invited from regular serving railway employees. Subsequently, an Employment Notice dated 30.01.2010 was issued inviting applications from the open market for filling up the said posts. A single examination was conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Ajmer for selection against both the GDCE quota (departmental candidates) and the open market quota. The panel for open market candidates (direct recruitment) for the post of ALP comprising 176 candidates was prepared by RRB, Ajmer on 10.10.2011. This panel was received by Jodhpur Division from the Headquarters Office, NWR vide letter dated 17.10.2011. Consequently, these candidates were sent for pre-requisite training course. In contrast, the panel for the respondents-applicants (25% GDCE quota) comprising 10 candidates was prepared by RRB, Ajmer on 18.10.2011 but was received by Jodhpur Division from the Headquarters Office only vide letter dated 08.06.2012. The tabular date wise details are as under:-

3. As a result, the respondents-applicants were sent for pre-requisite training later than the open market candidates. Based on this sequence, the petitioners issued a Provisional Seniority List dated 30.01.2015 and after consideration of objections against the same, a Final Seniority List dated 02.07.2015. Seniority was fixed in terms of Para 303(a) of the Indian Railway Establishment Manual Vol.I , which provides that candidates sent for initial training shall rank in seniority in the order of merit obtained in the examination held at the end of the training period before being posted against working posts. It further provides that those who join subsequent courses or pass in subsequent chances will rank junior to those who passed earlier.

4. Aggrieved by the aforementioned Seniority Lists, the respondents-applicants filed Original Application before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Jodhpur.

5. By the impugned order dated 21.10.2024, the learned Tribunal quashed and set aside the Sen