HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No. 21586 OF 2021

O R D E R:

Petitioners approached this Court aggrieved by the action of the State Government in issuing Memo No.73 dated 24.07.2021 and Memo No.1356 dated 24.07.2021 and in particular Para 5 thereof, by which the Government contemplated a review of promotions granted after 02.06.2014. Under Memo No.73 dated 24.07.2021, review was directed in respect of the categories of Additional Secretary to Government, Joint Secretary to Government, Deputy Secretary to Government and Assistant Secretary to Government, while under Memo No.1356 dated 24.07.2021, review pertained to promotions to the category of Section Officers effected after 02.06.2014. The purported basis for this exercise was the Division Bench judgment of this Court dated 11.12.2018 in Writ Petition No. 4415 of 2016; however, petitioners contend that the impugned action, instead of being a faithful implementation of that judgment, is in clear violation of constitutional provisions, the mandate of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, and the settled principles laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in a catena of cases as well as by this Court.

1.1. Pursuant to the impugned memos, consequential proceedings were issued on 27.08.2021, whereby the objections submitted by petitioners 1 to 3 were rejected without due application of mind and without consideration of the specific contentions raised. These rejection orders, along with the consequential Government Orders and steps taken by the respondents to give effect to the revised panels, have confirmed the illegal procedure adopted and caused grave prejudice and severe injustice to petitioners, whose settled promotions and consequential seniority stand disturbed without lawful justification. They contend that the impugned action is illegal, arbitrary, violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, and contrary to the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

2. Petitioners are members of the Scheduled Tribe community employed in the Secretariat of the Government of Telangana. The 1^st petitioner was promoted to the post of Joint Secretary to Government, petitioners 2 and 3 were promoted to the cadre of Section Officer, and the 4th petitioner is serving as an Assistant Section Officer. They have rendered continuous service in their respective cadres and their promotions were affected in accordance with the prevailing service rules and the policy of the State embodied in G.O.Ms.No.5 dated 14.02.2003 and G.O.Ms.No.26 dated 20.02.2009, which provided for reservation in promotion with consequential seniority in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

2.1. Petitioners assert that their promotions were validly granted under G.O.Ms.No.5 dated 14.02.2003 and G.O.Ms.No.26 dated 20.02.2009, both of which provided for reservation in promotion with consequential seniority in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, consistent with the enabling provision in Article 16(4A) of the Constitution. According to them, the subsequent review undertaken by the Government through the impugned memos has the effect of nullifying the constitutional guarantee of consequential seniority and amounts to a reintroduction of the "catch-up" rule which the Parliament expressly abrogated by the 85th Amendment to the Constitution.

2.2. Petitioners stated that their promotions were affected under G.O.Ms.No.5 dated 14.02.2003 and G.O.Ms.No.26 dated 20.02.2009 which provide for reservation in promotion with consequential seniority. These Government Orders were subject to challenge and a Division Bench of this Court, by its judgment dated 11.12.2018 in Writ Petition No.

4415 of 2016 and batch, upheld their validity but directed that cadre-wise exercises must be undertaken in accordance with the law declared by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj v. Union of India and subsequent cases.

2.3. Pursuant thereto, the State issued Circular Memo dated 24.10.2019 a