Advocates:
['COLIN GONSALVES', 'SURESH KUMAR R', '', 'SURESH KUMAR &']

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mss

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION NO. 846 OF 2001

1. Mrs. Santha Rajan

)

2. Mrs. Sunita D’Souza

)

3. Mrs. Bernadine D’Mello

)

4. Mrs. Meenakshy Subramanian

)

All C/o Western Railway Divisional

)

Office, Mumbai Central, Mumbai -

)

400 008.

)

..

PETITIONERS

Versus

1. Union of India

)

through the Secretary, Ministry

)

of Railways, New Delhi

)

2. The General Manager,

)

Western Railway, Churchgate,

)

Mumbai 400 020.

)

3. Smt. Geeta Menon

)

4. Smt. M. J. Montario

)

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5. Shri Swaminathan C.

)

6. Kum. S. R. Laxmi

)

7. Shri N. T. Johney

)

8. Shri D. J. Baptista

)

9. Smt. V.G. Jaisinghani

)

10.Smt. P. Rodrigues

)

11.Smt. N. J. Baptista

)

12.Shri M. M. Chandran

)

13.Smt. Chandrika C.

)

14.Smt. Lalithamma K.

)

15.Smt. R.R. Nair

)

16. Smt. Vijaya B. Nair

)

All C/o Western Railway, Churchgate)

Mumbai 400 020.

)

.. RESPONDENTS

Mr. Bhavesh Parmar for the petitioner

Mr. Suresh Kumar for R-1 & 2.

CORAM:

SMT. RANJANA DESAI &

SMT MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ.

DATE ON WHICH THE JUDGMENT IS

RESERVED : 17TH NOVEMBER, 2009

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DATE ON WHICH THE JUDGMENT IS

PRONOUNCED: 7TH DECEMBER, 2009

JUDGMENT:-(Smt. Ranjana Desai, J.)

In this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of

India, the petitioners have inter alia prayed that they may be

promoted as Personal Assistants with effect from December, 1998

and be given all benefits and privileges with retrospective effect. The

petitioners have also prayed for an order quashing the order passed

by the respondents dated 19/6/2000 stating that the Competent

Authority and General Manager have decentralized the cadre of

Personal Assistants (PAs) scale and Confidential Assistants (CAs)

scale.

2.

The case of the petitioners must be shortly stated.

The petitioners joined the Western Railways in 1981 as

Stenographers. They were promoted as Senior Stenographers on

adhoc basis in 1984-85. They were entitled to be regularized in this

promotional post after asserting their speed in a speed test but the

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respondents did not hold the speed test. After representations were

made by the petitioners, the respondents held the speed test and

regularized the services of the petitioners in the promoted posts from

July, 1993 i.e. the date of their passing in the speed test. The

petitioners, therefore, approached the Central Administrative

Tribunal, Bombay Bench (“the CAT” for short) praying inter alia for

regularization of their services in the post of Senior Stenographers

from the date of their initial promotion.

The CAT by order dated 21/7/98 allowed the original application

and declared that the petitioners are deemed to have been

regularized on promotion in the grade of Rs.1400-2600 from the date

of their initial adhoc appointment. Other consequential reliefs were

also granted.

As the respondents did not implement the order dated 21/7/98,

the petitioners filed Contempt Petition No. 42 of 1999 in the CAT. In

the contempt petition, the respondents took a stand that the posts of

Confidential Assistants and Personal Assistants were decentralized.

As a result of decentralization each division stood separate and

distinct with separate seniority and no avenue for lateral shift

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between the divisions was available. The respondents contended

that there were no vacancies in the Bombay Central Division in the

past for the post of Senior Confidential Assistants and Personal

Assistants.

The CAT by its order dated 25/9/2000 ordered that if the

vacancies are available before 29/9/98 in the post of Personal

Assistants those vacancies shall be filled from amongst the

petitioners. On 27/2/01 the CAT dismissed the contempt petition

holding that the matter has been explained by learned counse