1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR : O R D E R : D.B. Civil Writ Petition No.37/2000. (Sher Singh Vs. Union of India & Others) DATE OF ORDER : February 17, 2010 P R E S E N T HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.M. KAPADIA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GOPAL KRISHAN VYAS _________________________________________ Mr. S.G. Ojha for the petitioner. Mr. Arun Bhansali for the respondents. BY THE COURT : In this writ petition, the petitioner is challenging the order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Jodhpur Bench, Jodhpur dated 02.08.1999 passed in Original Application No.405/1995, in which, the petitioner-applicant prayed for the following directions : “RELIEFS SOUGHT : In view of the facts and grounds mentioned in para 4 and 5 above, the applicant prays for the following reliefs :- (A) That by an appropriate writ, order or direction, the order dated 3.2.1995 (Ann.A/1) qua the respondent no. 5-Shri Praveen Kumar Parihar may kindly be quashed and set_aside and accordingly the applicant may be promotted to the post of 2 L.R.T.T.E. in the pay scale of Rs. 1200- 2040 w.e.f. The date of his juniors' promotted with all consequential benefits. (B) That the applicant may be assigned the correct seniority on finalising the seniority list by considering the objections of the applicant. (C) That arrears of the salary may also be provided to the applicant alongwith interest. (D) That any other order or direction which this Hon'ble Court deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be passed in favour of the applicant. (E) That the application may kindly be allowed with costs in favour of the applicant.” For the aforesaid relief, the main contention was raised before the Tribunal by the petitioner-applicant that in the Ajmer Division of Western Railway he was initially appointed as Ticket Collector on 25.07.1990 and his junior respondent No.5 Shri P.K. Parihar was appointed on 09.03.1991 upon the same post of Ticket Collector. Thereafter, both petitioner-applicant and respondent No.5 filed application for transfer from Ajmer Division of Western Railway to Northern Railway at Jodhpur on the post of Ticket Collector but respondent No.5, though he was junior than the petitioner-applicant, was transferred and relieved from 3 Ajmer Division, Western Railway to Jodhpur Division of Northern Railway vide order dated 22.04.1993 and he was relieved to join at the transferred place on 25.05.1993, whereas the request of the applicant's transfer was made prior to the prayer made by Shri P.K. Parihar, respondent No.5, but, the petitioner was relieved by the Divisional Railway Manager, Western Railway, Ajmer vide letter dated 09.07.1993. Thereafter, the applicant joined his services at Jodhpur Railway Station as Ticket Collector in the month of July 1993. According to petitioner-applicant, the seniority at the transferred place is to be given from the date of joining at the transferred place and he is to be placed at the bottom in the seniority-list, therefore, due to illegal action of Western Railway, he was not relieved prior to relieving of Shri P.K. Parihar, respondent No.5 though order was passed before one month from the date of transfer of Shri P.K. Parihar on 03.03.1993 and, due to this reason, Shri P.K. Parihar became senior in the Northern Railway at Jodhpur after his transfer. Therefore, it is prayed that due to illegal action of respondent Western Railway though he was senior to respondent No.5 in the Western Railway but he became 4 junior to him at Jodhpur because he joined at Jodhpur after joining of Shri P.K. Parihar in the month of July 1993. The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the learned Tribunal has not properly considered the case and dismissed the original application only on the ground that in the event of transfer upon request from one zone to another zone, the benefit of seniority could be as per the rules from the date of joining and transferred employee is required to be placed at the bottom-most position in the seniority, as per counsel for the applicant-petitioner the above rule will not apply in this matter because at Ajmer Zone in the Western Railway, from where petitioner and respondent No.5 P.K. Parihar were transferred, admittedly, the applicant was senior and this fact has not been considered properly by the learned Tribunal. Therefore, the judgment impugned deserves to be quashed and petitioner-applicant is entitled for assignment of seniority in the Jodhpur Zone of Northern Railway above the seniority position of respondent No.5. Shri P.K. Parihar on the post of T.T.E. Per contra, learned counsel for the Railway argued that the question of seniority in a particular Zone loses 5 sanctity in the event of seeking transfer from one Zone to another Zone because as per rules if any transfer is made from one Zone to another Zone on request of the employee, then, seniority can be assigned from the date of joining and candidate is required to be given bottom- most seniority and, admittedly, the petitioner-applicant joined at Jodhpur in the month of July 1993 and respondent No.5 Shri P.K. Parihar on 25.05.1993, two months prior to the joining of the petitioner-applicant. Therefore, there is no question of assigning seniority to the petitioner-applicant above respondent No.5 after transfer in the Jodhpur Zone, Northern Railway. The learned Tribunal has considered all aspects of the matter and rightly given the finding that the petitioner is not entitled for seniority above respondent No.5 Shri P.K. Parihar. We have considered rival submissions made by both the parties. In our opinion, the petitioner-applicant is not disputing the position of rules that upon transfer seniority can be assigned from the date of joining in a particular zone if the transfer of the employee has been made upon his request. Here, in this case, both the petitioner and respondent No.5 were transferred from 6 Ajmer Zone, Western Railway to Jodhpur Zone, Northern Railway upon their own request; and, admittedly, respondent No.5 jointed at the transferred place in th month of May, more specifically, on 25.05.1993 and petitioner-applicant joined in the month of July 1993, therefore, obviously for the purpose of assignment of seniority in the Jodhpur Zone of Northern Railway only the date of joining is required to be considered. The learned Tribunal has rightly observed that applicant cannot claim seniority above Shri P.K. Parihar, respondent No.5 because in the event of inter- zonal transfer by one authority by issuing two different transfer orders at different times cannot be interpreted in the manner that in order to harm the applicant or to vacate his seniority the authority has intentionally relieved the applicant late. It is generally seen that while relieving the concerned government servant on such inter-zonal transfer pending work is required to be completed by the person concerned. There may be other reasons but, in view of the specific position of placement of seniority, the earlier seniority of the zone from where the transfer has been made has got no relevance. In our opinion, the learned Tribunal has rightly arrived at the finding that benefit of seniority at 7 the transferred place can be granted according to rules and, as per the rule, seniority can be assigned from the date of joining. Further, in our opinion, of course, the plea of the petitioner-applicant can be accepted if both the employees would have been transferred by the same order, in that eventuality, the grievance could be raised by the senior employee if he has been relieved later than the junior person; but, here, in this case, both petitioner and respondent No.5 were transferred by different orders. Therefore, the ground of malafide against the competent authority does not exist in this case. In this view of the matter, there is no force in this writ petition because the order of the Tribunal is based upon the existing rules which is not in dispute. Hence, this writ petition is dismissed. (Gopal Krishan Vyas) J. (A.M. Kapadia) J. Ojha, a.