IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE EIGHTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO : 19187 of 2008 Between: G.B.Devikar, S/o. B.M.devikar, Nuclear Fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Chief Executive, Nuclear Fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062 2 The Chief Administration Officer, Nuclear fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062. 3 The Dy.Chief Fire Officer, Nuclear Fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ or direction more particularly one in the nature of WRIT OF CERTIORARI calling for the records connected with order dt. 25-07- 2008 in O.A.No.380 of 2008 on the ﬁle of the Hon'ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad and quash the same as illegal and erroneous. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.K.SUDHAKAR REDDY Counsel for Respondents: MR.A.RAJASHEKAR REDDY (ASST SOLICITOR GEN) The Court made the following : ORDER: (per GM,J) Aggrieved by the order dated 25.07.2008 passed in O.A.No.380 of 2007 by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench, Hyderabad, the present writ petition is filed. The petitioner, who belongs to Scheduled Tribe, was initially appointed as Sub-Oﬃcer ‘A” in the oﬃce of the ﬁrst respondent in the year 1993 and subsequently, he was promoted as Sub-Oﬃcer ‘B’ in the year 2000 and Sub-Oﬃcer ‘C” in the year 2005. Thereafter, he was sent for Station Officer’s training at Nagpur by the respondents and he successfully completed the same. While so, on retirement of one Babu Rao, who belongs to Scheduled Caste community, the petitioner took charge as Station Oﬃcer. But, the third respondent has deliberately withheld his promotion as Station Oﬃcer and informed the higher authorities that there was no eligible oﬃcer to hold the post of Station Oﬃcer. Thereafter, the respondents issued a Notiﬁcation in Advertisement No. NFC/01/06 in the month of September, 2006, inviting applications for ﬁlling up the post of Station Oﬃcer by way of direct recruitment, notifying it as unreserved vacancy. The grievance of the petitioner is that since the said vacancy for the post of Station Oﬃcer is reserved for SC/ST candidates, he is entitled to be promoted to the said post, but the respondents instead of giving promotion to him, got issued the above said notiﬁcation for ﬁlling up the said post by direct recruitment, which is illegal and arbitrary. Therefore, he ﬁled O.A.No.380 of 2007 on the ﬁle of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench, Hyderabad, seeking to set aside the said notiﬁcation and for consequential direction to the respondents to consider his case for promotion as Station Oﬃcer. The Tribunal having held that the Central Government has not framed any rules prescribing quota for promotion to the post of Station Officer from the cadre of Sub Officers and that the said Babu Rao was appointed under direct recruitment and not by way of promotion, dismissed the said O.A. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition has been filed. Respondents ﬁled counter-aﬃdavit stating that there are no promotion norms for the department candidates and as per the old promotion norms, the promotions were given from Sub-Oﬃcer ‘A” grade to Sub-Oﬃcer ‘B’ and from Sub-Oﬃcer ‘B’ to Sub-Oﬃcer ‘C’ grade. It is further stated that in response to the said Notification, the petitioner applied for the post of Station Oﬃcer and also participated in the recruitment process, in which he failed and therefore, he has no grounds to challenge the selection process. It is further stated that the said Babu Rao, who belongs to Scheduled Caste, was only available at that point of time and was selected as per direct recruitment norms prevailing at that point of time and not as per promotional norms. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the respondents have not framed the statutory rules except certain norms and therefore, in the absence of any statutory rules, they have to follow such norms. He further contended that as the department itself has sent the petitioner for training of Station Oﬃcer’s course to the National Fire Service College at Nagpur and he has also put up service as Sub-Oﬃcer for more than ﬁve years, the respondents ought to have considered his case for promotion. On the other hand, learned Standing Counsel for the respondents contended that the post of Station Oﬃcer is meant only for direct recruitees and there are no promotional norms for the departmental candidates. He further contended that the said Babu Rao was appointed as Station Oﬃcer on direct recruitment and not by way of promotion. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and on perusal of the material on record, it is noticed that after issuing the Notiﬁcation in the month of September, 2006, the petitioner did not challenge the same immediately, instead, in response to the same, he applied for the said post and also participated in the recruitment process. Therefore, now, the petitioner cannot challenge the selection process in which he had participated. The said Babu Rao, who belongs to Scheduled Caste, was the only candidate available at that point of time and was selected as per the direct recruitment norms and not as per promotional norms; that the Station Oﬃcer’s cadre is entirely diﬀerent from the cadre of Sub- Oﬃcer and that there is no promotion channel provided for Sub-Oﬃcers to be promoted as Station Officers. Therefore, in the absence of any rule or provision for promotion from Sub-Oﬃcer to Station Oﬃcer, the petitioner cannot have any right to claim that Station Oﬃcer’s post be ﬁlled by way of promotion and not by way of direct recruitment. In the circumstances, we do not ﬁnd any illegality or irregularity in the order impugned warranting interference by this Court. Hence, the writ petition is devoid of merits and the same is, accordingly, dismissed. No costs. ______________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED, J _____________________ G. BHAVANI PRASAD, J Date:08.09.2008 sj , ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1. The Chief Executive, Nuclear Fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062 2 The Chief Administration Officer, Nuclear fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062. 3 The Dy.Chief Fire Officer, Nuclear Fuel Complex, ECIL Post, Hyderabad-500 062. 3.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{LS}