Unni Menon vs Union Of India & Ors

2. We may notice here the essential facts necessary for the adjudication of the present appeal. Unni Menon, appellant herein, joined the Indian Audit and Accounts Department as Upper Division Clerk w.e.f. 10th October, 1967. He thereafter cleared the SAS examination and was promoted as Section Officer, w.e.f. 24th October, 1973, in the office of Accountant General, Bangalore, Karnataka. The appellant was further promoted as Assistant Accounts Officer w.e.f. 1st April, 1987 by virtue of his seniority and merit.

3. While he was working as Assistant Accounts Officer in the office of the Accountant General, he went on deputation to work in the CAT, Bangalore Bench w.e.f. 21st August, 1989. As the appellant was on deputation, his lien was maintained in his parent department, i.e., Accountant General, Karnataka Circle, Bangalore. On the basis of his lien and seniority, he was promoted as Accounts Officer in his parent office, i.e., in office of the Accountant General, 2 Bangalore, w.e.f. 1st April 1992. Thereafter, he was absorbed as Accounts Officer in the Central Administrative Tribunal w.e.f. 23rd March, 1994.

4. The IV Pay Commission made certain recommendations in the matter of pay scales between the Accounts Officers in the Accounts Wing and the Accounts Officers in the Audit Wing of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. The relevant extract of the recommendations is as under :-

9. The appellant then filed an application being OA No. 15 of 1999 before the CAT, Bangalore. The CAT vide its final order dated 1st March, 2000 allowed his application and held that CAT is also to be considered as an `Organized Accounts Cadre'. The CAT actually noticed that the appellant having been absorbed in CAT, Bangalore, w.e.f. 23rd March, 1994, about one year prior to his completion of three years, had lost his lien in the parent department. It had been duly terminated on 26th March, 1994.

With the aforesaid observations CAT held that the Accounts Department is also to be considered as an 8 `Organized Accounts Cadre'. The respondents were directed to reconsider the representations of the appellant and to pass suitable orders in the light of the observations made in the order within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.

11.Aggrieved by the aforesaid order of the CAT, the respondents filed a writ petition before the High Court of Karnataka. The Division Bench of the High Court has allowed the writ petition and set aside the impugned order of CAT. The application filed by the appellant before the CAT has been dismissed.

These observations clearly show that the Engineering Service had been dubbed as unorganized service as the State had failed to frame the necessary recruitment rules. This Court, therefore, observed that the State Government can not take advantage of its own failure to frame the recruitment rules and bring the Engineering Service within the framework of organized service. For such failure, the Engineers could not be made to suffer. The aforesaid observations have no application to the facts and circumstances of this case.

17. We, therefore, find no merit in the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant. In view of the above, the appeal is dismissed.

January 07, 2011.