Coal India Ltd. vs Navin Kumar Singh

2. The respondent, a graduate in Chemical Engineering, was appointed on 27th June, 1990 in E-2 Grade and joined the same on 4th August, 1990 in Dankuni Coal Complex (for short „DCC‟), of the appellant company. On a request made by the respondent, the Personnel Manager of the appellant company issued a transfer order being No.C-5A(iii)/51434(Trans)/199 dated 23rd April, 1991 transferring the respondent from DCC to Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (for short „CMPDIL‟), a subsidiary of the appellant company, in his existing capacity i.e. E-2 Grade. The transfer notice made it clear that since the transfer had been made at the instance of the respondent himself, his seniority in the E-2 Grade would be reckoned from the date he joined the new organisation, CMPDIL. Accordingly, the respondent joined CMPDIL on 15th May, 1991. The prevailing policy for determination of seniority of executives on inter-company 3 transfers at the time of the joining of the respondent, was as follows:

3. The respondent claims that in September 1993, the appellant company held its departmental promotion committee after which several employees were promoted from the E-2 Grade to the E-3 Grade but the respondent was overlooked for promotion. The reason given to the respondent was that his transfer to CMPDIL was done at his own request and his promotion would be considered only after he completed 3 5 (three) years of work experience at CMPDIL, which was the requisite period for promotion from E-2 to E-3.

4. Subsequently, the respondent was promoted to the „E-3‟ Grade vide order dated 12th December, 1994, which also mentioned that his seniority would be decided separately, since he had been promoted under the cluster concept in the centralised cadre. This order was modified on 2nd January, 1995 to change his designation to Executive Engineer (Chemical).

5. Post-promotion, the respondent challenged the appellant‟s decision to exclude his work experience at DCC (i.e. 4th August, 1990 to 14th May, 1991) while considering his eligibility for promotion, by filing a writ petition being CWJC No.2074/1997 before the High Court of Jharkhand praying for grant of notional seniority to him to the post of Executive Engineer (Chemical) in the E-3 Grade with effect from 12th November, 1993. The Single Judge disposed of the writ petition vide order dated 18th November, 1998, by merely directing the appellant company to consider the representation 6 of the respondent within 3 (three) months from the date of the order.

6. Thereafter, the Chief General Manager (Personnel) of the appellant company, after considering the respondent‟s representation, issued an order on 16th February, 1999, rejecting the same inter alia on the ground that the applicable policy at the time of considering the respondent‟s seniority was that an employee would lose his past seniority in his existing Grade in the event of an inter-company transfer, if the request for transfer was made by the employee himself and further, as per the office memorandum of 5th June, 1985, since there was no senior executive above the respondent‟s Grade, the question of the application of the said office memorandum did not arise. The said order reads thus:

11. The indisputable position emerging from the chronology of events, is that the respondent was appointed on 27th June, 1990 in E-2 Grade in DCC and joined that post on 4th August, 1990. He requested for a transfer from DCC to CMPDIL, which is a subsidiary of the appellant company. That request was considered favourably as a result of which the respondent joined CMPDIL in existing E-2 Grade, pursuant to Office Order dated 23rd April, 1991. The said Office Order reads thus:

7. Aggrieved by the aforementioned decision, the respondent filed a fresh writ petition being CWJC No.4177 of 2000 before the High Court of Jharkhand, inter alia, seeking to quash the order dated 16th February, 1999, and praying that he may be granted notional seniority with effect from 12th November, 1993 in the E-3 Grade with all consequential benefits. This writ petition was allowed by the learned Single Judge vide order dated 20th June, 2003 who observed that although the respondent may have been at the top in the seniority list of CMPDIL when he joined in that company, at the time of consideration of promotion to E-3 Grade, his service at DCC could not be overlooked and therefore, denial of promotion to him in E-3 Grade at the time was incorrect and accordingly, 8 the appellant company was directed to revise the date of promotion of the respondent.

18. Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed with no order as to costs.

.………………………….CJI.

September 25, 2018.