STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Justice Hasnain Massodi and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal on Friday permitted the state to include 14 senior most KAS officers in the final seniority list notified vide Government Order No. 743-GAD of 2011 dated 24th June, 2011 in the panel and in the event, any of the officer is appointed to the service, to keep such appointment / induction in abeyance till disposal of and subject to the outcome of the Letters Patent Appeals (LPAs).
This significant direction has been passed in an application filed by the State in LPA regarding Officers appointed to the time scale of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services with effect from 1st January, 2004 to 1st December, 2008, are locked in inter-se dispute regarding their seniority in the service, for the last four years. The dispute was raised in a bunch of writ petitions filed on different dates in the year 2011. All the writ petitions were disposed off by Single Judge vide judgment dated 8th November, 2013. LPA filed against the writ court judgment by State and some of the petitioners/ respondents before the writ court are awaiting disposal for a little more than one year. The appeals were posted for final hearing on 3rdJune 2014.
Division Bench observed that delay in disposal of the appeals has lead to failure of the State Government to recommend the members of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service for their induction into Indian Administrative Service against eight vacancies that have become available between 1st January and 31st December, 2013. It was further observed that Under Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training (DoP&T) through a communication dated 19th May, 2015 addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir has requested for necessary action in terms of the provisions contained in Rule 4(2)(b) of the IAS (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 read with Regulation 5(1) of the IAS (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955 so that vacancies in promotion quota in the IAS are filled.
Division Bench observed that State Government in terms of the aforementioned Rules and Regulations is required to submit a panel in the ratio of 1:3 to the Department of Personnel and Training, Govt. of India. Once the panel is so submitted, the officers included in the panel are to be assessed on the basis of their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) of preceding years as prescribed under rules. The State Government in the present case has to submit a panel of 24 officers belonging to JKAS to the DoP&T. it was observed that the seniority of 10 senior most officers of the cadre admittedly is beyond dispute. They are not party to the present litigation.
Division Bench further observed that the appellants in LPA(SW) No. 20/2014, through medium of application on hand, seek permission to operate the seniority list of Time Scale officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service notified vide Govt. Order No. 743-GAD of 2011 dated 24th June 2011 to the extent of 14 senior most officers for their inclusion in the panel of 24 officers, to be submitted to DoP&T, GoI so that eight slots available for the selection year 2013 are filed up from amongst the officers included in the panel. This, according to the applicants, would enable them to obviate the difficulty confronted because of pendency of the Letters Patent Appeals and application is resisted by the respondents in LPA (SW) No. 20/2014 and the parties to other Letters Patent Appeals, on the ground that the course suggested would not be permissible inasmuch as the seniority of 14 officers proposed to be empanelled is in dispute. It is insisted that the right course would be to take up all Letters Patent Appeals for final consideration at the earliest so that the controversy is resolved once for all.
Division Bench after considering both the sides observed that there can be no disagreement with Advocate Gagan Basotra for the applicants that 10 senior most officers, who notwithstanding the pendency of the matter have been, after leave granted by Supreme Court, placed against the available vacancies in the special scale of KAS on stop gap arrangement in their own pay and grade, cannot be made to suffer and deprived of whatever is otherwise due to them only because the dispute regarding seniority of their junior colleagues is not settled with due dispatch.
With these observations, Division Bench disposed off application with the direction that the State Government would be free to include first 14 officers in the final seniority list so that the requirement of Regulation 5 of the Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by promotion) Regulations, 1955 is satisfied and consideration accorded by the Selection Committee to the appointment of eight officers from amongst the empanelled candidates against eight positions available in 2013. Should Selection Committee find one or more officers amongst 14 senior most officers in the final seniority list dated 24th June 2011 meritorious enough to be appointed to Indian Administrative Service against one or more of the eight vacancies available for the year 2013, the appointment / induction of such officer(s) shall remain in abeyance and not acted upon subject to outcome of LPAs pending against the writ court judgment dated 8th November 2013. The LPA Bench, however, would be free to alter or modify this direction at the instance of either of the parties. The recommendation of the Selection Committee to the extent it pertains to the ten eligible officers not party to the Letters Patent Appeals whose seniority is free from any controversy shall be acted upon notwithstanding pendency of LPAs.
Division Bench further directed that this order shall not stand in way of the respondents to press into service proviso (2) of Regulation 5 of the Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by promotion) Regulations, 1955 and submit the panel of 10 eligible officers with necessary material to the department of DoP&T with the stand that as number of officers eligible as on date is less than the three times the maximum permissible size of the select list, exemption from submitting panel three times number of vacancies, is warranted and request the Committee to accord consideration to the eligible officers. JNF
