RAMESH CHANDRA SHARMA & ORS. v. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ANR.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KURIAN, J. I. Leave granted.

2Copy pinpoint2. The simple issue for consideration in this case pertains to the fixation of seniority under the Madhya Pradesh Class III (Non-Ministerial) Forest Service Recruitment Rules, 1967. Under Rule 4, the 'service' consists of, for the purpose of the case before us, Serial No. 1 - Forest Ranger, Serial No. 7 - Deputy Ranger and Serial No. 16 - Forester.

3Copy pinpoint3. It appears that the Foresters, who were recruited and deputed to different circles, approached the Tribunai with a specific grievance that on account of posting in a particular circle, some of the Foresters got accelerated promotions to the post of Deputy Ranger and, thereafter' to the post of Forest Ranger, thereby, the erstwhile juniors in the cadre of Foresters in the same service, solely on fortuitous circumstances, have become their seniors in the cadre of Rangers. It is further submitted that it has affected their future prospects as well.

4Copy pinpoint4. The Tribunal, by order dated 12.05.1999, held as under:- ".... Promotion to the post of Deputy Ranger in different circles would not only merely depend upon the number of vacancies available in the circle but also on fortuitous circumstance of the timing of the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee over which no Forester would have any control. The system is iniquitous and unfair and likely to prejudice the Senior Foresters. Since the recruitment is made centrally to the post of Forester and they are appointed simultaneously after training, it is necessary that the inter-se-seniority at the time of their appointment to the service is maintained and that such inter-se-seniority does not get altered for no fault of the Senior Foresters on account of the system which is adopted by the respondent State in making promotions to the post of Deputy Rangers. Since the promotion from the post of Deputy Ranger to the post of Ranger is made at the State Level and for this purpose, seniority list of Deputy Rangers is drawn out at the State level, the promotion to the post of Deputy Ranger should also be made by a Central Screening/ H

p. 580 Copy page pinpoint

A Promotion Committee so that the interest of the Senior Foresters is safeguarded and they get their promotion earlier than their juniors ..=.:_'

5Copy pinpoint5. In these circumstances, the Tribunal took the view at Paragraph 9 as under:- B " .... The correct course in our view would be that inter-se- seniority for promotion of Deputy Ranger to the post of Rangers should be reckoned on the basis of their inter-se- seniority in the cadre of Foresters irrespective of their date of promotion to the post of Deputy Ranger, provided that a c person has not been superseded in promotion from the post of Forester to the post of Deputy Ranger, as a superseded person cannot claim his original seniority in the cadre from which the promotion is, made .... "

6Copy pinpoint6. That was challenged before the High Court, leading to the D impugnedJud1:,>ment dated 07.11.2003 in Writ Petition No. 4717 of2001. The Division Bench took the view as under :- " .. ,,On a perusal of the order of the Tribunal we are of the considered opinion that the Tribunal should not have dwelled upon the issue as the Rules were not called in question and E should not have disturbed the seniority list in the manner in which it has been done. Quite apart ji-om the above, the Tribunal has taken a different view while appreciating the contentions of the State though the same could not be done in that manner. ... "

7Copy pinpoint7. The learned counsel for the appellants would contend that the F Foresters having entered service based on the State level selection, merely on account of posting in a particular circle on various circumstances, they cannot steal a march over their seniors in the further promotion, in any case, to the post of Forest Ranger, even by conceding that such Foresters may get an accelerated promotion to the post of Deputy G Ranger. The learned counsel for the State submits that the recruitment is circle level, seniority is circle level and the promotions are also circle level.

8Copy pinpoint8. Neither side is in a position to convince us as to how the seniority is fixed in the cadre of Foresters, Deputy Rangers and Rangers. H

RAMESH CHANDRA SHARMA & ORS.v. STATE OF MADHYA 581 PRADESH & ANR. [KURIAN, J.]

9Copy pinpoint9. On the pure .question of law, we ·would like to make the legal position clear that members of the same service getting accelerated promotion merely on account of fortuitous postings in a particular circle cannot steal a march over their seniors in the higher posts in the same · service. ·

10Copy pinpoint10. However, since we are riot quite clear with regard. to rules regarding selection and fixation of seniority and as we are not getting assistance in that regard, we set aside the Judgment of the High Co~rt and remit the matter to the High Court for consideration afresh. We request the High Court to dispose of th~ matter expeditiously and preferably within six months from today. · c 11 . In view of the above, the appeals are disposed of. No costs.

Devika Gujral Appeals disposed of.