The Kerala High Court has established that employees cannot demand promotion in their previous service for seniority purposes long after service integration.
The Division Bench, consisting of Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Shoba Annamma Eapen, firmly believed that any request for promotion in one's former service must be made during service integration and not afterward.
The Bench stated that if the integration process didn't allow for such claims, employees cannot delay their right to claim and later try to do so indirectly through their former service. Any claims they had at the time of integration should have been raised when they entered the new integrated service. Claims left in the former service cannot be reclaimed through a new approach in the integrated service. Failure to make a claim at the integration time regarding rights from the former service means forfeiting and closing off those rights.
The petitioners joined the Kerala Municipal Common Service (Engineering and Town Planning Service) as Third Grade Overseers through direct recruitment from 2001 to 2003. The respondents, except for the 5th respondent who received a compassionate appointment in 2000, also became third grade overseers in the Public Department from 1991 to 1993.
Later, in 2003, the government established a new department known as the Local Self Government Department and introduced a new service called the Kerala Local Self Government Engineering Subordinate Services, along with the formulation of specific rules for this service.
The Special Rules outline the process for integrating members working in the Overseer Grade and similar categories from the Kerala Municipal Common Service (Engineering and Town Planning Service) into the Kerala Local Self Government Engineering Subordinate Services. These rules also specify that seniority for individuals absorbed into the Kerala Local Self Government Engineering Subordinate Service will be based on their appointment date and seniority in their former service category. In the case of direct recruits, it will be determined based on the recommendations of the Public Service Commission for that category. Consequently, the petitioners found themselves ranked lower in the seniority list prepared as per these stipulations.
In response to certain employees of the Municipal Common Service requesting promotion to Second Grade Overseer based on their seniority in their original department, the Director of Urban Affairs issued an order that theoretically promoted Third Grade Overseers to Second Grade Overseers within the Municipal Common Service.
When this action was contested on two main grounds, firstly, that the parties were not allowed to raise a promotion claim in their former service after the seniority list based on the integration process was published, and secondly, that there were no vacant positions in the former service for the petitioners to be promoted as Second Grade Overseers, the Tribunal upheld the challenge.
The current pleas have been filed in opposition to the Tribunal's decision on the aforementioned issues.
The Court initially recognized that the government's policy is to integrate services, and any individual's rights or claims in a different service concerning their relative seniority must be resolved during the integration process.
"The seniority list established in the integrated service must be adhered to for deciding the relative seniority. An employee cannot challenge the seniority list created in the integrated service indirectly by seeking promotion in their former service without questioning the seniority list itself."
In this particular case, the Court acknowledged that the petitioners had never previously raised any concerns regarding the seniority lists of Third Grade Overseers for the years 2009 and 2011.
In the current case, the Court observed that the petitioners had not previously raised any objections or questions regarding the seniority lists of Third Grade Overseers for the years 2009 and 2011.
The petitions were accordingly dismissed.
TAGS: Court Present case Petitioners Seniority lists Third Grade Overseer Questions Observations.
