AWADHESH MAURYA vs M/o Finance

1
MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI

MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026

Reserved on 10.08.2026
Pronounced on 01.09.2026
Hon’ble Ms. Harvinder Kaur Oberoi, Member (J)
Hon’ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member (A)
1. Awadhesh Maurya, aged about 33 years, S/o — Shri Ram Surat Maurya R/o- Flat No. 404,
Type - III, ICE Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
2. Yogendera Pratap Singh, aged about 38 years, S/o — Shri Vijay Bahadur Singh R/o - C -
102, Sector — E, Aliganj, Lucknow.
3. Narayan Singh, aged about 51 years, S/o - Shri Shyam Singh, R/o - B - 87/ B, Shivani
Vihar, Kalyanpur, Lucknow.
4. Kumar Gautam, aged about 40 years, S/o - Shri Vishwa Narayan Seth R/o- Flat No. 105,
Type - III, ICE Tower , Inspector | Vibhuti Khand , Gomati Nagar , Lucknow.
5. Neelam Sinha, aged about 53 years, S/o - Late Shri K. L. Srivastava R/o- E - 8 , Income
Tax Colony Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow.
6. Mukhtar Alam, aged about 51 years, S/o - Shri Abdul Razzak R/o - 655, Aadil Nagar,
Kursi Raod, Lucknow.
7. Vishal Saxena, aged about 38 years, S/o - Shri I. B. Saxena R/o - 1302, Ambroria E, Omax
Residency - II , Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

8. Shivam Sahu, aged about 34 years, S/o - Shri Ashok Kumar Sahu, R/o - Quazipura,
Bahraich.
9. Shailesh Kumar Singh, aged about 42 years, S/o - Shri S. N. Singh R/o - E - 3010
Rajajipuram, Lucknow.
10. Nitin Kumar Tiwari, aged about 34 years, S/o - Shri Kamlesh Kumar R/o - 54 -
Mohammadpur, Khatri Executive Kalyanpur, Lucknow.
11. Apurv Arya, aged about 33 years, S/o Shri Avinash Chandra Arya, R/o - C -2/ 211, Sector
- F, Jankupuram, Lucknow.
12. Abhay K . Saxena, aged about 40 years, S/o Late Shri Raj Kishore Saxena, R/o - E - 6, N2/
115, Aliganj, Lucknow.
13. Naveen Kumar Dubey, aged about 29 years, S/o - Late Shri Gyan Dutta Dubey R/o - Fat
No. 404, Rahat Apartment, 60B, Prag Narayan Raod, Lucknow.
14. Anuj Kumar Verma, aged about 33 years, S/o- Shri Devta Deen Verma R/o - Flat No. 401,
Rahat Apartment, 60B, Prag Narayan Raod, Lucknow.
15. Nilesh Singh, aged about 33 years, S/o - Shri Shailendra Singh, R/o - Flat No. 508, Type -
I, ICE Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
16. Adil Ahmad, aged about 33 years, S/o - Shri Mohammad Ali, Flat No. 408, Type - III, ICE
Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
17. Dhirendra Kumar, aged about 31 years, S/o - Shri Mira Yadav, R/o - Flat No. 402, Type -
I1I, ICE Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

18. Manoj Kumar, aged about 32 years, S/o - Shri Phool Chandra Verma, R/o- Flat No. 503,
Type - 111, ICE Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
19. Rupesh Kumar Singh, aged about 34 years, S/o — Shri Gauri Shankar Prasad R/o — Flat
No. 804, Type - II, ICE Tower, Vibhuti khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
20. O.P. Rai, aged about 35 years, S/o — Late Shri Rama Rai, R/o - Flat No. 406, Type - III,
ICE Tower, Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
21. Santosh Kumar Gupta, aged about 33 years, S/o - Shri Mahesh Sao, R/o - G - 34, Wazir
Hasan Raod, Income Tax Colony, Lucknow.
22. Mohammad Tahir, aged about 46 years, S/o - Shri Mohammad Islam R/o - Near Madina
Masjid, Awadh Vihar Colony Kanpur Road, Lucknow.
23. Benay Tiwary, aged about 41 years, S/o - Shri Uma Shankar Tiwary, R/o - Flat No. 02,
Ram Niwas Lucknow.
24. Ajit Kumar Verma, aged about 31 years, S/o- Shri Anil Kumar Verma, R/o- Flat No. 403,
Rahat Apartment, 60 B, Prag Narayan Raod, Lucknow.
25. Pawan Kumar Mourya, aged about 30 years, S/o- Shri Shatrughna Mourya, R/o- G - 27,
Income Tax Colony, Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow.
26. Md. Akram Ansari, aged about 29 years, S/o- Shri Md. Muslim Ansari, R/o - Flat No. 407,
Type - IlI, ICE Tower, Executive Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
27. Hare Krishna, aged about 35 years, S/o- Shri Upendra Prasad Singh R/o - F - 36, Income
Tax Colony, Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow.
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

28. Arun Kumar Tripathi, aged about 33 years, S/o- Shri Satish Chandra Tripathi, R/o - Flat
No.202, Type - II, ICE Tower, Executive Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.
29. Ajeet Singh, aged about 32 years, S/o- Shri Ramesh Chandra Chaudhari, R/o - Flat No.
403, Type - III, ICE Tower, Executive Vibhuti Khand, Gomati Nagar, Lucknow.

.… Applicants

(By Advocate : Mr. Praveen Kumar)

VERSUS
1. UNION OF INDIA, through the Secretary Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of
India, Department of Revenue, New Delhi-110001.
2. The Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, North Block, New Delhi-
110001.
3. The Under Secretary to Government of India (Ad. ITIIA) CBIC, Ministry of Finance,
Government of India, Department of Revenue, New Delhi-110001.
4. The Principal Chief Commissioner, Central GST & Central Excise Lucknow Zone, 7A,
Ashok Marg, Lucknow-226001.

.... RESPONDENTS

(By Advocate : Mr. Gyanendra Singh)
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

ORDER

Hon’ble Ms. Harvinder Kaur Oberoi, Member (J)
MA No. 3746/2026
The present MA has been filed by the applicant seeking withdrawal of
Applicant No. 1 from the array of applicants.
2. For the reasons stated in the application, and having regard to the fact that the
request does not survive for consideration at this stage, the present MA is dismissed.
3. The MA stands disposed of accordingly.
MA No. 3608/2026
4. The present MA has been filed by the respondents seeking early disposal of
the OA on the ground that the identical matter before the Bangalore Bench of this
Tribunal has already been dismissed and the said order was challenged by the
applicant before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in W.P. No.
14714/2021, which was also dismissed, thereby upholding the order passed by the
Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal. It is further submitted that the same issue has also
been considered and decided by a Coordinate Bench of this Tribunal in OA No.
1827/2020. In view of the aforesaid, the OA is taken up for consideration and is
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

liable to be dismissed by following the judgment of the Coordinate Bench. The
relevant portion of the order passed by the Coordinate Bench reads as under:
“In OA No. 1827 of 2020, the applicants have prayed for the
following reliefs:-
“It is, therefore, prayed that this Hon'ble Tribunal
may be pleased to Quash the impugned
proceedings in
F.No.A.32018/37/2017 Ad-III-A dated 1.7.2019 of
the 2nd respondent and direct the 3rd respondent
not to initiate any steps for reviewing the DPC and
consequently direct the respondents, to permit the
applicants to continue as Inspectors of Central
Excise in the 3rd respondent office and pass such
other further order or orders as this Hon'ble
Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the
circumstances of the case and thus render justice.”

3. The claim of the applicants has been opposed by the
respondents. This OA No. 1827/2020 was earlier tagged with OA
No. 1714/2020. The respondents have filed their reply only in
OA No. 1714 of 2020, titled Dharma Shekhar Vs UOI. However,
as the OA of Dharma Shekhar was subsequently detagged from
this OA and had earlier been disposed of, at the request of the
Learned Counsel for the respondents, Mr. Gyanendra Singh, the
respondents were accorded liberty to bring on record a copy of
the reply filed in the case of Dharma Shekhar (Supra) and in
response thereto the applicants have filed a rejoinder.
4. Learned Counsel for the applicants submits that for the
vacancy year 2016-17, the applicants were eligible to be
considered and therefore, they were considered and promoted to
the post of Inspector (Central Excise).
5. However, the respondents have issued the impugned
order/circular dated 01-07-2019 and therefore, the applicants
apprehended that the respondents may revert the applicants for
no fault attributable to them. Therefore, by way of the present
OA, the applicants approached this Tribunal. He further submits
that otherwise the applicants have not been considered and
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

promoted on the basis of any of the 11 circulars/letters referred to
in the impugned letter/circular/order dated 01-07-2019.
6. On the other hand, Mr. Singh, Learned Counsel appearing for
the respondents, has argued that the same letter/circular/order
dated 01.07.2019 was the subject matter of challenge before the
Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal in OA No. 170/00771/2019
titled Sri Indu Sekharan K versus Union of India and Others. .
The Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal had dismissed the said OA
vide order/judgment dated 13.12.2019 which was challenged
before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in
W.P.C. No. 14714 of 2021 and connected cases. The Hon’ble
High Court, vide order/judgment dated 12.08.2021 upheld the
order passed by the Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal and
dismissed the said WP(s).
7. Accordingly, Learned Counsel for the respondents submits
that the present OA also deserves to be dismissed.
8. We have considered the submissions made by the Learned
Counsels for the parties. There is no dispute that the impugned
communication dated 01.07.2019 was the subject matter of
challenge before the Bangalore Bench of the Tribunal and the
said OA was dismissed and the judgment of the Tribunal has
been upheld by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka at
Bengaluru.
9. In this background, the judgment of the Bangalore Bench of
this Tribunal in Sri Indu Sekharan K (supra), upheld by the
Hon’ble High Court, is a binding precedent. Otherwise also, it is
the case of the applicants that none of the circulars/instructions
referred to in the impugned letter/order dated 01.07.2019 relates
to the present applicants. This being the case of the applicants, no
cause has arisen for the applicants to challenge the order/circular
dated 01.07.2019.
10. In view of the aforesaid, OA No. 1827 of 2020 deserves
to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed. Interim order
passed, if any, shall stand vacated. However, there shall be no
order as to costs.”

5. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the pleadings
and material placed on record.
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

6. The issue raised in the present OA is squarely covered by the aforesaid judgment
of the Coordinate Bench of this Tribunal in OA No. 1827/2020. The Coordinate
Bench has considered the challenge to the very same communication/order dated
01.07.2019 and has taken note of the judgment of the Bangalore Bench of this
Tribunal in OA No. 170/00771/2019 titled Sri Indu Sekharan K. versus Union of
India and Others , whereby the challenge to the said communication was dismissed.
7. The aforesaid judgment of the Bangalore Bench was thereafter challenged before
the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in W.P. No. 14714/2021 and
connected matters. The Hon’ble High Court, vide judgment dated 12.08.2021,
upheld the order passed by the Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal and dismissed the
writ petition(s).
8. Thus, the decision rendered by the Bangalore Bench of this Tribunal, having
been affirmed by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka, and the same issue having
thereafter been considered by the Coordinate Bench of this Tribunal in OA No.
1827/2020, there is no reason to take a different view in the present matter.
9. The principle of judicial discipline requires this Bench to follow the decision of
the Coordinate Bench, particularly when the decision of the Bangalore Bench on the
same issue has also received affirmation by the Hon’ble High Court.
10. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, and following the judgment of
the Coordinate Bench in OA No. 1827/2020, the present OA is dismissed.
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MA No.3746/2026
In
OA No. 1931/2020
MA No. 3608/2026
Item No. 14 (C-3)

11. Consequently, MA No. 3608/2026, seeking early disposal of the OA, also
stands disposed of. Any interim order, if subsisting, shall stand vacated.
12. There shall be no order as to costs.


(Dr. Sumeet Jerath) (Harvinder Kaur Oberoi)
Member (A) Member (J)

/arti/
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