CAT Dismisses Retired Vocational Instructor’s 2nd ACP Claim, Applying Supreme Court Ruling That MACP Covers Employees Completing 24 Years Between Sept. 1, 2008 And May 19, 2009

K. Sankar Rao entered service as a Vocational Instructor on 10 October 1983 and retired on 31 August 2010. He received the first Assured Career Progression (ACP) benefit with effect from 9 August 1999.

His legal heir claimed that he became eligible for the second ACP on 10 October 2008, but was instead granted a benefit under the Modified ACP (MACP) Scheme. After the respondents rejected his representations, the applicant challenged those decisions and sought the second ACP benefit with consequential relief. The Tribunal had earlier directed the respondents to decide the applicant’s representation.

The Tribunal relied on the Supreme Court’s decisions in Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority, Civil Appeal No. 1880 of 2022, order dated 8 March 2022, and Union of India v. S. Ranjit Samuel, Civil Appeal Nos. 1625–1627 of 2022, order dated 24 March 2022.

As reproduced by the Tribunal, the Supreme Court held that employees who completed 24 years of regular service between 1 September 2008 and 19 May 2009 are governed by the MACP Scheme, and that their cases are to be considered under that Scheme. No statutory provision was identified as the basis of the decision.

The applicant’s claim depended on the contention that his eligibility date fell before the MACP Scheme’s introduction on 19 May 2009 and therefore entitled him to the second ACP.

The Tribunal treated the governing question as settled by the Supreme Court’s decisions, which held that the relevant employees were governed by the MACP Scheme. It therefore found no basis to interfere with the respondents’ orders denying the claimed second ACP.

The Tribunal dismissed the Original Application. No order was made as to costs.