CAT Rejects Railway Retiree’s Bid To Backdate TTI Promotion To Junior’s 2012 Date, As He Was Under Penalty

In brief

The question

Whether the applicant was entitled to promotion as TTI from 31 December 2012, the date his junior was promoted, despite being under a penalty that reduced him to a lower grade.

The court held

The Tribunal held that the applicant was not entitled to promotion from 31 December 2012 or to the consequential monetary relief claimed.

It also directed

It dismissed the Original Application, closed any pending miscellaneous applications and made no order as to costs.

01Facts

The applicant, a retired Senior Ticket Examiner, was penalised in December 2010 by reduction to a lower grade for five years.

¶ 2

On revision, the penalty was reduced to three years without loss of seniority, with the revised penalty treated as completed on 17 December 2013.

¶ 5

A junior had been promoted as Travelling Ticket Inspector (TTI) on 31 December 2012.

¶ 9–11

The applicant was later selected for promotion; the Railways granted him pro forma promotion from 17 December 2013 and actual promotion from 8 August 2017, after a separate penalty that ran from 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017.

¶ 9–11

He sought promotion and consequential pay and retirement benefits from 31 December 2012.

¶ 9–11

The Tribunal had already condoned the delay in filing the application.

¶ 2, 5, 9–11

02Issues

i.Whether the applicant was entitled to promotion as TTI from 31 December 2012, the date his junior was promoted, despite being under a penalty that reduced him to a lower grade.

¶ 10–13

ii.Whether the applicant was entitled to actual promotion, revised pay, arrears and consequential retirement benefits from that date, rather than pro forma promotion from 17 December 2013 and actual promotion from 8 August 2017.

¶ 14–16

03Law Applied

The Tribunal applied Railway Board letter No. E(D&A) 92RG6-149(A), dated 21 January 1993 (RBE No. 13/1993; Serial Circular No. 16/1993).

¶ 13

Under paragraph 3.1, a Railway servant against whom proceedings have been initiated is generally not to be promoted—even if included in a panel—until the proceedings conclude; the stated exception applies where the employee is not under suspension and the proceedings concern only a minor penalty.

¶ 13

The respondents also relied on the circular’s provision that an employee penalised by reduction to a lower time scale, grade or post may be promoted only after the penalty expires.

¶ 5(xiv)

The applicant invoked Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 to bring the application.

¶ 1

Provisions in the judgment · 1 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 Section 19

04Reasoning

The Tribunal noted that the applicant was serving in the lower grade on 31 December 2012, when his junior was promoted, and that the revised three-year penalty did not expire until 17 December 2013.

¶ 11–15

The applicant therefore was not entitled to promotion from the junior’s promotion date.

¶ 11–15

Although the Railways granted pro forma promotion from the date the revised penalty ended, a subsequent penalty prevented an earlier actual promotion.

¶ 11–15

The applicant assumed the higher post’s responsibilities only on 8 August 2017 under the promotion order, which he had not challenged.

¶ 11–15

The Tribunal found that the respondents had granted the eligible notional and actual benefits from the applicable dates and that no interference was warranted.

¶ 11–15