Greaser service cannot qualify for Engine Driver promotion where statutory rules prescribe Fireman as the feeder cadre.

The applicant was appointed as a Fireman on 06.02.2007 and promoted as Greaser with effect from 01.04.2014 under the then-applicable 1981 Recruitment Rules.

The 1981 Rules were superseded by the Navy Group ‘C’ Non-Industrial Posts (Boats Crew) Recruitment Rules, 2017, notified through SRO 39/2017, under which Fireman with ten years’ regular service was prescribed as the feeder grade for promotion to Engine Driver; Note 1 permitted consideration of seniors who fell short of the qualifying service by the prescribed margin.

The official respondents promoted Respondent Nos. 5 to 12 from Fireman to Engine Driver under the 2017 Rules.

The applicant challenged the promotion panel and consequential promotion orders dated 01.07.2024 and sought a fresh promotion exercise by counting his service in both the Fireman and Greaser grades.

Whether the applicant’s service rendered as Fireman and Greaser could be cumulatively counted to satisfy the qualifying-service requirement for promotion to Engine Driver under SRO 39/2017?

Whether the applicant could claim consideration under Note 1 to SRO 39/2017 on the basis of his seniority over the private respondents?

Whether the promotions granted to Respondent Nos. 5 to 12 under the 2017 Rules were liable to be quashed?

Whether SRO 28/2022, which recognised Greaser as a feeder grade for Engine Driver, could be applied retrospectively to the applicant’s claim?

The Tribunal applied the 1981 Recruitment Rules, under which Greaser/Fireman with four years’ service in the grade could be promoted to Engine Driver Class III.

It primarily applied SRO 39/2017, framed under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, which prescribed Fireman in Level 1 with ten years’ regular service in the grade as the feeder category for Engine Driver and contained Note 1 concerning consideration of seniors who were short of the prescribed service by the specified margin.

Recruitment Rules made under Article 309 possess statutory force and prevail over administrative instructions or departmental circulars; they bind both the employer and employees.

SRO 28/2022, which subsequently prescribed Greaser in Level 2 with eight years’ regular service as an eligible feeder grade, could not operate retrospectively.

Under SRO 39/2017, Fireman alone was the feeder grade for promotion to Engine Driver, and the qualifying service had to be rendered in that grade.

Because the applicant had been promoted from Fireman to Greaser in 2014, he was no longer holding the Fireman post when the relevant promotions were considered; consequently, Note 1, which addressed seniors in the Fireman feeder cadre, did not assist him.

The applicant had not challenged the validity of SRO 39/2017, despite its exclusion of Greaser as a feeder grade, and therefore could not obtain relief by asking the Tribunal to interpret the rule so as to include Greaser or to aggregate service across the two distinct cadres.

The applicant lacked the requisite second-class competency certificate during the 2017–18 consideration, having obtained the certificate only after passing the examination on 16.03.2020.

Although Greaser became a recognised feeder grade under SRO 28/2022, that amendment was prospective and could not invalidate promotions made under the earlier statutory regime.

The promotions of the private respondents were therefore found to be consistent with SRO 39/2017.

The promotion panel and consequential promotion orders in favour of Respondent Nos. 5 to 12 were not interfered with.

The Original Application was accordingly dismissed, with no order as to costs.