Promotion earned in a previous division counts as an offset against further MACP benefits despite subsequent request transfer.

The applicant joined the Indian Railways as a Trainee Commercial Clerk in 1987

He was promoted to Senior Commercial Clerk in 1991 at Tiruchirappalli Division

In 1993, he sought an "own request transfer" to the Palakkad Division, where he was reverted to the lower post of Commercial Clerk with bottom seniority

Upon this transfer, his pay was fixed by protecting his previous pay through personal pay

He was subsequently re-promoted to Senior Commercial Clerk in 1997

In 2008, he was granted the 3rd financial upgradation under the MACP scheme

He retired in 2019 as a Chief Commercial Clerk. The applicant filed this O.A. claiming he was entitled to a 3rd financial upgradation in the Grade Pay of Rs. 4600/- effective from 2017, arguing his previous promotion in 1991 should be ignored because he was reverted upon transfer

1. Whether the applicant is entitled to a further financial upgradation to Grade Pay Rs. 4600/- upon completion of 30 years of service, despite having earned two promotions and one MACP upgradation previously

2. Whether the promotion earned in 1991 at the previous division, which was subsequently lost due to an "own request transfer" and later regained, should be counted as an offset against MACP entitlements

Para 24 of the MACP Scheme (RBE No. 101/2009), which stipulates that if an employee seeks a unilateral transfer to a lower post after a promotion, they are entitled to subsequent financial upgradations only upon completion of the required service from the date of initial appointment in the new organization

Railway Board Circulars (RBE No. 81/2020 and Letter dated 18.04.2016), which clarify that re-promotion to a level previously held in an old organization must be counted as a financial upgradation for MACP purposes

The Tribunal applied the principle from Union of India v. N.M. Raut, ensuring all financial upgradations earned are accounted for when reckoning the 10-year intervals and the three assured upgradations

The Tribunal rejected the applicant's contention that his pay was not protected during his 1993 transfer, noting that the Service Register (Annexure A1) explicitly showed pay protection through "personal pay"

Applying the Railway Board’s clarified policies (Annexures R-1, R-2, R-3), the court reasoned that the applicant had already exhausted his three opportunities for financial advancement

Specifically: (1) his first promotion was in 1991; (2) his re-promotion in 1997 (post-transfer) constituted his second advancement; and (3) his MACP grant in 2008 constituted his third

The court noted that because the applicant was granted pay protection upon transfer, the subsequent re-promotion to the same grade he held previously must be counted as an offset against his MACP entitlement

Consequently, he was not eligible for a fourth upgradation to GP Rs. 4600/-.

The Original Application (O.A.) was dismissed