Restructuring promotions must be considered from the eligibility date, subject to vacancies, seniority and suitability.

The applicants, Assistant Loco Pilots, challenged the rejection of their claim for promotion to Senior Assistant Loco Pilot under cadre restructuring pursuant to Railway Board Establishment Circular (RBE) No. 66/2010.

The respondents had rejected the claim because the applicants had not completed the required two-year residency period by 1 May 2010, the effective date of restructuring, and had promoted them from 4 July 2012.

The applicants claimed consideration from the respective dates on which they completed two years’ service—7 July 2010 and 9 January 2011—and sought consequential benefits.

The Tribunal had earlier directed the respondents to consider their representation; the resulting rejection dated 27 February 2014 was challenged in this application.

1. Whether the applicants could claim promotion against restructured vacancies from 1 May 2010, despite completing the two-year residency requirement only later.

2. Whether the respondents’ rejection of the applicants’ claim was sustainable without examining vacancy availability, seniority and suitability from the dates on which the applicants became eligible.

RBE No. 66/2010 made the Assistant Loco Pilot and Senior Assistant Loco Pilot cadre restructuring effective from 1 May 2010.

The Tribunal observed that the circular provided for restructuring vacancies to be filled by senior employees, while normal vacancies were to be dealt with under the normal procedure; an employee who had not completed the prescribed two-year residency by the restructuring date could not claim promotion against restructured vacancies from that date as a matter of right.

However, entitlement was required to be examined from the date the employee fulfilled the eligibility condition, subject to vacancy availability and the employee’s seniority and suitability.

The Tribunal also relied on Naresh Kumar Saini & Ors. v. Ministry of Railways, O.A. No. 4239/2015, decided 4 April 2018, which required consideration of entitlement under RBE No. 66/2010 after completion of the two-year residency, subject to vacancies, and a reasoned decision by the Railway authorities.

The Tribunal accepted that the applicants had not completed two years’ residency by 1 May 2010, and therefore were not entitled as of right to promotion from that date.

But the respondents’ order did not disclose the relevant vacancy position or assess whether restructured vacancies remained available when each applicant became eligible, or whether the applicants were within the zone of consideration based on seniority and suitability.

Earlier promotions of other employees did not, by themselves, resolve those questions.

Applying the approach in Naresh Kumar Saini, the Tribunal held that the applicants’ claims required a proper examination from their respective eligibility dates.

It quashed the rejection order dated 27 February 2014 and directed the respondents to reconsider the applicants’ cases, taking account of vacancy availability, seniority, suitability and eligibility under RBE No. 66/2010.

The exercise was to be completed within 90 days.

The application was disposed of with no order as to costs.