Seniority of regularized railway substitutes must be reckoned from the date of attaining temporary status.

The applicant was engaged as a substitute Bungalow Khalasi cum Messenger on December 20, 2005

He attained temporary status on April 18, 2006

After a period of absence and subsequent reinstatement—where his absence was regularized as Extraordinary Leave (EoL) and certain periods were treated as "on duty"— he was eventually regularized as a Group-D/Helper effective June 4, 2014

The Railway authorities assigned his seniority from the date of regularization (June 4, 2014)

The applicant challenged this via a representation, which was rejected by the Senior Divisional Personnel Officer through an order dated June 17, 2022

The applicant contends that pursuant to Railway Board Circular RBE/137/2010, his seniority should be counted from the date he attained temporary status (April 18, 2006)

1. Whether the date of appointment for a substitute employee, for the purpose of determining seniority, should be the date of attainment of temporary status or the date of regular absorption

Paragraph 6 of Railway Board Circular RBE/137/2010 dated September 17, 2010 mandates that the "Date of Appointment" for a substitute recorded in the service book should be the date they attain temporary status (after four months of continuous service), provided that such status is followed by regular absorption

Paragraph 7 of Railway Board Circular RBE/137/2010 clarifies that authorized absence or specific medical treatments do not constitute a "break in service" for the purpose of determining continuous service

The Tribunal noted that the respondents admitted the applicant had acquired temporary status on April 18, 2006

Since the applicant was subsequently regularized as a Group-D staff member on June 4, 2014, his case squarely fell under the first contingency of Paragraph 6 of RBE/137/2010: a temporary status followed by regular absorption

The Tribunal reasoned that the Railway Board's circular explicitly requires the date of attainment of temporary status to be recorded as the date of appointment in such instances

Consequently, the respondents' decision to determine seniority only from the date of final regularization was inconsistent with their own internal regulations

It held that the applicant's date of appointment must be recorded as April 18, 2006, and his seniority in the Group-D cadre must be determined from that date

The respondents were directed to issue appropriate orders to this effect within two months of receipt of the certified copy of the judgment

No costs were awarded