CAT - Allahabad

Three regular promotions in the promotional hierarchy exhaust eligibility for further financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme.

P N SHARMA vs General Managar, N Rly

CAT - AllahabadJUDGMENT: March 19, 20262 MIN READSOURCE JUDGMENT
THE ORIGINAL LAWLENS SUMMARY
01

Facts

The applicant was initially engaged as a Casual Khalasi in the Northern Railway on October 18, 1976

Source reference: p. 3, para 4

He was granted temporary status on January 1, 1982

Source reference: p. 4, para 4.1

Following a dispute (No. 121 of 1991) before the CGIT, Kanpur, which was decided in his favor on June 2, 1995, the respondents regularized him as a Wireless Maintainer (WMR) Grade-III effective from January 5, 1987

Source reference: p. 2, para 3.1; p. 5, para 9

He subsequently received promotions to WMR Grade-II on November 16, 2004, and WMR Grade-I on August 25, 2008

Source reference: p. 2, para 3.1

The applicant retired from service on May 31, 2012

Source reference: p. 4, para 7

He filed a representation seeking the benefit of the 3rd financial upgradation under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme, claiming 30 years of regular service

Source reference: p. 2, para 3.2

The respondents rejected this claim via an order dated June 30, 2015, asserting that the applicant had already exhausted his three promotional entitlements

Source reference: p. 3, para 3.3
02

Issues

Whether the applicant is entitled to the 3rd financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme despite having received three promotions during his service tenure

Source reference: p. 4, para 7
03

Law Applied

The court applied the provisions of the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme, introduced in 2009, which guarantees three financial upgradations upon the completion of 10, 20, and 30 years of service from the direct entry grade

Source reference: p. 4, para 7-8

It relied on Railway Board Circular RBE No. 101/2009, which clarifies that temporary status casual labor does not qualify for MACP benefits until regularized

Source reference: p. 5, para 8

Para 8 of the MACP Scheme stipulates that promotions earned in the promotional hierarchy as per Recruitment Rules must be counted against the financial upgradations permissible under the scheme

Source reference: p. 5-6, para 10
04

Reasoning

The Tribunal examined the applicant’s service record to determine if he had already reached the ceiling of three financial benefits.

Source reference: p. 5, para 9

The court observed that the applicant started in the pay scale of Rs. 196-232 as a Khalasi. His first promotion/regularization occurred on September 15, 1985, to the post of WMR Grade-III (Rs. 950-1500); his second promotion to WMR Grade-II (Rs. 4000-6000) was on November 16, 2004; and his third promotion to WMR Grade-I (Grade Pay Rs. 2800) was on August 25, 2008

Source reference: p. 5, para 9

The Tribunal reasoned that since the MACP Scheme is intended to mitigate stagnation by providing a maximum of three financial upgradations in the absence of regular promotions, the applicant—having already earned three distinct promotions within the hierarchy—was legally ineligible for further upgradation

Source reference: p. 6, para 11

The court found that the respondents’ impugned order dated June 30, 2015, correctly applied the hierarchy rules of the MACP Scheme to the facts of the applicant's career progression

Source reference: p. 5, para 9
05

Holding

The Tribunal held that the applicant had already received three promotions in his service career and was therefore not entitled to any further financial upgradation under the MACP Scheme

Consequently, the Tribunal found no merit in the Original Application and declined to interfere with the impugned order dated June 30, 2015

Source reference: p. 6, para 12

The Original Application was dismissed, and all interim orders were discharged

Source reference: p. 6, para 12-13
CAT - Allahabad

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P N SHARMAvsGeneral Managar, N Rly

CAT - Allahabad · March 19, 2026

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