The High Court set aside the authorities' refusal to reckon the petitioner's service from his entry post appointment. Holding that transfer is not a fresh appointment, it directed payment of monetary benefits for the 4th higher grade.
Direct the third respondent to step up pay within two months and disburse monetary benefits within a further two months.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.MUHAMED MUSTAQUE
MONDAY ,THE 10TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2018 / 19TH BHADRA, 1940
WP(C).No. 965 of 2017
PETITIONER/S:
T.C.ABRAHAM AGED 54 YEARS LAB ASSISTANT, ST.THOMAS COLLEGE, PALAI.
BY ADV. SRI.JOSHI N.THOMAS
RESPONDENT/S:
1 STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT,SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695001.
2 DIRECTOR OF COLLEGIATE EDUCATION VIKAS BHAVAN,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695 003.
4 THE PRINCIPAL ST.THOMAS COLLEGE, PALAI.
R1 TP R3 BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SMT. PRIYA SHANAVAS
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 10.09.2018, ALONG WITH WP(C.35084/2016, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WP(C) Nos.35084 OF 2016 & 965 OF 2017 5
JUDGMENT
Petitioners in both these writ petitions have
entered in the service from aided colleges in the cadre of Class IV employees. Thereafter, Petitioners were appointed as lab attender by transfer. The issue now projected is in respect of the claim of the petitioners for 4th higher grade on completion of 27 years of total service in the entry post.
2. The stand of the third respondent is that the 27 years of service can be reckoned only with effect from the date on which the petitioners were appointed
as lab attender and not from the original date of appointment as last grade service.
3. The short question is whether the petitioners entry of service need to be considered from the date of appointment as a last grade employee or from the date of appointment as lab assistant. There are no statutory provisions or any other government orders in that regard. Admittedly, lab assistant post cannot be treated as a promotional
WP(C) Nos.35084 OF 2016 & 965 OF 2017 5
post and by-transfer appointment cannot be treated as
a fresh appointment.
4. Higher grade is granted taking note of the fact of lack of promotional avenues in such posts. By transfer appointment cannot result in forfeiture of any claim based on the service in the entry post. Government order and other orders do not say that by transfer appointment would result in forfeiture of benefit from the service in entry post. Petitioners cannot be denied of the benefit. The relevant Government order regarding higher grade is extracted herein,
''(i) The first higher grade on completion
of 8 years of service in the entry post.
completion of 15 years of service in the entry post and the first regular promotion post / time bound higher grade, taken together.
completion of 22 years of total service in the entry post, the first regular promotion post / time bound higher grade taken together.
(iv) The fourth higher grade on completion of 27
WP(C) Nos.35084 OF 2016 & 965 OF 2017 5
years of service in the entry post and regular promotion post / time bound higher grade taken together in the case of employees coming under the scales of pay ranging from 8500-13210 to Rs.9940-16580 on entry post.
In the light of above discussion, these writ petitions are only to be allowed. Therefore, there shall be direction to the third respondent to step up the pay within a period of two months and to disburse monetary benefits within a further period of two months. These writ petitions are allowed accordingly.
SD/-
A.MUHAMED MUSTAQUE
ACM 15.9.2018
JUDGE
WP(C) Nos.35084 OF 2016 & 965 OF 2017 5
APPENDIX IN WP(C).No. 965 of 2017
PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:
EXHIBIT-P1: TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.A2/10867/16/HR.GR. DATED 21.11.2016 ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT-P2: TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.A2/5146/13/HR.GR.DATED 12.12.13 ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT. EXHIBIT-P3: TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 17TH NOVEMBER, 2011 IN W.P.(C) NO.38423 OF 2010(C) OF THIS HON'BLE COURT.
NIL
RESPONDENT(S)'EXHIBITS :
//TRUE COPY//
PA TO JUDGE
2 issues framed by the court
Whether service reckoned for higher grade is from the date of appointment as last grade employee or from the date of appointment as lab assistant.
Whether transfer appointment results in forfeiture of service benefit from the entry post.
T.C. ABRAHAM
STATE OF KERALA
DTCOLLEGIATE EDUCATION KOTTAYAM
THE PRINCIPAL ST.THOMAS COLLEGE, PALAI
A.MUHAMED MUSTAQUE
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
