Writ petition allowed challenging an APSRTC proceeding that cancelled an order regularizing petitioner's seniority. Court held seniority determined by merit order, not joining date, and set aside the cancellation order.
Impugned proceeding dated 09.02.2001 set aside; services regularized as per order dated 04.11.1998.
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.
THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR
WRIT PETITION NO.3702 OF 2001
ST DATED 1 APRIL, 2010
BETWEEN
G.Shambhaiah … Petitioner
And The APSRTC, Rep. by its Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Musheerabad, Hyderabad.
And Others … Respondents
THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR
WRIT PETITION NO.3702 OF 2001
ORDER:
The petitioner, a Junior Assistant in the service of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), challenges the proceeding dated 09.02.2001 issued by the Regional Manager, APSRTC, Hyderabad City Region, cancelling the earlier order dated 04.11.1998 whereby the petitioner’s services had been regularized in the post of Conductor with effect from 01.01.1986 on par with one V.Srinivasa Rao.
The petitioner was selected and appointed as a Conductor in the APSRTC under order dated 14.10.1985 and joined duty on 04.11.1985. His services were regularized with effect from 20.10.1987 under order dated 19.10.1987. Thereafter, he was appointed as a Junior Assistant by way of direct recruitment. While so, by office order dated 04.11.1998 the petitioner’s date of regularization was given retrospective effect from 01.01.1986 on par with one V.Srinivasa Rao on the ground that he was junior to the petitioner. However, the same was sought to be nullified by the impugned proceeding dated 09.02.2001. Hence, this writ petition.
It is not in dispute that the petitioner and V.Srinivasa Rao were selected for the posts of Conductor in an open recruitment after facing the Departmental Selection Committee. The mere factum of one of the appointees named in the select list joining duty earlier would not vest him with the seniority over the others. The seriatum reflected in the order of appointment based on their merit in the selection would normally be indicative of the seniority of the persons so appointed and the mere circumstance of joining earlier would not have the effect of altering such seniority. In the present case, it is the case of the APSRTC that the petitioner, though placed above V.Srinivasa Rao in the order of appointment, joined on 04.11.1985 while V.Srinivasa Rao joined service earlier on 31.10.1985. Basing on this factum, the APSRTC seeks to justify its action in regularizing the services of V.Srinivasa Rao from a date anterior to the date of regularization of the petitioner.
It is not disputed that the petitioner was shown above V.Srinivasa Rao in the panel of appointment. Regulation 3 of the APSRTC Employees’
(Service) Regulations, 1964 posits that the seniority of a person in a service, class, category or grade, shall be determined by the date of his first appointment to such service, class, category or grade. Appointment to the service, class, category or grade cannot be construed to mean the date of joining when the order of appointment reflects the seniority of the persons appointed thereby in terms of their merit in the selection. The contention put forth by the APSRTC that the petitioner was not found eligible for regularization of his services at the time V.Srinivasa Rao was regularized in service therefore does not hold water. The impugned proceeding dated 09.02.2001 is held to be illegal and unsustainable on facts and in law. The petitioner’s services shall be regularized as per the earlier order dated 04.11.1998.
The writ petition is accordingly allowed setting aside the impugned proceeding dated 09.02.2001. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs.
____________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J.
1ST APRIL, 2010. VGSR/PGS
3 issues framed by the court
Whether joining service earlier than the petitioner vests a later appointee with seniority.
Whether regularization in date of joining is governed by merit order or date of joining.
Whether the proceeding cancelling the petitioner's regularization was sustainable.
G.Shambhaiah
The APSRTC
Sanjay Kumar
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
