Ramesh Chandra Sharma vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 10787-10788 OF 2017 [@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 21579-21580 OF 2004 ]

RAMESH CHANDRA SHARMA & ORS. Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ANR. Respondent(s)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 10791-10792 OF 2017 [@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 10677-10678 OF 2005 ]

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 10793 OF 2017 [@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 15270 OF 2006 ]

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 10789-10790 OF 2017 [@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 21590-21591 OF 2004 ]

J U D G M E N T

KURIAN, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The simple issue for consideration in this case

pertains to the fixation of seniority under the

Madhya Pradesh Class III (Non-Ministerial) Forest

Service Recruitment Rules, 1967. Under Rule 4, the

'service' consists of, for the purpose of the case

before us, Serial No. 1 – Forest Ranger, Serial No. 7

– Deputy Ranger and Serial No. 16 – Forester. Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by JAYANT KUMAR ARORA Date: 2017.08.30 14:29:19 IST Reason:

3. It appears that the Foresters, who were recruited

and deputed to different circles, approached the 2

Tribunal with a specific grievance that on account of

posting in a particular circle, some of the Foresters

got accelerated promotions to the post of Deputy

Ranger and, thereafter to the post of Forest Ranger,

thereby, the erstwhile juniors in the cadre of

Foresters in the same service, solely on fortuitous

circumstances, have become their seniors in the cadre

of Rangers. It is further submitted that it has

affected their future prospects as well.

4. The Tribunal, by order dated 12.05.1999, held as

under :-

“....Promotion to the post of Deputy Ranger in different circles would not only merely depend upon the number of vacancies available in the circle but also on fortuitous circumstance of the timing of the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee over which no Forester would have any control. The system is iniquitous and unfair and likely to prejudice the Senior Foresters. Since the recruitment is made centrally to the post of Forester and they are appointed simultaneously after training, it is necessary that the inter-se-seniority at the time of their appointment to the service is maintained and that such inter-se-seniority does not get altered for no fault of the Senior Foresters on 3

account of the system which is adopted by the respondent State in making promotions to the post of Deputy Rangers. Since the promotion from the post of Deputy Ranger to the post of Ranger is made at the State Level and for this purpose, seniority list of Deputy Rangers is drawn out at the State level, the promotion to the post of Deputy Ranger should also be made by a Central Screening/Promotion Committee so that the interest of the Senior Foresters is safeguarded and they get their promotion earlier than their juniors.....”

5. In these circumstances, the Tribunal took the

view at Paragraph 9 as under :-

“....The correct course in our view

would be that inter-se-seniority for

promotion of Deputy Ranger to the post

of Rangers should be reckoned on the

basis of their inter-se-seniority in

the cadre of Foresters irrespective of

their date of promotion to the post of

Deputy Ranger, provided that a person

has not been superseded in promotion

from the post of Forester to the post

of Deputy Ranger, as a superseded

person cannot claim his original 4

seniority in the cadre from which the

promotion is made....”

6. That was challenged before the High Court,

leading to the impugned Judgment dated 07.11.2003 in

Writ Petition No. 4717 of 2001. The Division Bench

took the view as under :-

“....On a perusal of the order of the

Tribunal we are of the considered

opinion that the Tribunal should not

have dwelled upon the issue as the

Rules were not called in question and

should not have disturbed the

seniority list in the manner in which

it has been done. Quite apart from

the above, the Tribunal has taken a

different view while appreciating the

contentions of the State though the

same could not be done in that

manner....”

7. The learned counsel for the appellants would

contend that the Foresters having entered service

based on the State level selection, merely on account

of posting in a particular circle on various

circumstances, they cannot steal a march over their

seniors in the further promotion, in any case, to the 5

post of Forest Ranger, even by conceding that such

Foresters may get an accelerated promotion to the

post of Deputy Ranger. The learned counsel for the

State submits that the recruitment is circle level,

seniority is circle level and the promotions are also

circle level.

8. Neither side is in a position to convince us as

to how the seniority is fixed in the cadre of

Foresters, Deputy Rangers and Rangers.

9. On the pure question of law, we would like to

make the legal position clear that members of the

same service getting accelerated promotion merely on

account of fortuitous postings in a particular circle

cannot steal a march over their seniors in the higher

posts in the same service.

10. However, since we are not quite clear with regard

to rules regarding selection and fixation of

seniority and as we are not getting assistance in

that regard, we set aside the Judgment of the High

Court and remit the matter to the High Court for

consideration afresh. We request the High Court to

dispose of the matter expeditiously and preferably

within six months from today.

6

11. In view of the above, the appeals are disposed

of.

No costs.

.......................J. [ KURIAN JOSEPH ]

.......................J. [ R. BANUMATHI ]

New Delhi;

August 23, 2017.

7

ITEM NO.1 COURT NO.6 SECTION IV-A

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 21579-21580/2004

(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 07-11-2003 in WP No. 4717/2001 and order dated 19-03-2004 in MCC No. 372/2004 passed by the High Court Of M.P. At Jabalpur)

RAMESH CHANDRA SHARMA & ORS. Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & Anr. Respondent(s)

WITH

SLP(C) No. 10677-10678/2005 (IV-A) SLP(C) No. 15270/2006 (IV-A) SLP(C) No. 21590-21591/2004 (IV-A)

Date : 23-08-2017 These petitions were called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KURIAN JOSEPH HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE R. BANUMATHI

For Petitioner(s) Mr. Amalpushp Shroti, AOR

For Respondent(s) Mr. Mishra Saurabh, AOR Mr. Ankit Kumar Lal, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

Leave granted.

The appeals are disposed of in terms of the signed reportable

Judgment.

Pending interlocutory applications, if any, stand disposed of.

(JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (RENU DIWAN) COURT MASTER ASSISTANT REGISTRAR

(Signed reportable Judgment is placed on the file)