High Court Totally Misdirected Itself While Examining Nagaland Engineering Service Rules: SC Upholds Final Seniority List Of Junior Engineers

The Supreme Court upheld the final seniority list of Junior Engineers circulated in 2018 showing the seniority position of incumbents manning the posts from two different sources.

The Court was deciding civil appeals in which the issue was regarding inter se seniority of the incumbents appointed to the post of Junior Engineer on a direct recruitment basis and those whose posts of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, were upgraded to Junior Engineer.

The two-Judge Bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Rajesh Bindal remarked, “A perusal of the impugned order of the Division Bench of the High Court shows that it had totally misdirected itself while examining the 1997 Rules; the date of appointment of the private contesting respondents as Sectional Officer, Grade-I and the date of their regularization as such. The aforesaid facts were not of any relevance for the decision of the question of seniority amongst the members of the cadre of Junior Engineers.”

Senior Advocate P.S. Patwalia appeared for the appellants while Senior Advocate Rana Mukherjee appeared for the respondents.

In this case, the final seniority list of Junior Engineers was circulated in 2018 showing the seniority position of the incumbents manning the posts from two different sources. Aggrieved against the seniority list, Sectional Officers, Grade-I, who were redesignated/upgraded as Junior Engineers challenged the same by filing a writ petition and the respondents also filed a writ petition before the High Court.

The Single Judge dismissed both the writ petitions. Aggrieved against the judgment of the Single Judge, an intra-court appeal was filed. The Division Bench set aside the judgment of the Single Judge. As a consequence, the said seniority list was set aside and the department concerned was directed to refix the seniority of the Junior Engineers in terms of the directions given in the judgment. Being aggrieved, the directly recruited Junior Engineers approached the Apex Court.

The Supreme Court in the above context of the case noted, “All what was required to be considered was the date on which they became members of the cadre of Junior Engineers coming from two different sources. As to whether the upgradation of the post was right or wrong is not an issue canvassed before this Court.”

The Court said that the Division Bench of the High Court gone wrong in considering the upgradation of post of Sectional Officer and certain other posts to that Junior Engineers prior to May 2003 when direct recruitment to the post of Junior Engineers was made for the first time.

“That historical background did not have any relevance for the reason that prior to 2003 never before in the cadre of Junior Engineers there was recruitment from two different sources. The dispute arose only thereafter”, it added.

The Court further said that even if the Sectional Officer, Grade-I, are treated to be working from the date they were officiating as such, nothing hinges on that as far as the seniority in the cadre of Junior Engineers is concerned.

“The pay-scales of Sectional Officer, Grade-I, was ₹4500- 7000 and the Junior Engineer was having pay-scales of ₹6000-9750. Meaning thereby that they were working on a lower non-gazetted post. The dispute in the present appeals is only pertaining to the Sectional Officer, Grade-I, whose posts were upgraded on 11.10.2007 and not those whose posts were upgraded prior to the direct recruitment vide Notification dated 01.05.2003”, it also noted.

The Court concluded that the blatant error committed by the Division Bench is that upgraded Sectional Officer, Grade-I, are directed to be given seniority in the cadre of Junior Engineers from a date on which they were not even born in the cadre as it was only after 2007 upgradation order that they became Junior Engineers, which was much after the direct recruitment made in 2003.

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the appeals, set aside the impugned order, and upheld the seniority list.

Cause Title- Mhabemo Ovung & Ors. v. M. Moanungba & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 641)

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