AIR INDIA OFFICERS ASSOCIATION Vs. AIR INDIA LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONERS in this case have filed this writ petition for the direction directing respondents Nos. 1 and 3 to withdraw, revoke and set aside the permanent posting order dated 20th April, 1994 posting the 2nd respondent to the post of Air Port Manager, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and further directing the respondents to fill in the said post on the basis of seniority in accordance with the posting policy. Petitioner No. 1 is the society registered under the provisions of Bombay Public Trusts Act and the Societies Registration Act of 1860 and represents officers of 1st respondent in grades ranging from Assistant Station Superintendent to Senior Station Managers. Petitioner No. 2 and petitioner No. 3 are permanent employees of 1st respondent in its commercial department being Assistant Station Superintendents therein. By this writ petition the petitioners are aggrieved by arbitrary and discriminatory treatment given to the Senior Assistant Station Superintendents in the matter of foreign postings and international assignments by superseding their claims to the juniors in utter breach of the established policy and the norms for such posting.

(2.) SHRI Singh, learned Counsel for the petitioner, contended that in the present case respondent No. 2, who is much junior to petitioners Nos. 2 and 3 and other 213 officers, was given posting at Jeddah in clear violation of the norms accepted by respondent No. 1 for such posting. It is contended on behalf of the petitioners that the grade of the petitioners is Assistant Station Superintendent which is transferable to all stations served by Air India both in India as well as abroad. Form the inception of the said airline respondent No. 1 foreign postings have been specially sought for by the Assistant Station Superintendents and other transferable members of the commercial department as well as by other departments which maintained posts outside country. Foreign postings are not only beneficial to career advancement, promotion prospects and the individual employees exposure to advanced airport systems and airline procedures in other part of the world, but such postings are also financially lucrative. Employees at the foreign postings are also paid allowances which are very lavish by domestic standards, giving opportunity to the employees not only to acquire useful household effects and improve their standard of living, but also to build up substantial savings on a scale which is otherwise impossible to achieve while in India. It is the case of the petitioners that in view of this advantageous position of foreign postings of the employees, respondent No. 1 has evolved a policy based upon posting seniority. Posting seniority is determined by giving seniority firstly to those officers in a grade who have never before been posted abroad and, thereafter to those who have been posted in the past but have spent the longest time in India after their return to the country. This is described by respondent No. 1 as the principle of "first in first out" and this ensures that the first preference for foreign postings is given in the order of seniority in the grade to those who have not been posted before, while the next preference after all the persons in the grade have been posted, is given to those who returned earlier from their prior posting. The seniority in the grade is subject only to weeding out of any officer who is considered unsuitable due to a poor service record or other such disqualification. It is further contended on behalf of the present petitioners that the policy of foreign posting as mentioned aforesaid is consistently followed by the respondents in the past and except non-observance in the case of women employees, seniority in the grade has always been followed while posting officers abroad. Petitioners further contended that there is hardly any significant deviation from the policy during the last 30 years. In order to reiterate the above position about the policy for foreign posting, the petitioners have relied upon circular dated 26th April, 1994 more particularly para 7, which is as under

(3.) PETITIONERS contended that inspite of the aforesaid policy, recently respondent No. 1 posted respondent No. 2 who was about 213 ranks junior to the last Assistant Station Superintendent who has been posted abroad. According to the petitioners, respondent No. 2 is listed at Serial No. 621 of Air Indias Staff List of 1993 in respect of the Commercial Department, whereas the last Assistant Station Superintendent posted abroad is one K. G. Deshmukh, who is listed at Serial No. 406 of the Staff List for 1993. It is further contended by the petitioners that not a single one of the 214 Assistant Station Superintendents listed in between 407 and 620 have ever been posted abroad though they are all considered senior to respondent No. 2. Many of them entered the grade of Assistant Station Superintendent in 1982 and onwards, while respondent No. 2 was in fact promoted as Assistant Station Superintendent in the year 1990.