N. A. Britto, J. - (1.)Heard. The Petitioner, who was appointed as a staff nurse on 30/01/1973, and promoted as Assistant Matron on 29/08/2003 retired voluntarily w.e.f. 11/06/2004, during the pendency of this petition, as per the Government Scheme for voluntary retirement, circulated vide circular dated 16/02/2004. In this petition, the Petitioner has sought various reliefs, many of which are irrelevant and redundant.
(2.)The petition was amended from time to time. On 30/10/2001, on a statement made by the learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner, Respondents Nos. 4 and 5 were deleted, the former having retired from service and the latter having expired. Subsequently, the Petitioner joined Respondent No.7 who was promoted subsequent to the Petitioner as Assistant Matron on 16/06/2004 and became a Matron from 4/08/2006. Apart from the fact that Respondent No.7 has not been served in this petition, by the Petitioner, the Petitioner can have no grievance against her promotion, either as Assistant Matron or Matron, since the Petitioner herself retired as Assistant Matron on 11/06/2004.
(3.)The first grievance of the Petitioner is that she should be placed above Respondent No.6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes in seniority. We find there is no merit in the said submission of the Petitioner. Admittedly, the Petitioner and Respondent No.6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes were appointed as Staff Nurses on 30/01/1973 in the Directorate of Health Services and Respondent No.6 was senior to the Petitioner. The Petitioner was posted at the Primary Health Center, Aldona under the said Directorate of Health Services.
Subsequently, the Staff Nurses belonging to the Directorate of Health Services were split up and some were assigned to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, while others continued to serve in the cadre of Directorate of Health Services. Later, the Government with a view to provide optimum medical and mental health care services and training programmes in Goa in a single department, the Government amalgamated the Mental Hospital, Altinho which was then functioning under the Directorate of Health Services and the Department of Psychiatry of Goa Medical College into one single Government Department known as Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour with effect from 8/12/1980. Respondent No.6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes by virtue of order dated 7/07/1981 along with one Mario F. D'Souza, both Staff Nurses of primary health center, Candolim and School Health Programme, Vasco Da Gama, were transferred under FR 15 to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, with immediate effect.

There is nothing on record, particularly, in the said order dated 7/07/1981 to suggest that Respondent No.6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes or the said Mario F. D'Souza were transferred from the Directorate of Health Services to the newly created Department of Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour at their own instance but on the contrary, on behalf of the Government, it is stated on affidavit that they were transferred in public interest and if that is so, Respondent No.6 could not have lost her seniority to the Petitioner. Moreover, the guidelines issued vide OM dated 10/05/1983 were not at all retrospective in effect. The said OM dated 10/05/1983 provided that when a request was received from the Government servant for his transfer from one Department to another, it should be made clear to him that his seniority in the Department for which he applied for transfer will not be counted in the Department to which he wished to be transferred i.e. his seniority in the latter Department will be fixed from the date he joined it. The Respondent No. 6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes having been always senior to the Petitioner and having been transferred from Directorate of Health Services in public interest could not have lost her seniority to the Petitioner. Moreover, the said guidelines came into force only from 10/05/1983 and could not have been made applicable to the case of Respondent No.6. As set out by Respondent No.2 in the Seniority List dated 26/03/1979, before amalgamation, the Respondent No.6 ranked at Serial No. 105 and the Petitioner at Serial No. 106. By letter No. 4/9/80-PHD dated 4/04/1983 the Government had made it clear that for the purpose of seniority the date of initial appointment would be counted. As set out by Respondent No.6 in her affidavit, in the tentative Seniority List dated 4/02/1987, Respondent No.6 was shown at Serial No. 7 while the Petitioner was shown at Serial No. 8. Likewise, in the list dated 23/04/1991, the Respondent No.6 was shown at Serial No. 1 and the Petitioner at Serial No.2 and the Petitioner made no grievance about the same and after much delay and latches has made the grievance for the first time in this petition, filed on 29/07/1999 and in the light of this view also, the Petitioner's grievance that she ought to be treated as senior to Respondent No.6 Smt. Tereziamma Fernandes needs to be rejected.