- (1.) WE have heard Sri B.B. Paul and Sri Anil Kumar Sharma for the petitioner. Sri Y.K. Sinha along with Sri G.P. Srivastava appears for the respondents. The petitioner claims to be Employees' Association of Ballia - Etawah Gramin Bank, with its Central Office at 39, Kuncha Sheelchandra, District Eawah, represented by its General Secretary, Sri Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi. The Association has prayed for quashing the notification/circular dated 1.8.2011, issued by the Chairman of the Ballia -Etawah Gramin Bank, Ballia (hereinafter called as the 'Bank') to all its Branches, Regional Offices, Departments and Head Office, with reference to procedure of promotion in all the cadres, to the effect, in view of the judgment of the Kerala High Court dated 10.4.2011, the fixation of minimum bench mark in the interviews for unreserved categories shall be 50 % and 45 % for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes candidates.
(2.) THE impugned notification/circular has been issued during the pendency of selection proceedings for promotions from the post of Junior Management Grade Scale -I (JMGS) to Middle Management Grade Scale -II (MMGS), and from Clerical Cadre to JMGS -I, in which 64 JMGS -I and 104 Clerical Cadre officers/employees have been declared successful.
(3.) THE petitioner has challenged the notification/circular dated 1.8.2011, on the ground that, it is illegal and contrary to the rules for selections by way of promotion to different post. According to the declared policy of promotions under the Statutory Rules dated 29.7.1998, namely, Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and Other Employees) Rules 1998, the procedure for selection could not be changed mid -stream. The Third Schedule to Rules of 1998, provided that the candidates, who secure minimum 40 % in the written test be called for interviews, but no minimum qualifying marks in the interviews have been provided. The general principle of 'seniority -cum -merit' has been breached in prescribing the qualifying minimum marks in the interviews, converting the selection to be based on merit, without giving emphasis to the seniority. A preliminary objection has been taken by the respondent Bank in the counter affidavit to the maintainability of the writ petition at the instance of an employees association. It is submitted by Sri Y.K. Sinha, that the selection process for promotion in the bank is still pending. The circular issued by the Bank enforcing condition of securing minimum 50 % marks in the written examination, has not been made applicable to the subject selection. In para 13 of the counter of Sri A.K. Singh, Senior Manager, Establishment, Ballia -Gramin Bank, Head Office, Ballia, it is stated that the candidates, who secure 40 % marks in the written test have been called for interviews.;