- (1.) HEARD Shri Umesh Narain Sharma, Senior Advocate assisted . by Shri Suneet Kumar for the petitioner. Shri P.S. Baghel appears for the U.P. Financial Corporation. Shri Shashi Nandan, Senior Advocate assisted by Shri YD. Misra was heard for private respondents.
(2.) A short question, that arises for consideration in this case, is whether Board of Directors of the U.P. Financial Corporation in their meeting dated 25.3.2006, could have annulled the decision of the 'Departmental Promotion Committee meeting dated 12.5.2004 regarding promotions of Deputy Senior Managers to the post of Senior Managers in the Corporation on the ground that the promotions were required to be made only from the combined seniority list of the Deputy Senior Managers in the Corporation. Brief facts, giving rise to this writ petition, are that the petitioners were serving as Deputy Senior Managers (Law) in U.P. Financial Corporation, a body corporate under the State Financial Corporation Act, 1951 (in short the Act), or State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. The Board of Directors of the Corporation are empowered to define the terms and conditions of the appointments, promotions and service of the staffs under Section 48 of the-Act. In exercise of these powers, the Corporation has framed Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (Staff) Regulations, 1961 (in short the Regulations). Regulation-7 provides for classification of permanent employee; Regulation 21 for seniority and Regulation 22 for promotion. Regulations 21 and 22 relevant for the purpose of this writ petition are quoted : "Regulation No. 21: Seniority. (1) Agradewise gradation list of all the regular employees of the Corpora­tion as a whole shall be maintained for determining the inter se seniority of an employee within the grade. (2) Seniority of persons appointed to a grade shall be determined in the class of posts to which they are appointed with reference to the date of the order of appointment in a substantive vacancy. (3) In the case of direct recruitment to the same grade recruited in a batch, their inter se seniority shall be in accordance with their position in the merit list approved by the Appointing Authority. (4) The inter se seniority of persons promoted from a lower grade shall be maintained in the higher grade as well except in case of a superseded em­ployee who, if promoted in future, shall be placed below the employee pro­moted prior to his promotion. (5) Inter se seniority of the employee appointed in the same scale/grade by promotion and by direct recruitment shall be in accordance with the roster of appointment, the first post to be filled by promotion. Regulation No. 22: Promotion. Promotion to all the classes of post shall be made by the Corporation notwithstanding employee's seniority in a grade and no employee shall have a right for promotion to any particular post of higher grade. The promotions shall be made as per the procedure laid down in Appendix-II. Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations to the contrary, the Managing Director may make temporary promotion of an employee to the post of any class on ad hoc for a period not exceeding six months or pending selection of a regular candidate by the Competent Authority, whichever is earlier but the seniority of the employee so promoted shall not be affected in his substantive grade."
(3.) THE petitioners No. 1 to 4 were appointed as Manager (Law) in the Corporation on 18.3.1980; 21.10.1983; 20.10.1983 and 20.3.1984 respectively. The Appendix-ll of the Regulations provides for the hierarchy of the posts for promotion from Manager to Deputy Senior Manager and then Senior Manager, who are thereafter promoted as Chief Manager and Regional Manager, Chief Technical Manager/Chief Law Manager/Senior Regional Manager and the Secretary and thereafter as Deputy General Manager. The last step in the ladder is the post of General Manager. The post of Deputy Senior Manager is to be filled up 100% by departmental promotion. The petitioners were promoted as Deputy Manager (Law) on 29.6.1983, 18.12.1987, 18.12.1987 and 8.8.1991 respectively.;