B.N.BANERJEE, J. - (1.) IN the year 1934 the petitioner obtained his first temporary appointment as a lower division clerk in the Khulna Collectorate on a scale of pay of Rs. 35 -80/ -, thereafter revised to Rs. 55 -130/ -. He was made permanent sometime in the year 1935.
(2.) WHEN the Civil Supply Department came into existence, the Commissioner of Food and Supplies addressed the following letter, dated December 6, 1943, to all district officers: - - 'The Deputy and Additional Deputy Directors appointed in connection with the above scheme are expected to open offices at their respective Regional Head Quarters within a week. An Assistant Director's office will be established shortly afterwards at the Head Quarter Station of each of the remaining districts. It is considered essential that these offices should be provided with a nucleus of competent and reliable clerks with previous experience in Government Service, so that operations may commence without the delay which the recruitment and training of raw materials would involve. Government has decided that under the circumstances it is necessary to call upon each District Officer to contribute a certain number of clerks from his own staff to serve temporarily in the office of the Deputy, Additional Deputy or Assistant Director (as the case may be) within whose jurisdiction his District will fall. It is hoped that this contribution may be offset, to some extent at any rate, by the fact that the new organisation will relieve District and Sub Divisional Officers of some work in connection with the procurement and Distribution of Food Supplies. I, would, therefore, request you to select the clerks shown in the schedule annexed from among the staff of your own or your subdivisional offices and to direct them to report for duty at the office indicated.' Pursuant to the above letter, the service of the petitioner was requisitioned, on December 15, 1943, and placed at the disposal of the Civil Supplies Department at Khulna. Admittedly the petitioner rendered singularly meritorious service in his new assignment and became an Inspector in the said department. During this time, his old office had asked for his reversion and return more than once and even threatened to suspend his lien but the Civil Supplies Department pleaded to the Collector to agree to his continuance in their service, because he was indispensable to them. Illustrative of the attitude of the Civil Supply Department, I am referring to one of its letters, addressee to the Collector of Khulna, dated July 26, 1947, an extract from which is set out below: - - 'Ref: His Memo No. 1924/1/2G dated 18 -6 -47, he is informed that Babu Sudhir Kumar Bose, is one of our best Inspector Assessors. He cannot be spared without seriously undermining the efficiency of the local procurement machinery of Khulna. He is requested to be so good as to allow the said Inspector -Assessor Babu Sudhir Kumar Bose to retain lien for a further period of one year with effect from 1 -7 -47.' With the partition of Bengal, the petitioner opted for service in West Bengal. I have already stated that at that time he had risen to the position of an inspector. On joining the West Bengal service, he was transferred to Malda on his existing pay and allowances. From Malda he was againtransferred to Basirhat within the district of 24 -Parganas. At the option of the petitioner his lien at the Khulna Collectorate was transferred to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Jalpaiguri. The petitioner rose higher in services and on or about February 26, 1951, the petitioner was promoted as the Chief Inspector of Civil Supplies and was posted at the head quarters of 24 -Parganas on a scale of pay of Rs. 200 -15 -2 -280/ -.
(3.) THE department of civil supplies, as is well known, was a non -permanent department. The petitioner and others who had been transferred from permanent government departments to the civil supplies department became at this time apprehensive of their future. They felt that with the stabilisation of the economic condition in the country, the department was going to be abolished and the employees in the department were going to lose their services in the department. Series of representation began to be made to the authorities for laying down definite prospects for employees like the petitioner and for safeguarding them from any loss financial or otherwise in case they were directed to revert to their parent department. Upon such representations, the authorities from time to time recommended that such officers, if found unnecessary in the department, shall be absorbed in posts, comparable to the posts which they were at that time holding. One such recommendation is Annexure 'H' to the petition and is set out below: - - 'The question of the future of the permanent hands who are on deputation to this department has been under consideration of Govt. from sometime past. In most of the offices and Directorates under this department, there is a small nuclues of permanent hands. It has been decided that permanent hands who have been in this department for 3 years or more and who have rendered and are still rendering satisfactory service should be retained in the department as long as possible, if the posts Which they have been holding now are abolished steps should be taken to fix them up in comparable posts elsewhere in the department. The question of their reversion to their parent offices wilt arise only (a) when the department is satisfied that it is not possible to absorb them elsewhere or (b) when the persons themselves or their parent offices insist on reversion and they can be released without serious inconvenience. No Directorate or office should therefore initiate any action regarding reversion of any permanent employee belonging to this category without consulting the Secretariat. Whenever there is any possibility of any permanent hand becoming surplus, the Directorate or office concerned should first of all try to fix him up elsewhere in a comparable post, failing which they should report the name to the Secretariat. Secretariat will then consider in consultation with the other Directorates and offices whether it is possible to absorb him elsewhere. If not, orders of reversion will issue from the Secretariat. The notice to the Secretariatshould come at least one month in advance. * * * * * * * Sd/ - E. G. Creek. Dy. Secretary, Civil Supplies Department.' ;