Arun Bhansali, J. - (1.) THIS writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioners seeking a direction to the respondents to adopt criteria as per priority on the basis of entering into the eligibility criteria i.e. 5400 grade pay in the List -2 and further direction is sought to construct the already sanctioned accommodation as well as the deficit accommodation within specific time frame.
(2.) THE petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 the Associations and petitioner Nos. 3 and 4 working as Scientific Officers with the respondent Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. ('NPCIL') at its Rawatbhata, Rajasthan Site ('RR Site') have in the petition, inter alia, submitted that the Associations are registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960; the Members of the Association No. 1 are Scientific Officers ('SO') of various grades and are eligible for Type IV category accommodation and Members of Association No. 2 are Scientific Assistants ('SA') of various categories and out of the said SA, SA/E are eligible for Type IV category accommodation; it is claimed that the Rules pertaining to allotment of houses are laid down by the Department of Atomic Energy ('DAE'); it is submitted that vide Notification dated 21.08.2009 (Annexure -1) table describing the Type of residences and officers eligible for allotment of such residences based on grade pay/basic pay were indicated; in the said Notification/Table for Type -IV accommodation the grade pay indicated is Rs. 5400/ - to Rs. 6600/ - and in the explanation attached to the said table -under explanation (b) it is indicated that the date of priority in respect of lower type accommodation i.e. Type -I to Type -IV shall be the date of joining in the service of the Government of India and Clause (g) provides that officers entitled for Type -V and above accommodation shall also be eligible to apply for accommodation below their entitlement subject to the condition that such accommodation shall not be below Type -IV Spl. accommodation; however, the officers eligible for D -II and Type -IV Spl. shall also be eligible to apply for Type -IV accommodation. It is claimed that in terms of the Notification the priority for allotment of accommodation is the date of joining in the service of Government of India; the DAE also applied the same criteria qua type of residence and grade pay/basic pay and makes those eligible for E -Type accommodation below entitled type subject to the condition that such accommodation shall not be below Type D Spl.; further eligibility has been indicated based on grade pay in the present post. Vide Office Memorandum dated 08.12.2009 the DAE decided to revise the classification of residences and eligibility criteria vide Annexure -3 for allotment of Government residences under the department and, inter alia, provided that the date of priority for Type D shall be in the ratio of 1:1 based on the date of drawal of grade pay relevant to Type B (pay seniority) and the date of entry into service (service seniority); whereafter Office Memorandum dated January 20, 2011 (Annexure -4) was issued by DAE and on which much stress has been laid by the petitioners, which pertained to preparation of priority list of Type D Flats and a clarification was issued that the deciding factor for determining the date of priority for Type D Flats earmarked for pay seniority should be the date of meeting any of the eligibility criteria prescribed i.e. the grade pay should be taken only for determining the eligibility and not for preparing the priority list which should be based on the date of acquiring any of the grade pays prescribed for eligibility. It is then claimed that List -2 based on the guidelines was issued in June, 2010, however, the same was revised in July, 2010 vide (Annexure -6), whereby, the person with higher grade pay were given the priority; it is claimed that the action of the respondents in preparing priority qua List -2 is violative of Allotment Rules of DAE and is depriving the right of the employees to get entitled accommodation; a reference has been made to the criteria adopted by the NPCIL as indicated in Annexure -8, wherein, a clarification has been issued indicating that the employees who draws higher grade pay shall be placed above the employee, who draws lessor grade pay; the service priority list shall be prepared as per date of entry into service of the eligible employees; it is alleged that the said criteria laid down is contrary to the guidelines (Annexure -1). It is also claimed that the criteria adopted by the respondents is evident from the table pertaining to priority in List -2 based on grade seniority, wherein, the Members of the petitioner Associations have over the period of time lost their priority to the other fresh incumbents; it is further claimed that the suggestions made by the petitioners Association were not exceeded to by the respondents; it is submitted that several reports made by the petitioners Association from time to time though forming subject matter of various meetings the same were not resolved and always the line that the Accommodation Policy is being followed as per the Corporate Office Guidelines was toed; based on the above facts the present petition has been filed.
(3.) A response has been filed by the respondents NPCIL, wherein, it is, inter alia, claimed that the Board of Directors of the NPCIL are vested with the powers to formulate the Policies of the Corporation under nomenclature 'Head Quarter Instructions' ('HQI'); it is, inter alia, indicated that there is no concept of construction of D -Special quarters as per the HQI (Annexure -R/2); it is, inter alia, indicated that the Site Management Committee of the respondent Corporation took policy decision that allotment in Type -IV (Type -D) category shall be operated 1:1 ratio i.e. Service Seniority and Pay Seniority way back in the year 2004. A submission has been made that the recruitment of Group -A category employees with grade pay of Rs. 5400/ -, in Technical as well as Non -Technical cadres is being made at the Head Quarter of NPCIL and recruitment of Group -B, C and D is made at the site level; the Group -B to D category of employees also acquire the grade pay of Rs. 5400/ - consequent upon their promotions in their respective cadres and to accommodate the said promotees allotment of Type -D quarters is being made in 1:1 ratio since inception as a matter of policy so as to avoid any kind of discrimination in Allotment Policy; it is also claimed that the candidates are posted at different Power Projects and Power Stations and are transferred from one Power Station/Power Project to another Power Station/Power Project; further, the promotions of the Scientific and Technical category of employees is done on fast track basis known as 'Merit Promotion Scheme', wherein, promotions are made irrespective of availability of the vacancies in the higher grade.;