- (1.) THIS writ petition has been filed by the petitioner for seeking the mandamus, directing the Respondents to grant the Assured Career Progression Scheme with effect from 09.08.1999 by virtue of the Notification, issued by the State of Jharkhand on 14.08.2002. He further sought relief of mandamus to recalculate the pensionary benefits awarded to the petitioner after giving him the benefits of the A.C.P. as claimed in the writ application.
(2.) THE petitioner joined the Department of Tenughat Dam Division on 16.10.1965 as a Junior Accounts Clerk and on 28.02.2003, the petitioner superannuated from the post of the Senior Accounts Clerk from the office of the Executive Engineer, Tenughat Dam Division. During the course of his service, a Notification was issued by the Government in the year 2002, by which A.C.P. was allowed to the employees who had completed 12 years of their services after the first promotion. THE petitioner was denied the said A.C.P. and his pensionary benefits were also calculated without calculating the A.C.P. on his count. THE Respondents contested the case and they have taken a plea that according to the Circular issued by the State Government, which contains a specific clause that the employee who clears the departmental examination, would be granted the Assured Career Progression Promotion. THE petitioner has not cleared the departmental examination. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the records. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner has got the first promotion on 01.10.1975 to the post of the Senior Accounts Clerk by the Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department. Thereafter, with effect from 01.04.2001, the petitioner was promoted to the Junior Selection Grade and thereafter, he was also given time bound promotion accordingly.
(3.) THE Respondents refuted the said contentions. From perusal of the pleadings, it is averred in Para 6 that the petitioner got his first promotion on 01.10.1975 i.e. prior to 01.09.1983 from the post of the Junior Accounts Clerk to the post of the Senior Accounts Clerk and thereafter, he also got the promotions as indicated in Para 6 of the writ petition. The Respondents have not replied the said paragraph in its reply. The Respondents have dealt with this paragraph in Para 24 of the counter affidavit wherein, it is stated that the statement made in Para 5 of the writ petition is correct that the petitioner joined the department and he retired on 28.02.2003 as Senior Accounts Clerk. The petitioner has evaded to reply the date of his promotion. It is a settled principle of law that, if any fact which has been specifically pleaded in the pleadings has not been replied or has been evasively replied, that will be deemed to be admitted. The same principle will apply to the writ petitions also. In this case, it is admitted that the petitioner was promoted in the year 1975 and he got his first promotion accordingly. The Circular issued by the State Government in the year 2002 did not contain any clause that the persons who have retired and had not cleared the said examination, whether they would get the said benefit of the A.C.P or not. The matter was again clarified, keeping in view the said controversy in the year 2003 vide Annexure-9 to the writ petition in which in Para 2, it is clearly stipulated that the persons who had already got promoted prior to 01.09.1983, they would get their next promotion without clearing the departmental examination. Thus, in the instant case, the petitioner has already been granted first promotion prior to 01.09.1983. As such, the petitioner is entitled to get the A.C.P. as claimed in the writ petition. The petitioner is entitled to get the A.C.P. with effect from 09.08.1999 without clearing the said departmental examination, as it has been exempted by the Circular issued in the year 2003 (Annexure-9 to the writ petition).;