KRISHNA KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS application is regarding promotion to the post of Additional Director General of Works in Military Engineering Service (MES). The applicant is aggrieved that he has not been promoted to the post of Additional Director General of Works which has been vacant since 1.7.2002 only on the ground that the applicant is left with less than three months of service before superannuation. He has therefore challenged the panel dated 6.9.2002 whereby two officers namely Shri Suresh Dhiman and Shri D.S. Saxena have been promoted.

(2.) The applicant is Civilian Group 'A' officer of M.E.S. department of Ministry of Defence and is presently working as Chief Engineer and is posted in the office Panel of Arbitrators (Pune). He was directly appointed to the post of Assistant Executive Engineer in 1962 and was thereafter promoted as Executive Engineer, Superintending Engineer and Additional Chief Engineer in August 1988 and November, 1995 respectively. Finally he was promoted as Chief Engineer on 9/10.12.1997. The next promotion for the applicant is to the post of Additional Director General of Works. According to the applicant there are in all three posts of Additional Director General of Works earmarked for Civilian Officers. The applicant submits that he is fully eligible for promotion to one of these posts in terms of the Indian Defence Service of Engineers (Recruitments and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1991. According to the applicant he stands at Serial No. 4 in the All India seniority of Chief Engineers published for 2001-2002 whereas the. respondent No. 4 has been listed at Serial No. 7 of the above list. Yet respondent No. 4 has been promoted as Additional Director General of Works.

(3.) THE applicant submits that he made enquiries as to why his name had not been included in the panel for the post of Additional Director General of Works when the vacancy had become available on 1.11.2002. He learnt that the DPC had considered his case and his name had been included in the panel recommended by the DPC along with the names of Shri Sudesh and respondent No. 4. However, he learnt that the proceedings of the DPC where sent to the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) and finally the applicant was not promoted on the ground that he would not be having atleast three months service in the post of Additional Director General of Works from the date of his promotion till his date of retirement.