SATYENDRA CHANDRA DAS Vs. GENERAL MANAGER, NORTHEAST FRONTIER RAILWAY AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this application under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioner prays for a writ quashing the seniority list published on 1st April, 1955 (Annexure 5 to the petition) and the provisional seniority list published on 7-9-60 (Annexure 10 to the petition) showing the petitioner as junior to J. N. Chaki, Respondent No. 4 and the order of promotion passed by the Selection Board held on 4-7-63 on the basis of the said impugned seniority and also for giving direction to the appropriate authority for granting consequential relief to the petitioner.

(2.) The case has a chequered career. The petitioner's case is that he took B. Sc. degree from the Calcutta University in 1945 and took a diploma in Telegraphy in the same year after completing the course from the George Commercial School, Calcutta. He was appointed in the Bengal and Assam Railway as Signaller on 3-7-42. After completion of 6 months' training in wireless and one month's training in the maintenance side of the Wireless Organisation, he was appointed as Wireless Operator with effect from 30-10-44. The petitioner was then promoted and appointed as Radio Supervisor (now- re-designated as Wireless Operator) with effect from 1-11-44 and was posted at Badarpur by the then Deputy General Manager (Tele-communication). This appointment was later regulated with the approval of the General Manager with effect from 1-4-45. Though the scale of pay of Radio Supervisor was raised to Rs. 145.00 (fixed) and the post was declared to be Selection Post under Chapter II of the Indian Railway Establishment Manual, the petitioner was called to appear before the Selection Board on 27-7-49 and was selected by the Board and in order of merit he occupied the 4th position, the first 3 positions having been occupied by R. C. Sarkar. Respondent No. 5, H. P. Ghose, Respondent No. 6 and S. K. Sanyal, Respondent No. 7.

(3.) After partition of India in 1947 the petitioner's services were taken over by the Assam Railway on and from 15-8-47. The then Oudh and Trihut Railway was merged with the Assam Railway on and from 1-4-52 and the newly formed Railway was named as North Eastern Railway. The North Eastern Railway was converted on 15-1-58 into the North Eastern Railway and the Northeast Frontier, Railway. The petitioner during this period served as Wireless Inspector in which post he was confirmed on 1-4-50 (vide Annexure 4 to the petition). On 1-4-55 a provisional combined seniority list as on 14th April, 1952 was published in which the position of the petitioner was shown as 5th though in order of seniority he should have been shown as occupying 4th position. Respondent No. 4 was shown as occupying the first position in that list.