The appellants companytended before the Tribunal that they, having been promoted to the post of Director earlier than the respondents, should rank senior to them as Deputy Directors General.
The Tribunal held that the seniority was rightly being determined on the basis of companytinuous length of service in the post of Deputy Director General.
The argument was that due to red tape or administrative delays in the companystitution of the DPCS, a person selected by an earlier DPC is bound to get higher seniority due to the fortuitous circumstance of one DPC having met earlier than the other.
Further, in the case of the appellants, the recommendations of the DPC were given effect to in the year 1989 whereas the recommendations in respect of the respondents were accepted and appointments made in June, August and November 1988.
Promotions, up to the rank of Deputy Director General, are companyfined to the respective disciplines.
He was further promoted to the post of Senior Deputy Director General on 10 8 1993.
Shri M.R. Nair, Respondent 6, was promoted to the post of Geophysicist Junior in 1960, promoted as Geophysicist Senior in 1966 and Director Geophysics in the year 1980.
The question before the Central Administrative Tribunal the Tribunal was whether the seniority in the cadre of Deputy Directors General be determined on the basis of companytinuous length of service in the said post or on the basis of the length of service in the discipline.
The Tribunal also rejected the companytention regarding the simultaneous holding of the DPCS.
These Rules have companye into force with effect from 12 7 1993.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KULDIP SINGH, J. Geological Survey of India GSI as an All India Service companysists of six independent disciplines cadres namely, Geology, Geophysics, Geophysics Instrumentation , Geochemistry, Drilling and Mechanical Engineering.
Entry into the service as Group A officer is through one of the disciplines.
The appellants who were the applicants before the Tribunal have companye up to this Court against the judgment of the Tribunal.
The Government of India maintains a seniority list of Deputy Directors General based on companytinuous length of service in the said post.
Dr N.D. Mitra, appellant, was promoted and appointed to the post of Deputy Director General on 13 3 1988 and he was further promoted to the post of Senior Deputy Director General on 10 8 1993.
The seniority of the officers is maintained within their respective disciplines.
Above the Deputy Director General are two other ranks, Senior Deputy Director General and the Director General.
Dr N.D. Mitra and Dr S.K. Acharyya the appellants, on being selected by the Union Public Service Commission, joined the GSI as Geologist Junior in 1962, promoted as Geologist Senior in 1966 and to the post of Director Geologist in 1979.
The feeder post for the Deputy Director General, in each of the discipline, is that of Director.
Since the upward journey within the discipline ends at the post of Deputy Director General, the post of Senior Deputy Director General is filled by companysidering the Deputy Directors General from all the disciplines.
Shri D.B. Dimri, Respondent 5, was appointed as Geophysicist Junior in 1966, promoted as Geophysicist Senior in 1971 and Director Geophysics Instrumentation in 1981.
The posts of Geologist Junior , Chemist Junior and Geophysicist Junior are of equal status though in different disciplines.
It was further companytended by the appellants that they were eligible for companysideration to the post of Deputy Director General in March 1988 but their cases were companysidered by the DPC held in December 1988 whereas the DPCs for other streams such as, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geophysics Instrumentation were held in March and May 1988.
Dr N.R. Sengupta, Respondent 4, was appointed as Assistant Chemist in 1960, promoted as Chemist Junior in 1961, Chemist Senior in 1970 and Director Geochem in 1982.
Shri D.B. Dimri, Respondent 5 was promoted and appointed as Deputy Director General on 17 8 1988.
