HC upholds CAT decision on seniority of Patwaris

Srinagar, Dec 8: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) verdict whereby it had ruled that the seniority of the Patwaris had to be on the basis of their merit position in the Departmental Examination but not on the basis of the merit in the initial entrance examination conducted by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) for selecting Patwar Trainees.

Dismissing a petition challenging the order a CAT bench of Srinagar had passed on 27September this year, a division bench of Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi said the course of action adopted by the Department in fixing seniority based on the merit position obtained in the Departmental Examination could not be said to be impermissible and illegal.

“It stands to logic and is in conformity to the intent and purpose behind Rule 24 of the CCA Rules 1956 which gives premium and primacy to merit for determining seniority,” the court said.

The CAT in its judgment dated September 27, 2023, had rejected prayer of the aggrieved candidates for determining their seniority in the post of Patwari on the basis of the select list dated August 13, 2012, prepared as per results of the initial entrance examination conducted by the J&K BOPEE for the purpose of selecting Patwar Trainees pursuant to the advertisement No 20-BOPEE of 2012 dated May 9, 2012, and in terms of Rule 24 of the J&K Classification, Control and Appeal Rules, 1956, (CCA Rules) which provide for determining the seniority on the basis of the merit obtained in the competitive examination.

The plea of the petitioners was that the seniority should not be based on the Departmental Examination conducted before they were appointed as Patwaris as had been done.

While the bench held that in the present case seniority had to be determined with reference to the first appointment as Patwari, it said: “We have already noted that the competitive examination conducted by the BOPEE in the year 2012 was for the purpose of selection of Patwari Trainees and not for appointment as Patwaris.”

“Thus, it cannot be the basis for determining seniority in the post and service of Patwari, the court said, adding, “The said examination is not in proximity to the appointment as Patwari but merely a process for training leading to the appointment of Patwaris, by conferring eligibility as candidates for subsequent appointment as Patwaris.”

On the other hand, the court said, the Departmental Examination, which the Trainees had to pass, was the immediate and proximate requirement for appointment as Patwari.

“The first appointment as Patwaris took place only when the candidates (Patwari Trainees) completed the training course by passing the Departmental Examination, which is the turning point when the Patwari Trainees could legitimately be considered for appointment as Patwaris and not before that,” the court said. “Only after being appointed as Patwaris, they became members of the service, and not prior to it, with reference to which the seniority list is to be prepared.”

The court held that it could not ignore the provisions of service rules, even if the cabinet had taken a policy decision to dispense with the subsequent crucial and final selection process for appointment of Patwaris from amongst the eligible Patwar Trainees who had successfully completed the probation and passed the departmental examination

“The criteria of merit, ability and physical fitness contemplated under Rule 24(1)(b) of CCA Rules cannot be referred to the competitive examination conducted by the BOPEE for the purpose of selection of Patwar Trainees, unless the same is mentioned in the service rules,” the court said.

It noted that the service rules, namely, the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment Rules, 2010, do not provide that the selection for Patwari Trainees will be the basis for appointment as Patwar.

It underscored that for the purpose of fixing seniority merit had been given primacy as was clearly evident from Rule 24.

“If merit is to be given primacy for the purpose of determination of seniority, merit of the candidates in a superior competitive examination and of more immediate relevance and proximate to the appointment as Patwari must be given preference than the merit in an examination of lesser quality and lesser relevance to the appointment as Patwari,” the court said.