Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 16: The High Court has held that migrant status cannot come in the way of promotion to the person once he or she is eligible for such promotion and directed retrospective grant of promotion to the migrant teachers of SKUAST under Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).
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The Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal dismissed the appeal of SKUSAT challenging the writ court judgment directing therein the Varsity to give effect to the promotion orders of these migrants under CAS as Associate Professors and Senior Scientists from the date they completed the requisite number of years of service as Assistant Professors and Junior Scientists respectively.
The migrants Dr. Rabinder Nath Koul with others were employees of SKUAST, Kashmir. Owing to the eruption of militancy, they migrated to the other SKUAST campus in Jammu vide Government order No. 605-GAD of 1991. Government employees, who migrated from the Valley to Jammu because of the turmoil, were termed as “migrant employees”, to be paid migrant salary.
Subsequently, in terms of another Government order dated 29.04.1992, migrant employees were directed to be considered for promotion, and the effect of the promotion was to be given to such employees only upon their joining the promoted post.
SKUAST, Kashmir, through Notification No. 01/2002, amended Schedule II to Chapter 2 (Career Advancement Scheme for Teachers), making its provisions effective prospectively. However, by a subsequent order dated 19.01.2007, the effective date of the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for Teachers was retrospectively fixed as 27.07.1998.
The migrants asserted that they had completed the requisite years of service as “Assistant Professor/Junior Scientist” and were eligible for promotion under the CAS to the post of “Associate Professor/Senior Scientist”. They pressed the SKUAST for immediate consideration of their cases, citing that the benefits had already been extended to similarly situated and even junior colleagues.
Following the recommendations of the Screening Committee, the SKUAST issued promotion orders of these migrant employees vide orders dated 28.10.2010 under the Career Advancement Scheme in their respective disciplines.
These orders stipulated that the promotions would take effect from the date the respondents rejoined SKUAST, Kashmir, in 2009. Upon receiving their promotion orders, which were conditional, as the promotion taking effect only from the date they rejoined the Valley in 2009, the respondents raised objections by citing various precedents. Specifically, they highlighted the case of Dr. Wali Ullah, a similarly situated migrant from the Valley teaching at SKUAST, Jammu, who had been granted the benefit of his entire migrant period for his promotion.
They for this inaction on part of the SKUAST approached the court and the court allowed their plea and quashed the condition imposed by the Screening Committee of the SJUAST in the orders of promotion of these aggrieved employees, whereby the effect of promotion was accorded from the date of active joining and the appellants were directed to give effect to the orders of promotion of the respondents under CAS as Associate Professors/Senior Scientists from the date, they completed the requisite number of years of service as “Assistant Professors/Junior Scientists”.
The Division Bench while upholding the writ court verdict said the migrant status cannot be used to dilute career progression once eligibility for promotion is established under statutory rules. The court dismissed the SKUAST appeal and upheld the retrospective grant of promotions under the CAS to migrant teachers, observing in clear terms that “similarly situated persons cannot be treated differently.
The court has held that the eligibility had already been examined and affirmed by the competent statutory bodies. “…it is an admitted position that the Selection Committee found the respondent-employees to have fulfilled the eligibility criteria for promotion, and it is also not disputed that the Board of Management duly approved the recommendations.” Court said adding with “…the Screening Committee had never held the employees to be unsuitable for want of active service as it is nowhere mentioned that the migrants were not in active service.”
The bench after examining the writ court judgment concluded that there was no illegality, infirmity or perversity in the decision. The court has held the appeal of SKUAST as devoid of merit and dismissed the same.
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