{"id":233454,"date":"1998-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-02-12T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vijaya-kumar-shrotriya-vs-state-of-u-p-ors-on-13-february-1998"},"modified":"2016-11-17T21:57:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T16:27:16","slug":"vijaya-kumar-shrotriya-vs-state-of-u-p-ors-on-13-february-1998","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vijaya-kumar-shrotriya-vs-state-of-u-p-ors-on-13-february-1998","title":{"rendered":"Vijaya Kumar Shrotriya vs State Of U.P. &amp; Ors on 13 February, 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Vijaya Kumar Shrotriya vs State Of U.P. &amp; Ors on 13 February, 1998<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: K. Venkataswami, A.P. Misra<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nVIJAYA KUMAR SHROTRIYA\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nSTATE OF U.P. &amp; ORS.\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\t13\/02\/1998\n\nBENCH:\nK. VENKATASWAMI, A.P. MISRA\n\n\n\n\nACT:\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>\t\t\t O R D E R<br \/>\n     The short\tquestion raised is, whether the appellant is<br \/>\nentitled to  the benefit  of his earlier service rendered in<br \/>\nthe Irrigation Department for his promotion and seniority in<br \/>\nthe Public  Works Department  (PWD). The  foundation for the<br \/>\nimpugned order\tdated 19th  August, 1993, is the decision of<br \/>\nthe High  Court in  Gokaran Singh  v.  State  of  U.P  (Writ<br \/>\nPetition  No,\t4396  of  1990),  in  which  the  appellant,<br \/>\nadmittedly, was\t not a\tparty wherein  it was  held that the<br \/>\nbenefit for the said earlier period was not admissible.\n<\/p>\n<p>     On 25th August, 1962, the appellant was appointed on ad<br \/>\nhoc  basis   as\t Assistant   Engineer  in   the\t  irrigation<br \/>\nDepartment. In\tSeptember, 1962,  interview was\t held in the<br \/>\ncombined  services   of\t Uttar\tPradesh\t for  the  posts  or<br \/>\nAssistant  Engineers   in  Public   Works  Department  (PWD)<br \/>\nIrrigation Department by the U.P. Public Service Commission.<br \/>\nThe appellant was recommended at Sl. No.55. In view of this,<br \/>\nhe was\tallotted the  Public Works Department. On 29th July,<br \/>\n1963, the  Public Works\t Department approved the appellant&#8217;s<br \/>\nappointment and\t indicated the\tappellant&#8217;s merit at Sl. No.\n<\/p>\n<p>21. On\t8th August,  1963, the\tChief Engineer,\t PWD, issued<br \/>\nletter of  his appointment.  However, the  appellant was not<br \/>\nrelieved  by  the  Irrigation  Department,  inspite  of\t his<br \/>\nconsent earlier to join PWD through a letter dated 10th May,<br \/>\n1963. So, he continued to work in the Irrigation Department.<br \/>\nIn 1965,  another competitive  examination was\theld by\t the<br \/>\nsaid Commission\t for substantive  permanent vacancies in the<br \/>\nPublic Works  Department. On  13th  September  ,  1967,\t the<br \/>\nappellant was  again selected  and appointed  through letter<br \/>\ndated  23rd  November,\t1967.  On  1st\tJanuary,  1968,\t the<br \/>\nappellant joined  the post  of Assistant  Engineer  in\tPWD.<br \/>\nSubsequently, on  10th October,\t 1968, appellant&#8217;s  case is,<br \/>\nthat he\t was transferred  from the  Irrigation Department to<br \/>\nthe PWD.  By means  of Government  Order dated 19th October,<br \/>\n1968, it was directed that Assistant Engineers in the Public<br \/>\nWorks, Irrigation and L.S.B.E. Departments, who came through<br \/>\ncompetitive examination\t and are  working in any of the said<br \/>\nDepartments, if allocated to any such other department, they<br \/>\nwould be deemed to have been transferred from one department<br \/>\nto the\tother. In  June, 1972, the appellant was promoted to<br \/>\nthe post  of Executive Engineer, PWD. This was only possible<br \/>\nby  accepting\tthe  earlier   service\tin   the  Irrigation<br \/>\nDepartment, since after the selection through Public Service<br \/>\nCommission in  the year 1962. Admittedly this appointment by<br \/>\npromotion was  not challenged.\tIt is  urged, later when the<br \/>\nquestion of the appellant&#8217;s appointment to the post of Super<br \/>\nintending Engineer  came up for consideration, his right was<br \/>\nignored on  the same  basis, viz. absence of minimum request<br \/>\nto period  in the  PWD. This issue if at all could have been<br \/>\nraised when  he was  promoted as Executive Engineer in 1972.<br \/>\nTo raise  it now  after the  being  Executive  Engineer\t for<br \/>\ntwentyone years\t is neither justifiable nor valid. It is not<br \/>\nin dispute  if his  service in\tthe Irrigation Department is<br \/>\ntaken  into   consideration,  he   is  qualified  for  being<br \/>\nappointed as such. Aggrieved by this the appellant filed his<br \/>\nClaim Petition\tbefore the  U.P. Public Service Tribunal. On<br \/>\n22nd June,  1992 the Tribunal allowed the Claim Petition and<br \/>\ndirected  the\trespondents  to\t  consider  posting  of\t the<br \/>\nappellant as  Superintending Engineer  on the  basis of\t the<br \/>\nservice records\t as that  existed on  1st December, 1962. It<br \/>\nalso held  that the  basis of  such placement  would also be<br \/>\nmerit list  of 1962  issued by the Public Service Commission<br \/>\nand  thus   the\t appellant   would  be\t entitled  to  other<br \/>\nconsequential benefits. Accordingly, the Government by order<br \/>\ndated 20th  February, 1993 fixed his seniority at serial No.<br \/>\n319A. It,  however, recorded  that this\t would be subject to<br \/>\nthe  orders  of\t the  higher  courts  where  the  matter  of<br \/>\nfinalisation  of   the\tprinciples  of\tseniority  is  still<br \/>\npending. As aforesaid, the decision then came in the case of<br \/>\nGokaran Singh  (supra). The  High Court\t in that  case\twith<br \/>\nreference to  the case\tof <a href=\"\/doc\/818095\/\">P.D.Aggarwal\t &amp; Ors.\t v. State of<br \/>\nU.P. &amp; Ors.<\/a>: (1987) 3 SCC 622 held in the matter of inter se<br \/>\ndispute, a claim of seniority by a person could only be from<br \/>\nthe date  he becomes member of that service. In other words,<br \/>\nit would  be from  the date  one  joined  the  Public  Works<br \/>\nDepartment from\t the Irrigation\t Department. In\t the case of<br \/>\nappellant, it  would only  be when  he joined PWD after 1965<br \/>\nselection.  Any\t period\t prior,\t would\tnot  be\t admissible.<br \/>\nFurther the  Government itself\ttreated such  cases and\t the<br \/>\nappellant&#8217;s  case   to\tbe  a  case  of\t transfer  from\t the<br \/>\nIrrigation Department  to the  Public Works  Department\t for<br \/>\nvalid reason.  The reason  was that  for no  fault  of\this,<br \/>\ninspite of being selected in 1962 on account of for a public<br \/>\ncause he  was not  relieved from  the Irrigation Department.<br \/>\nHence, the said period has to be computed.\n<\/p>\n<p>     The appellant  referred to the letters dated 18th June,<br \/>\n1963, of  the  Chief  Engineer,\t Irrigation  Department\t and<br \/>\nletter dated  15th September, 1963 of the Joint Secretary to<br \/>\nthe Government of Uttar Pradesh to bring home his point that<br \/>\nthe appellant  was not\trelieved  in  1963  from  Irrigation<br \/>\nDepartment in  public interest. Inspite of all this, on 19th<br \/>\nAugust, 1993,  the appellant  was served  with a  letter  by<br \/>\nwhich the  State  of  U.P.  withdrew  its  earlier  decision<br \/>\nconferring  higher  seniority  to  the\tappellant.  On\t23rd<br \/>\nAugust,\t 1993,\trespondents&#8217;  impugned\torder  excluded\t the<br \/>\nappellant from\tthe promotion  to the post of Superintending<br \/>\nEngineer and  his junior  was  promoted.  This\tled  to\t the<br \/>\nfilling of the Writ Petition in the High Court in September,<br \/>\n1993 for  quashing the\taforesaid order\t dated 19th  August,<br \/>\n1993 and  for directions  to the  respondent to maintain his<br \/>\nseniority at Serial No. 319A and promoted him to the post of<br \/>\nSuperintending Engineer.  The High  Court dismissed the Writ<br \/>\nPetition. Aggrieved by the same, the present appeal is filed<br \/>\nby special leave.\n<\/p>\n<p>     We have  heard learned counsel for the parties at great<br \/>\nlength.\n<\/p>\n<p>     It appears\t from letter  dated 20th July, 1993 from the<br \/>\nDeputy Secretary to Government, that the appellants name was<br \/>\napproved for  appointment on temporary basis for the post of<br \/>\nAssistant Engineer  (Civil) in\tPublic Works Department as a<br \/>\nresult\tof   the  interview   held  by\tthe  Public  Service<br \/>\nCommission in  August\/September,  1962\tand  was  placed  at<br \/>\nSerial No.  21. Thereafter  by means  of  Office  Memorandum<br \/>\ndated 8th  August, 1963,  the appellant was appointed on the<br \/>\nsaid post  with a  direction to\t join  the  duties  by\t15th<br \/>\nSeptember, 1963.  The appellant gave his consent for joining<br \/>\nthe Public  Works Department.  Thereafter, as aforesaid, the<br \/>\nChief Engineer,\t Irrigation Department\tthrough\t his  letter<br \/>\ndate 18th July, 1963, did not relieve the appellant from the<br \/>\nIrrigation Department  in  public  interest  which  is\talso<br \/>\nconfirmed by  a letter\tfrom  the  Joint  Secretary  to\t the<br \/>\nGovernment of Uttar Pradesh dated 15th September. 1992.\n<\/p>\n<p>     It is  in this  background the  question is,  once\t the<br \/>\nappellant being\t selected through  a combined test held both<br \/>\nfor Irrigation\tand Public  Works Department in 1962 and not<br \/>\nbeing permitted\t to join Public Works Department, inspite of<br \/>\nhe having  opted, should  he be\t deprived  of  the  services<br \/>\nrendered by  him in Irrigation Department for the purpose of<br \/>\ncomputing his  eligibility, seniority  and promotion  in the<br \/>\nPublic Works  Department. In  this regard  we also find G.O.<br \/>\nNo.  822  EBR\/XXIII-PWD\t dated\t19th  October,\t1968,  which<br \/>\ndecided\t such\tcases  to  be  of  transfer  inter  se\tfrom<br \/>\nIrrigation Department  to Public  Works Department  and vice<br \/>\nversa  of  the\tpersons\t who  were  recruited  as  Assistant<br \/>\nEngineers through  combined examinations.  By  this  it\t was<br \/>\nclarified  such\t  persons,  in\tcase  are  placed  from\t one<br \/>\ndepartment to other, will be deemed to have been transferred<br \/>\nfrom one  department to\t the other.  It\t further  clarified,<br \/>\nwhere any difficulty is felt in fixation of their pay in the<br \/>\ndepartment to  which they  are transferred,  that  could  be<br \/>\nresolved under F.R.22 of Finance Hand Book Volume 11 part 11<br \/>\nto IV.\tTo the\tlatter\tpart,  we  are\tnot  concerned,\t the<br \/>\nconcluding words of this G.O. are:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     &#8220;Since  the   services   of   these<br \/>\n     Assistant Engineers  will be deemed<br \/>\n     to\t have\tbeen  transferred,  they<br \/>\n     would also\t be entitled to Transfer<br \/>\n     T.A., joining time for the journeys<br \/>\n     performed\tby  them  in  connection<br \/>\n     with  their   transfer   from   one<br \/>\n     department to another.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     Thus stand\t of the\t Government is absolutely clear, and<br \/>\non this\t basis the  appellant would  be treated to have been<br \/>\ntransferred  from  Irrigation  Department  to  Public  Works<br \/>\nDepartment when\t he was\t appointed\/absorbed  in\t the  Public<br \/>\nWorks Department  on the  basis of combined examination held<br \/>\nin the year 1965. We also find Office Memorandum No. 5060\/23<br \/>\nIrri-1\/42\/WP\/80 dated  12th July,  1982 which reiterated the<br \/>\naforesaid Government  policy of counting the services in the<br \/>\nIrrigation Department towards the Public Works Department it<br \/>\nclearly spelled out its policy relying on the decision given<br \/>\nearlier by  the High  Court in\tAbdul Kher vs. Chief Justice<br \/>\nAllahabad (1971\t SLR, 25)  that the  benefit of\t the service<br \/>\nrendered in  the erstwhile department can be granted in case<br \/>\na person  is transferred  from one  department\tto  another.<br \/>\nRelevant  port\t of  this   Office  Memorandum\t is   quoted<br \/>\nhereunder:-\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     &#8220;As  per\tthe  provision\t in  the<br \/>\n     judgment in  matters of  Abdul Kher<br \/>\n     v.\t Chief\tJustice\t Allahabad  1970<br \/>\n     SLR-25, Hon.  High Court  has  held<br \/>\n     that benefit  in seniority\t can  be<br \/>\n     given   on\t   transfer   from   one<br \/>\n     Department to  another  Department,<br \/>\n     if there  is no  prohibition on the<br \/>\n     rules and\tbenefit of past services<br \/>\n     can be  given and cannot be held as<br \/>\n     unfair.  In   the\tpresent\t matter,<br \/>\n     there is  no  prohibition\tin  1936<br \/>\n     service rules,  but  in  Government<br \/>\n     Order  No\t 23  I.A.-144\/64   dated<br \/>\n     13.6.1963\t provides    that    the<br \/>\n     services rendered\tby  officers  in<br \/>\n     that  the\t services  rendered   by<br \/>\n     officers  in   P.W.D.,   shall   be<br \/>\n     counted  in  Irrigation  Department<br \/>\n     after joining  and shall  draw  the<br \/>\n     same salary as they were drawing in<br \/>\n     PWD. After careful consideration as<br \/>\n     natural justice  and legally, it is<br \/>\n     decided that  the benefit\tof  past<br \/>\n     service of\t other department  is to<br \/>\n     be given in seniority fixing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     The Tribunal  also gave  a finding\t in  favour  of\t the<br \/>\nappellant  that\t there\tis  no\treason\tnot  to\t follow\t the<br \/>\nseniority as mentioned in the merit list of 1962 made by the<br \/>\nPublic Service Commission.\n<\/p>\n<p>     We find,  the appellant  in  this\tcase  could  not  be<br \/>\nfaulted\t as  inspite  of  he  being  selected  through\t1962<br \/>\ncombined selection  examination and  he having consented was<br \/>\nnot  relieved  by  the\tIrrigation  Department\tdue  to\t his<br \/>\nrequirement  in\t  that\tdepartment.  This  fact,  as  stated<br \/>\nearlier, is  also recorded in Government&#8217;s Office Memorandum<br \/>\nNO.402 EPOR.  12.3.93.\t 915\/91 dated  20th February,  1993.<br \/>\nThis is\t also referred in the letter of the joint Secretary,<br \/>\nGovernment of  U.P., Irrigation\t Department,  to  the  Joint<br \/>\nSecretary, Public  Works Department  dated  19th  September,<br \/>\n1992. The main reason, to reject the claim by the Government<br \/>\nis the\tdecision of Gokaram Singh (supra) which was also the<br \/>\nbasis of  the impugned\tjudgment  of  the  High\t Court\tviz.<br \/>\nrelying on P.D.Aggarwal&#8217;s case (supra). This decision merely<br \/>\ndeclares, a  claim of  seniority could only be from the date<br \/>\none is\tborne in  service. But\tthe question still is, as to<br \/>\nwhen did  the appellant\t enter service\tor could  be said to<br \/>\nhave been  borne in  service. If the appellant could be said<br \/>\nto have\t entered service  only on  his\tappointment  in\t the<br \/>\nPublic Works  Department as a result of combined examination<br \/>\nheld in 1965, he would be borne in service then. But in case<br \/>\nhis selection  and appointment\tin pursuance to the combined<br \/>\nselection examination  of 1962\tis accepted this he would be<br \/>\nborne in  service then,\t we find  he not being relieved from<br \/>\nthe Irrigation\tDepartment for\tpublic purpose\tcoupled with<br \/>\nthe policy  in such  cases to  treat it\t to  be\t a  case  of<br \/>\ntransfer  for  all  this.  We  unhesitatingly  come  to\t the<br \/>\nirresistable conclusion\t that the appellant would be treated<br \/>\nto have\t been borne  in service\t on the\t date  when  he\t was<br \/>\nappointed through  1962 combined  selection examination\t and<br \/>\nnot in 1965 examination. We have already referred to various<br \/>\nletter as  also the decision of the Government treating such<br \/>\nplacement in  the departments  inter se\t to  be\t a  case  of<br \/>\ntransfer. The  government throughout,  has also\t treated the<br \/>\nappellant  to\tbe  a\tcase  of  transfer  from  Irrigation<br \/>\nDepartment to  Public Works  Department. His  claim was only<br \/>\nrejected by  the Government  as aforesaid  in  view  of\t the<br \/>\ndecision in  the case  of Gokaran  Singh (supra)  relying on<br \/>\nP.D.Aggarwal (supra),  about  this  we\twould  be  referring<br \/>\nlater.\n<\/p>\n<p>     We feel  that it would be unjust, to disallow the claim<br \/>\nof the appellant inspite of the being selected and appointed<br \/>\nto the\tP.W.D. through\t1962 Commission Selection when on no<br \/>\nfault of  his if  he was  not being permitted to join in the<br \/>\nPublic Works Department. In Shri Anand Chandra Das vs. State<br \/>\nof Orissa  &amp; Ors.  : JI\t 1988 (1) S.C.98, on the question of<br \/>\nthe seniority of the appellant who had gone on deputation to<br \/>\nlabour department  as Senior  Auditor, it was held, since he<br \/>\nnever agreed  to go  on deputation,  therefore his seniority<br \/>\nhas to\tbe re-fixed  by\t including  period  in\tthe  Revenue<br \/>\nDepartment and thus notional promotion to be given.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     &#8220;We find  sufficient force\t int  he<br \/>\n     aforesaid contention of the learned<br \/>\n     counsel\tappearing     for    the<br \/>\n     appellant. That  the appellant  was<br \/>\n     appointed as  a Senior  Auditor  on<br \/>\n     Revenue  on   28.10.1996\tis   not<br \/>\n     disputed. It  is also  not disputed<br \/>\n     that his services were brought over<br \/>\n     to\t the   Labour\tDepartments   on<br \/>\n     requisition being\tmade to\t all the<br \/>\n     Government Departments  and on  his<br \/>\n     name being sponsored by the Revenue<br \/>\n     Department. It  is\t no  doubt  true<br \/>\n     that  the\t Labour\t Department  had<br \/>\n     indicated that  the seniority  will<br \/>\n     be determined  on the  basis of the<br \/>\n     date  of\tjoining\t of  the  Labour<br \/>\n     Department itself but the appellant<br \/>\n     had no  point of time agreed to the<br \/>\n     said condition,  and on  the  other<br \/>\n     hand, unequivocally  expressed  his<br \/>\n     unwillingness to  come over  to the<br \/>\n     Labour Department\tby letter  dated<br \/>\n     6.11.1970 and without consideration<br \/>\n     of the  same the Revenue Department<br \/>\n     relieved him  requiring him to join<br \/>\n     in the  Labour Department.\t In  the<br \/>\n     aforesaid\tpremisses   we\tsee   no<br \/>\n     justification   in\t  ignoring   the<br \/>\n     service rendered  by the  appellant<br \/>\n     as\t a   Senior  Auditor  under  the<br \/>\n     Revenue Department.  The  Tribunal,<br \/>\n     in\t   our\t  considered\topinion,<br \/>\n     committed\tan  error  by  directing<br \/>\n     that seniority  of the appellant in<br \/>\n     the cadre of Senior Auditor will be<br \/>\n     determined by  taking his\tservices<br \/>\n     from the  date he joined the Labour<br \/>\n     Department.   In\tour   considered<br \/>\n     opinion   the   services\tof   the<br \/>\n     appellant as  a Senior Auditor from<br \/>\n     28.10.1995\t shall\t be  taken  into<br \/>\n     account   for    determining    his<br \/>\n     seniority in  the cadre  of  Senior<br \/>\n     Auditor in the Labour Department.&#8221;<br \/>\n     In K.Madhavan  &amp; Anr.  etc. vs.  Union of\tIndia &amp; Ors.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>etc. 1988  (1) SCR  421, also  there  was  a  dispute  about<br \/>\nseniority and  the questions for consideration were, whether<br \/>\nthe petitioner&#8217;s  appointment should  be treated as transfer<br \/>\nand whether  the earlier  period spent to be counted towards<br \/>\nseniority or not. The Court observed:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     &#8220;There  is\t  not  much   difference<br \/>\n     between  deputation  and  transfer.<br \/>\n     Indeed,  when  a  deputationist  is<br \/>\n     permanently absorbed in the CBI, he<br \/>\n     is under  words, deputation may b e<br \/>\n     regarded as  a  transfer  from  one<br \/>\n     government department  to\tanother.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>     It will  be against  all  rules  of<br \/>\n     service   jurisprudence,\t it    a<br \/>\n     government\t  servant    holding   a<br \/>\n     particular\t  post is transferred to<br \/>\n     the same or an equivalent period of<br \/>\n     h is service in the post before his<br \/>\n     transfer\tis    not   taken   into<br \/>\n     consideration  in\t computing   his<br \/>\n     seniority in  the transferred post.<br \/>\n     The transfer  cannot wipe\tout  his<br \/>\n     length of\tservice in the post from<br \/>\n     which he had been transferred.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     Regarding\tthe   question\tof  length  of\tservice\t for<br \/>\ncomputing seniority,  whether could it be only from the date<br \/>\nof his\tappointment on\tpermanent post\tin the\tyear 1969 or<br \/>\nwill also  include the\tperiod when  he was appointed on the<br \/>\ntemporary  post\t in  the  year\t1962,  the  appointed  on  a<br \/>\nsubstantive vacancy  on a  temporary post after due approval<br \/>\nby the\tPublic\tService\t Commission  if\t fulfils  all  other<br \/>\nessential criteria  as prescribed  he shall  be deemed to be<br \/>\nborne in service from such date of his appointment. In other<br \/>\nwords his  entire length of service from that date should be<br \/>\nreckoned in  computing seniority. This point is well settled<br \/>\nand is\treasserted in  the aforesaid  case  of\tP.D.Aggarwal<br \/>\n(supra) itself.\n<\/p>\n<p>     We further\t find this  question whether the said period<br \/>\nto be  computed for  the purpose  of seniority\twas a matter<br \/>\nwhich the  Government ought  to have  considered and we feel<br \/>\nmust have  been considered while appointing him as Executive<br \/>\nEngineer in  Public Works  Department which  was in the year<br \/>\n1972. He  suffered from\t the same disability for the post of<br \/>\nSuperintending Engineer.  But after  due considerations then<br \/>\nafter appointing  him two  decades back, none challenging it<br \/>\nthen, to  raise it now, has no justiciable reasons to stand.<br \/>\nBy that\t time the  policy of  the Government  was also\twell<br \/>\nknown which  is evident from the aforesaid G.U.of 1968. When<br \/>\nthe question  of appointment as Superintending Engineer came<br \/>\nup for\tconsideration in  the year  1993 i.e.  more than  21<br \/>\nyears after  appellant&#8217;s appointment  as Executive Engineer,<br \/>\nwe do  not find, it was proper for the Government, to revert<br \/>\nback and  deprive the appellant by withdrawing his seniority<br \/>\nby  excluding\tthe  period  he\t worked\t in  the  Irrigation<br \/>\nDepartment.\n<\/p>\n<p>     Even otherwise,  we  find\tfrom  the  record  that\t the<br \/>\nGovernment&#8217;s own  stand and its policy accepted the stand of<br \/>\nthe appellant  but the\treason for  this change\t was only in<br \/>\nview of the decision of the High Court, as aforesaid, in the<br \/>\ncase of\t Gokaran Singh\trelying on the case of P.D.Aggarwal.<br \/>\nThe High  Court committed  wrong by wrong application of the<br \/>\nprinciple of   P.D.Aggarwal.  The  same\t is  not  eroded  or<br \/>\nviolated when  the appellants  appointment  to\tthe  PWD  is<br \/>\ntreated to be by way of transfer from Irrigation Department.\n<\/p>\n<p>     The High  Court did  not properly\tscrutinize the facts<br \/>\nand circumstances  of this  case and  merely on the basis of<br \/>\nthe earlier  decision of  its Court in the aforesaid Gokaran<br \/>\nSingh&#8217;s case (supra) rejected his claim.\n<\/p>\n<p>     We find  that both,  the Government&#8217;s  Order dated 19th<br \/>\nAugust, 1993  and the  impugned order  of the High Court are<br \/>\nnor sustainable in the eye of law and are hereby quashed. On<br \/>\nthe facts of this case, we hold that the appellant&#8217;s service<br \/>\nin the Irrigation Department since after he was selected and<br \/>\nappointed in  1962 in  the  PWD\t through  combined  services<br \/>\nexamination, cannot  be excluded for fixing his seniority in<br \/>\nthe PWD.  Hence the  period, the  appellant  worked  in\t the<br \/>\nIrrigation Department,\tbe treated  to be  valid period\t for<br \/>\ncomputing his seniority in the PWD.\n<\/p>\n<p>     The respondent Government will now fix the seniority of<br \/>\nthe appellant  in the light of the above observations and if<br \/>\nany person if affected, the fixation to be made after giving<br \/>\ndue  opportunity   to  the   person  concerned.\t  Consequent<br \/>\npromotion and other benefits flowing thereunder will also be<br \/>\nadmissible to the appellant.\n<\/p>\n<p>     In the  result, this  appeal succeeds  and the impugned<br \/>\nGovernment Order  dated 19th  August, 1993  and the impugned<br \/>\norder of  the High  Court in  the Writ Petition filed by the<br \/>\nappellant are  quashed with  the aforesaid  observations and<br \/>\ndirections. Cost on the parties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Vijaya Kumar Shrotriya vs State Of U.P. &amp; Ors on 13 February, 1998 Bench: K. Venkataswami, A.P. Misra PETITIONER: VIJAYA KUMAR SHROTRIYA Vs. RESPONDENT: STATE OF U.P. &amp; ORS. DATE OF JUDGMENT: 13\/02\/1998 BENCH: K. VENKATASWAMI, A.P. MISRA ACT: HEADNOTE: JUDGMENT: O R D E R The short question raised is, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vijaya Kumar Shrotriya vs State Of U.P. &amp; Ors on 13 February, 1998 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vijaya-kumar-shrotriya-vs-state-of-u-p-ors-on-13-february-1998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vijaya Kumar Shrotriya vs State Of U.P. &amp; 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