Concerned over the increasing number of cases filed by disgruntled employees on denial of increments and promotions, the Supreme Court Wednesday sought the total number of such cases pending before different courts of the country in the last five years.
An apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly said that the cases reaching the courts, including the Central Administrative Tribunals (CAT) dealing with service matters, should have been settled within the respective secretariats and ministries.
The court expressed its dismay that cases were filed over trivial issues like denial of annual increment, non-grant of leave, promotion and pension. It said that a few years back, it was unthinkable that an employee aggrieved over denial of annual increment would knock the doors of the higher judiciary.
The court said that there was a need to revisit the matters of service jurisprudence dealt by it (apex court) 20 or 25 years ago.
The apex court asked for the categories of government employees involved in such disputes.
It also wanted to know the break up of the cases where professionals like doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers and other professionals were involved in service litigation.
The court order came in the wake of a service matter case involving a contractual appointment in the Delhi government.
