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PETITIONER: SHRI DHARAM PAL & ORS.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: THE FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       24/10/1997

BENCH: SUJATA V. MANOHAR, D.P. WADHWA

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                THE 24TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 1997 Present:                Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sujata V. Manohar                Hon’ble Mr. Justice D.P.Wadhwa S.B. Sanyal,  Sr. Adv.,  (R.K.Gupta) Adv.  for Rajesh,  Adv. with him for the Petitioners. G.L. Sanghi,  Sr.Adv., and  Y.P.Rao, Adv.  with him  for the Respondents In-person for the Respondent No.5                       J U D G M E N T The Following Judgment of the Court was delivered: D.P. Wadhwa, J.      In this  petition under  Article 32 of the Constitution the five petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:      "(a)  issue  declaration  that  the      formation of  Accounts Cadre in the      Food Corporation  of India  made in      the year 1997 is illegal, void;      (b)  issue   a  writ  of  certiorar      quashing the  Circular No.3 of 1984      dated 17.1.1987  Order  No.  57  of      1987  dated   26.3.1987,  No.80  of      1987, dated  22.4.1987 and No.87 of      1987 dated 29.12.1987 issued by the      Food         Corporation         of      India/Respondent No.1;      (c) direct  the Food Corporation of      India  by  issuing  an  appropriate      writ in  that nature  mandamus that      all  the   optees  in  pursuant  of      Notification  dated   5.2.1977  and      17.11.1977/ and  Notification  No.3      of 1984  dated 17.1.1984  be placed      in their  respective cadres and may      declare   that   all   the   optees      aforesaid shall  remain  placed  in      their   respective   cadres   where      before 1977;      (d) issue  a writ  in the nature of      prohibition     prohibiting     the

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    respondents  from   making  further      promotion in the Accounts Cadre;      (e)  to  declare  the  Notification      dated   5.2.1977   and   17.11.1977      issued by Food Corporation of India      as illegal and  void;      (f) any  other writ or writs, order      or orders, direction or directions:      (g) allow the costs."      The petitioners  are working in the Food Corporation of India, a Corporation, established under the Food Corporation Act, 1964.      The  Corporation  with  the  approval  of  the  Central Government took a decision to from a separate Accounts Cadre from the level of Assistant Grade-III onwards. A circular to this effect was issued on February 2, 1977. It was stated in the circular  that Accounts Cadre at the level of AG III, AG II and  AG I  would initially  be formed  by transfer of the qualified personnel  from the  General Administration Cadre. Options were, therefore, called for from the AG i in General Administration  Cadre   possessing  a  degree  in  Commerce, Mathematics or Statistics for transfer to the Accounts Cadre as AG  i (A/Cs),  It was  also mentioned that the options of such AG  I  (General  Administration  for  transfer  to  the Accounts  Cadre   would  be   subject  to  their  passing  a departmental test,  details of  which would  be intimated in due course.  Similar options  were called  from AG II and AG III (General;  Administration) for  their  transfer  to  the grade of  AG II  (A/Cs) and  AG III  (A/Cs) respectively.  A notification incorporation the policy decision was issued on February 5, 1977 and accordingly the Corporation amended the Food Corporation  of India  (Staff) Regulation,  1971. If we refer to  the notification  initial recruitment to Assistant Grade-III in  the  newly  formed  Accounts  Cadre  was  from Assistant  Grade   III  of   General  Cadre  possessing  the prescribing qualifications  who would  be transferred to the Accounts Cadre on the basis of option.      Subsequently by notification dated November 17, 1977 an amendment was issued which modified the earlier notification dated February 5, 1977 which provided that initially all the Assistant Managers,  Accounts Grade  I, II and III belonging to all  cadres and  possessing the  prescribed qualification for  respective   posts  and   who  were  considered  to  be competent  and   capable  and  possessed  the  aptitude  for accounts work  would be transferred to the Accounts Cadre on the basis of such option. It had also been provided that the optees were  to be  subject to  a  very  intensive  training course and  that those  selected in  the new  accounts cadre were to  be given  necessary training  at the  Corporation’s Zonal  and   Central  Training   Institutes.  Four   of  the petitioners are  Assistant Grade  I and the 5th is Assistant Grade III in the General Cadre (Administration).      It is  difficult to  understand how  can there  be  any challenge if  the Corporation  decides to  form  a  separate Accounts Cadre  considering the  administrative necessity in its working.  We also  fail to see as to how the petitioners who are similarly placed like other employees in the general cadre, prejudiced  by formation  selection of  the  separate Accounts Cadre  and consequent  amending of  the Regulations prescribing the  qualification for the initial absorption in the newly  created cadre  and subsequent  filling up  of the posts in  that cadre.  The petitioners  cannot challenge the qualification fixed  by the  Corporation for  absorption  or subsequent recruitment  in the Accounts Cadre. It is not the case of  the petitioners  that they  possessed the requisite

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qualifications for  absorption in the Accounts Cadre or even if they  were qualified  they gave any option for absorption in the  Accounts cadre  or their  absorption was not acceded to. Grievance  of the  petitioners appears  to be  that  the optees  who  went  to  the  Accounts  Cadre  go  accelerated promotion which  the petitioners  were unable  to get  while still working in the General Administration Cadre. That is a chance an  employee takes  in any  service. The  petitioners refer to  as many as 12 such officials who had been promoted to the  posts of  Assistant  Manager  (Accounts)  when  they possessed qualifications  upto Matric,  Higher Secondary  or Intermediate  and  they  were  lower  in  seniority  to  the petitioners in  the General Administration Cadre. Apart from mentioning their  names, qualifications  and their placement in the  seniority no  particular have  been given  if  those officials were first initially taken in Grade III (Accounts) and subsequently  got promotions.  In  the  absence  of  any particulars it  is not possible for us to accept the plea of the petitioners.      Corporation issued  a  circular  on  January  17,  1984 inviting  reference   to  its   earlier  circulars  of  1981 providing for  withdrawal of  options  from  Accounts  Cadre within a  particular period. Again options were given to the employees to  opt out  of the  Accounts Cadre and go back to the original  cadre. Options  were also given to category II and III  employees who  were interested to join the Accounts Cadre  and  who  possessed  necessary  qualification  and/or requisite working experience prescribed for each post in the Accounts Cadre in category II and III posts. In the circular of January  17, 1984  it was  clearly stipulated  that those employees who  would opt  out of the Accounts Cadre would go to their  original Cadre  and their transfer to the original cadres would  be in  the same  grade  fro  which  they  were transferred to  the Accounts  Cadre and that their seniority would, therefore,  be maintained in the original cadre as it was before  their transfer  to the  Accounts Cadre,  It  was clarified that  if some of the juniors in the original cadre stood promoted  to higher  grades the optees who would stand reverted  on   account  of   their  option  should  also  be considered for  promotion as  per the rules/instructions. It is again  difficult  to  understand  the  grievance  of  the petitioners on  this Account  as well.  They cannot say that the employees  who had given their options once to go to the Accounts Cadre should be stopped from all times to come back to the  original cadre  even  if  they  retained  their  old position in  the seniority  in the  General Cadre. We do not find any  valid ground  for the petitioners to challenge the decision of  the Corporation  to give  the  options  to  the employees in  the Accounts  Cadre  to  revert  back  to  the original cadre.  All the  circulars to  which challenge have been made  follow the general principles laid in the earlier circulars. We  find that  in  pursuance  of  Circular  dated January 17,  1984 as  many as  170 employees gave options to revert back  from accounts  cadre to  their original  cadre. They perhaps did not find the Accounts Cadre to be lucrative enough to  remain there.  It was newly constituted cadre and the employees  who gave  their options  to go  to that cadre subsequently did  not find  the usefulness of that cadre for their service  for  some  reasons  or  the  others  and  the authorities had  given them  options  to  got  back  to  the original cadre.  Petitioners cannot  make any  grievance  on that account      We do  not find any merit in  this petition and dismiss the same. There will, be nor order as to costs.

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