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Union of India & Ors. v. E. Krishna Rao & Ors. Etc. Etc.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 882Decided 26 Sept 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 11948-11950 of 2016
Chief Justice Dipak Misra · Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

The respondents worked as TV News Correspondent and TV Assistant News Correspondent at Doordarshan, initially on contract, and were later declared government servants retrospectively from 1988. After the Indian Broadcasting (Programme) Service Rules, 1990 came into force, they were denied promotion for twelve years because the Union government argued their posts were never formally brought within the cadre created by those Rules. They approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, which ruled in their favour, and the Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld that ruling, prompting the Union's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court and Tribunal were correct: once the respondents were declared government servants holding regularly sanctioned posts in the relevant pay scales, Rule 6 read with Rule 2(c) and Note 3 of Schedule I of the 1990 Rules deemed their posts to be included in the cadre, entitling them to equivalent pay scales and consideration for promotion. The Court found it would be unfair to grant government-servant status while denying the attendant service benefits. It dismissed the appeal but clarified three limits: promotions already made and existing seniority would not be disturbed, retired employees would get only notional pay fixation for pension purposes, and future promotions would depend on actual vacancies and seniority.

Lesson Learnt

Once a government declares an employee a "government servant" with retrospective effect and the employee's post falls within statutory service rules by a deeming provision, the government cannot selectively deny the pay and promotion benefits that normally go with that status.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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