- (1.)BY this petition the petitioner prays for a writ of Mandamus or writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction under Article 226 of the Constitution directing the respondents to post the petitioner in the Compilation Branch of the Central Railway at Bombay as a Senior clerk in the grade of Rs. 80-220 on a pay of Rs. 192/- per month or some other suitable post in the said Branch and also to direct them to fix his seniority in the Complication Branch in accordance with the terms of the option exercised by the petitioner in or about July 1953. The 1st respondent is the present General Manager of the Central Railway. Originally, the 1st respondent was R. B. Lal who was the General Manager of the Central Railways when the petition was field but in view of the occupant of that post having changed D. R. Khanna has since been substituted in his place as the 1st respondent. The 2nd respondent is the Union of India.
(2.)THE petitioner joined the service of the Central Railway, which was then known as the G. I. P railway as a clerk class II in the Accounts Departments on the 16th May 1940 and on 9th May 1942 he was confirmed in that post. At the date of the petition the petitioner had continued to be in the service of the Central Railway. As from 1st January 1947 the petitioner was temporarily sent on deputation to the grain-shop organisation as a grain-shop checker in the grade of Rs. 60-160 as an administrative measure. By reason of the petitioner's said confirmation, however the petitioner acquired a lien on the post of a clerk in the Accounts Department. At that time the Accounts Department had within it a branch known as the Compilation Branch. In or about May 1953 the then General Manager of the Central Railway directed the separation of the Complication Branch from Account Department, making the Complication Branch a separate cadre under the direct control of the General Manager of the Central Railway. It appears that the General Manager passed an order Dated 14th May 1953 in that behalf. The same has been referred to in the letter dated 29th June 1953 addressed by the Financial Adviser and Chief Accountants Officer to the Controller of Grain Shops. Central Railway, a copy whereof is annexed as Ex. A to the petition. The heading in that letter dated 29th June 1953 shows that the letter refers to the subject of the transfer of the Compilation Branch from the Accounts Departments to the General Manager's Office. Para 1 of that letter states that in accordance with General Manager's office. Para 1 of that letter states that in accordance with the General Manager's orders vide No. 22571/-R/gm dated 14th may 1953 the statistical section at Parel and at Seccundrabad had been transferred under the General Manager's office in charge, working under the administrative control of the Senior Deputy General Manager. That there was such an order made by the General Manager has not even disputed on behalf of the respondents. A copy of that order or the exact contents of that order have not been produced before me. I must, therefore, proceed on the footing that the said order was of the nature and had the contents as set out in that letter. From the first paragraph of that letter, together with the statements contained in the petitioned the affidavits, it is clear that prior to that order there was in the Accounts Department in branch or section known as the Complication Branch or the statistical section but that by the said order the Compilation Branch was being transferred from under the Accounts Department to form a department under the General Manager working under the administrative control of the Senior Deputy General Manager working under the administrative control of the Senior Deputy General Manager. To effectuate such transfer of the entire compilation Branch from the control of the Accounts Department to that of the General Manager a re-adjustment had to be made as regards the staff and the said order makers provision for the same as is disclosed from the contents of the said letter dated 29th June 1953, For the purposes of this petition the contents of paragraph 2 are not relevant. Paragraph 3 deals with the staff other than that dealt with in paragraph 2 and the petitioner falls within that category of other staff. Paragraph 3 provides that the other staff of the accountants Department then working in the Accounts Department as well as those in the Complication Branch transferred to the General Manager's office were being given by that letter an option either to opt for the Compilation Branch permanently or to remain in the Account Cadre. It opted for the Compilation Branch would not be permitted to appear for Appendix IIA and IIIA Examination of the Accounts Department (which were for promotion within the Accounts Department) and would have to seek promotion in the Compilation Branch itself by the usual the Railway. The effect of this offer of option would be that a member of this offer of option working at the date of the order in the Accounts Department would have to exercise an option either to continue in the Accounts Department or to go into the Compilation Branch, if he opted to go into the Compilation Branch and was ultimately posted in that Branch he would become a member of the staff of the complication Branch permanently and would not be permitted to improve his prospects and seek promotion in the Accounts Department by appearing for the two examination mentioned above. He would, however be entitled to promotion only in the Compilation Branch itself in the normal course. Paragraph 4 of that letter sets out the various posts together with their salaries which would be available for Department but who opted for the Compilation Branch and were thereafter transferred to the Compilation Branch. Along with that letter a persons to whom that letter was addressed including the petitioner. Paragraph 6 of the letter provides that the option of the employees should be communicated by 31st July 1953. The contents of the order as revealed by the contents of this letter therefore, indicate that the staff of the Accounts Department were given an option to continue in the Accounts Department or to go to the Compilation Branch and further that if the option was exercised in favour of the Compilation Branch two results were to follow. The first was that as from the dare of the exercise of the option the person exercising the option in favour of the Compilation Branch would cease to be entitled to appear for the said two examination or to be entitled to any promotion in the Accounts Department. The second result was that even if an employee exercised the option in favour of the Compilation Branch, he would not be immediately posted in that Branch. It has been stated across the Bat-and I see no reason to doubt the veracity of the same-that the compilation Branch was to be but a small section as compared with the entire Accounts Department and if a large number of employees who were on the staff of the Accounts Department opted to Be transferred to compilation Branch, all of them could not Be immediately transferred to the Compilation Branch although the loss of the right of promotion in the accounts Department was to be immediate. The wording of the letter show that it was for the general manager or the appropriate authority to fill up the available posts of vacancies in the compilation Branch. The various employees who so opted acquired the right to be so transferred and posted to the Compilation Branch but only as and when appropriate posts were available. It is quite clear that in practice the actual transfer to the Compilation Branch out of the persons who so opted would immediately be of only some of them and the rest would be transferred and posted into the compilation Branch subsequently from time to time as and when appropriate posts were available. But it is equally clear that having given an option to the members of the staff of the Accounts department with the conditions attached thereto and particularly the condition that upon the exercise of the option a member of the staff would immediately lose the right of promotion in Accounts Department and would have to look for promotion in the Compilation Branch, it was obligatory on the General Manager to transfer all persons who exercised the option in favour of the Compilation Branch subject, of course, to appropriate posts in that Branch being available.
(3.)IT is common ground that before the specified dare viz. the 31st July 1953 the petitioner opted in favour of the Compilation Branch and communicated the same to the General and communicated the same to the General manager. It is stated in paragraph 3 of the petition-and it has not been denied on the other side-that the option so exercised by the petitioner was accepted by the then General Manager and recorder in the petitioner's service register. At the time of the exercise of the option the petitioner was a permanent clerk class II and he had a lien on that post, it being his substantive post. It, therefore, follows that when the petitioner was actually posted into the Compilation Branch he would be entitled to a parallel post of a permanent clerk class II in the Compilation Branch.