Memo.No:57759-1, Dt:20-05-2004 | State and Subordinate Service Rules - Seniority | not to re-open

GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION (SER.A) DEPT.

Cir.Memo.No.57759/Ser.A/2004-1                                                                                                           dated:20-05-2004

 

Sub: Public Services - Review/Revision of Seniority - not to re-open the settled seniority - Instructions - Issued.

 

Ref:     l. Memo.No.1197/Ser.A/94-1, G.A. (Ser.A)Dept., dt. 20.10.1994.

2. Memo.No.68/Ser.A/96-.6, G.A. (Ser.A) Dept., dt. 19.09.1997.

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A person appointed by direct recruitment as per rules shall commence probation from the date of joining. The employee appointed by promotion I by transfer shall commence probation from the date of joining and his / her services shall be regularised after sixty days of duty. According to the Rule 33(a) of Andhra Pradesh State and Subordinate Service Rules the seniority of a person in service, class, category or grade shall unless he has been reduced to a lower rank as a punishment, be determined by the date of his first appointment to such service, class, category or grade.

2. The State and Subordinate Service Rules clearly stipulates the procedure for placement on probation, declaration of probation and fixing the seniority in the category. Several instructions are issued from time to time on preparation of panels for appointment by promotion I transfer, for adhoc promotions and for preparation or seniority list. The time schedule is also fixed to communicate the Seniority list. In most of the Departments while dealing with service matters, these instructions are not followed thereby there is an unending litigation in a court of Law for promotions and to fix the seniority. Several representations are filed for notional promotions. In some cases, the representations filed are for revision of seniority relating to the initial category post in which the employee was appointed which is 20 to 30 years ago.

3. According to Rule 23 of Andhra Pradesh State and Subordinate Service Rules an Appeal / Revision / Review against the order of appointment to a higher posts shall be filed within a period of three months from the date of such order. The Rule 26 relates to the appeal against seniority and other conditions of seniority. The aggrieved person shall file the appeal petition within a period of 90 days from the date on which the junior was promoted. The Appellate Authority shall dispose that appeal petition within a period of90 days from the date on which the junior was promoted. The Appellate Authority shall dispose the appeal Petition within a maximum period of one year.

4. While the rule position is as stated above, in several cases, the appeal petition is filed after completion of several years after the junior was promoted to the next higher category, with a request to revise the seniority. In this context, the judicial pronouncement, the Supreme Court of India ruling on seniority in service matters, published in the Hindu dated 11.07.1998 has been reported in (1998) 2 SCC 523 is extracted below—

"During the entire period of more than a decade they were all along treated as junior to the other aforesaid persons and the rights inters had crystallised which ought not to have been reopened after the lapse of such a long period. At every stage others were promoted before B.S. Bajwa and B.D. Gupta right from the begining as found by the Division Beach itself. It is well settled that in service matters the question of seniority should not be reopened in such situation after the lapse of a reasonable period because that results in disturbing the settled position which is not justifiable. There was inordinate delay in the present case for making such a grievance. This alone was sufficient to decline interference under Article 226 and to reject the writ petition".

5. Government direct that in dealing with the cases for fixing the seniority the procedure and the rules prescribed in Andhra Pradesh State and Subordinate Service Rules or in Special Rules governing the post shall be followed. No request for revision of seniority for a period which is more than 3 years old shall be considered. The seniority list in each category shall be communicated, as and when the employee completes the prescribed period of probation in the respective category.

6. The Departments of Secretariat, the Heads of Departments and other Appointing Authorities are directed to follow the instructions scrupulously.

B. ARAVINDA REDDY

Secretary to Government (Ser.) 

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