Nafr High Court
Case Details
1 2025:CGHC:6734-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WA No. 86 of 2025 1 - South Eastern Coalfields Limited Through Chairman-Cum-Managing Director, S E C L, S E C L Head Quarters, Seepat Road, Bilaspur P.S. Sarkanda, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Respondent No. 1) 2 - The General Manager Personnel And Administration, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, S E C L Head Quarters, Seepat Road P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Respondent No. 2) 3 - Board Of Directors Through The Company Secretary, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, S E C L Head Quarters, Seepat Road P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Respondent No. 3) ... Appellants versus 1 - Smt. Lata Jaideo W/o Jaideo Pillai Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 1) 2 - Naresh Das S/o Shri Karam Das Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Dipika Korba, P.S. Dipika, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 2) 3 - Rameshwar Prasad S/o R. Prasad Aged About 45 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika Korba, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 3) 4 - Prakash Shankar Ojha S/o Shri V.D. Ojha Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Chhal O C M, P.S. Chhal, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 4) Digitally signed by MOHAMMAD AADIL KHAN 2
Legal Reasoning
5 - K. K. Suryavanshi S/o Shri Narayan Aged About 28 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Chhal Incline, Raigarh, P.S. Chhal, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 5) 6 - Anish Kumar Singh S/o Mohan Singh Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Chirmiri, District Korea, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 6) 7 - Anil Dighraskar S/o Shri K.D. Dighraskar Aged About 42 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Office Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 7) 8 - Vikramjeet Singh S/o Shri R. K. Singh Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 8) 9 - Abhijeet Choudhary S/o Shri A.K. Choudhary Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 9) 10 - Sumit Kumar Khaskel S/o Shri D. P. Khaskel Aged About 30 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 10) 11 - Manoj Kumar Kesharwani S/o Shri A. K. Kesharwani Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevra, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 11) 12 - Ramkeshwar Prasad Sahu S/o Shri Janki Sahu Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevra, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 12) 13 - Prakash Kumar Kurmi S/o Shri R. N. Kurmi Aged About 43 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevra, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 13) 14 - Ajay Kumar Gupta S/o Shri G.P. Gupta Aged About 43 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika P.S. Dipika, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 14) 3 15 - Ghanshyam Singh S/o Shri R. D. Raghu Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 15) 16 - Bhagvat Prasad S/o Shri Balram Prasad Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevra, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 16) 17 - Deepak Kumar Sahu S/o Shri S. P. Sahu Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 17) 18 - Noharik Lal S/o Shri Ramkhilawan Lal Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 18) 19 - Rakesh Tiwari S/o R. Tiwari Aged About 35 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 19) 20 - Vijay Kumar Dwivedi S/o Shri Lukram Dwivedi Aged About 28 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika, District Korba Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 20) 21 - Kunal Bandi S/o Shri P.D. Bandi Aged About 22 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 21) 22 - Manoj Singh S/o Shri Madan Singh Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 22) 23 - Rishikesh Purohit S/o Shri Ashok Kumar Aged About 25 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 23) 24 - Vinod Kumar Sahu S/o Shri Dile Ram Sahu Aged About 46 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 24) 4 25 - Krishna Kumar Patel S/o Shri Dhua Ram Aged About 31 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P.S. Dipika, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 25) 26 - Devashish Bhoumik S/o Shri S. K. Bhoumik Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 26) 27 - Avinash Khare S/o Shri D. C. Khare Aged About 31 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 27) 28 - Rakesh Singh S/o Shri H. K. Singh Aged About 45 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 28) 29 - Suresh Kumar Soni S/o Shri Banshi Lal Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 29) 30 - Ram Anugrah S/o Shri R. Singh Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 30) 31 - Pradeep Devangan S/o Shri B. B. Devangan Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P. S. Dipika, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 31) 32 - Arun Kumar S/o Shri Vishwanath Aged About 34 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 32) 33 - S. K. Chandra S/o Shri Ayodhya Prasad Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 33) 34 - Sunil Kumar S/o Shri Arjun Singh Aged About 42 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 34) 5 35 - Saint Kashyap S/o Shri R. Kashyap Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project, Gevara, P.S. Gevara, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 35) 36 - Roshan Krismucs S/o Shri K. M. Singh Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter, Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 36) 37 - S. Avinash S/o Shri S. V. Raju Aged About 25 Years H I G-4, First Floor, Phase-I Geetanjali City, Bahatarai Road, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Petitioner No. 4) 38 - Veelendra Pandey S/o Shri Om Prakash Pandey Aged About 25 Years R/o Vasant Vihar Colony, S E C L, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Respondent No. 5) 39 - Shashank Shukla S/o Anil Kumar Shukla Aged About 25 Years R/o A144, Vasant Vihar Colony, S E C L, Bilapur, Chhattisarh. (Respondent No. 6) 40 - Amrish Kumar Singh S/o Madhu Sudan Singh Aged About 27 Years A185, Vasant Vihar Colony, S E C L, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Respondent No. 7) 41 - Ajit Singh S/o Shri Raviraj Singh Aged About 25 Years R/o P/64, Pili Dafai, Kotma Colliery, Anuppur Madhya Pradesh. (Respondent No. 8) 42 - Dharmendra Prajapati Aged About 26 Years C A T - I, Johilla Area, Nourozabad Colliery, District Umaria, Madhya Pradesh. (Respondent No.9) ... Respondents For Appellants : Mr. V.R. Tiwari, Senior Advocate with Mr. Pankaj Singh, Advocate. For Respondents No.1 to 36 For Respondent No.38 Ms. Rakshita Mishra, Advocate on behalf of : Mr. Anurag Dayal Shrivastava, Advocate. Chandresh Shrivastava, Advocate. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 06-02-2025 6 Heard on I.A. No.1/2025, application for condonation of delay in filing the present appeal. On due consideration, I.A. No.1/2025 is allowed and the delay in filing the present appeal is condoned. 1. The present appeal has been preferred against the order dated 05-08-2024 passed by the Hon’ble Single Judge where the writ petition filed by the Respondent No.1 to 36 was allowed and the resolution dated 15-02-2013 (Annexure-P/1) passed by the Board of Director and the order of promotion dated 26-10-2013 were quashed. 2. The present appeal has been filed with the following prayer:- “A.The Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to allow the instant appeal and set aside the impugned order dated 05-08-2024 passed by the Hon’ble Single Bench of this Hon’ble Court in WP(S) No.1079 of 2013 (Smt. Lata Jaideo & Ors v. South Eastern Coalfields Limited & Ors.) and all consequences arising thereof and related thereto; and B.The Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to hold and declare that there exists no infirmity of whatsoever nature in the resolution dated 15.02.2013, passed by the Board of Directors of Appellants as also, the grant of promotion to the post of Senior Data Entry Operator Technical & Supervisory Grade “B” in the pay scale of Rs.20,552.37/- to departmental candidates; and C.Any other relief which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit to be awarded to the Appellants.” 3. Brief facts of the case as emerges from the pleadings of the writ 7 petition filed by the respondents No.1 to 36 herein and the documents annexed thereto, are that writ petitioners of WPS No.1079/2013 were initially appointed on the post of Date Entry Operator (Technical & Supervisory) Grade-E in the year 2012. They were promoted to the post of Grade-D and thereafter, Grade-C. The consideration for promotion to the next higher post of Grade-B from Grade-C was seniority cum merit for the technical supervisory grade whereas, from Grad-B to Grade-A it was merit cum seniority. On 504th meeting of the management dated 31-12-2012 a decision was taken for promotion of departmental candidate directly in the technical and supervisory Grade-B & Grade-C based on the qualification of Bachelor of Engineering/Diploma in Engineering by ignoring the promotional channel provided in the cadre scheme of National Coal Wage Agreement (in short, NCWA). The said decision was further approved by the Board of Director on 15-02-2013 (Annexure P/1). The writ petitioners have challenged the decision taken by the management dated 31-12-2012 and its approval by the Board of Directors dated 15-02-2013 by filing WPS No.1079 of 2013 in which an interim order was passed on 31-07-2013 and the respondent authorities were restrained from giving effect to the recommendation to the extent of filling up of the post of Data Entry Operator Grade-C. The order of promotion/appointment pursuant to the scheme was stayed to Grade-B by the order dated 11-11-2013, but prior to that the respondent authorities/appellants had implemented their policy and private respondents in WPS No.1079 8 of 2013, namely, Veelendra Pandey, S. Aviash, Shashank Shukla, Amrish Kumar Singh, Ajit Singh, Dharmendra Prajapati were promoted to the post of Date Entry Operator Technical and Supervisory Grade-B vide order dated 26-10-2013 which were
Decision
under challenge in the writ petition. By the impugned order dated 05-08-2024 the learned Single Judge allowed the petition filed by the respondents No.1 to 36 herein and set aside the resolution dated 15-02-2013, passed by the Board of Directors of Appellants and also the order of promotion dated 26-10-2013, which has been challenged by the appellants in the present appeal. 4. It has been pointed out by learned counsel for the appellants as well as learned counsel for the respondents that in an identical matter, this Bench had dismissed WA No. 898 of 2024 (Veelendra Pandey and others Vs. South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd. & Others) vide order dated 09-01-2025 observing as follows : “7. From perusal of documents annexed with the writ petition, it is evident that private respondents No.4 to 19 of the writ petition were initially appointed as Daily Rated/Piece Rated employees though they possessed the qualification of BE/Diploma in Engineering. The writ petitioners were appointed as Data Entry Operator (T&S) Grade-E on regular basis. The petitioners were promoted to the next higher post of Grade-D after completion of three years of their service according to the scheme of NCWA. It is also provided in the NCWA the channel of promotion from the feeder cadre particularly for the Data Entry Operator (T&S) group which is relevant here to be reproduced: 9 Designation/Grade/Feeder Post Next Higher Grade & Eligibility Junior Data Entry Operator (Trainee) T & S Gr. ‘E’ Any permanent employee having matriculate or equivalent certificate with 3 years service in the Company Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘C’ Sr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ On Completion of 1 yr as Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘E’ Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘C’ 3 year experience as Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ Sr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ 3 year experience as Data Entry Operator Y & S Gr. ‘C’ Sr. Data Entry Operator Grade I T & S Grade ‘A’ 3 years experience as Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ 8. From perusal of the said channel provided in NCWA for promotion of Data Entry Operator (T&S) group, it is clear that the minimum criteria of experience is three years for their promotion. In that scheme of NCWA for promotion there is no provision for promotion to higher post from any other channel. The employees who are recruited from any other source cannot enter into this channel as per NCWA. The private respondents No. 4 to 9 of the writ petition were initially appointed as Daily Rated employee and they did not have any substantive post in the department and they did not have any cadre also as per the above mentioned chart. 9. The decision of respondent authorities taken on 31.12.2012 to promote departmental candidates who possessed BE/Diploma in Engineering in T&S Grade-B and Grade-C which has been approved by the Board of Directors on 15.02.2013, certain employees of Grade-D and Grade-C were considered for placement in the respective cadre as one time arrangement and the decision taken by the management would show that this benefit was extended to 10 employees who were having BE 10 Degree and 14 employees who were having Diploma in Engineering. 10. In absence of any provision in the NCWA, the respondent authorities or Ministry of Coal or even the Management cannot make a decision to promote the candidate who were not in promotion channel. The respondent authorities should have considered the intelligible differentia between those two groups exists the nexus between the differentia and the object of the legislation. After considering the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the matter of Union of India Vs. Atul Shukla, AIR 2015 SC 1777 and after considering the facts of the present case, the learned Single Judge has considered that the decision taken by the management is contrary to the provisions of promotion of Data Entry Operator (T&S) given in the NCWA and there is no intelligible differential. The learned Single Judge has further considered that there is no reason to bypass the terms of NCWA and to take such a decision. The Single Judge has also considered the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the matter of State of Uttarakhand Vs. Sudhir Budakoti and Others, 2022 (13) SCC 256 and considered the exigencies and divert situation and came into conclusion that the services of workmen working in coalmines are governed by the settlement known as NCWA and the terms and conditions of the said NCWA is binding on the parties as provided under Sub-section (3) of Section 18 of the Act, 1947, unless the same is altered, modified or substituted by another settlement. 11. In the present case the respondent authorities could not show any alteration, modification or substitution in the said NCWA to extend the promotional benefit to private respondents. Considering the 11 provisions of NCWA and also under the facts and circumstances of the case learned Single Judge has allowed the writ petition filed by the writ petitioners and quashed the resolution dated 15.02.2013 passed by the Board of Director and order of promotion dated 26.10.2013. 12. From the overall consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case as also the provisions of NCWA, we are of the view that the order passed by learned Single Judge is absolutely justified and we are also of the view that if there is no provision in the NCWA for creating such type of promotional channel in the Data Entry Operator (T&S), it cannot be done in the manner it was done without there being any alteration, modification or substitution in the relevant provision of NCWA. 13. In writ appeal no interference is warranted in the order passed by the Single Judge unless palpable infirmities are being shown in the impugned order. From perusal of entire material placed on record, we do not find any such infirmities or irregularities in the order passed by learned Single Judge which warrants interference of this court. 14. Therefore, we do not find any sufficient ground to interfere with the findings recorded by learned Single Judge and the writ appeal is liable to be and is hereby dismissed.” They further submitted that since the facts and issue involved in the present case is identical to that of WA No. 898 of 2024, this appeal may also be disposed of in the same terms. 5. Having considered the rival submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and having gone through the materials on record, it is evident that the facts and issue involved in this appeal is 12 identical to WA No. 898 of 2024, hence, this Court deems it appropriate not to take a view other than what has been taken in WA No. 898 of 2024. 6. Accordingly, the present appeal is dismissed in terms of the order dated 09-01-2025 passed in WA No. 898 of 2024 (Veelendra Pandey and others Vs. South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd. & Others). Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice Aadil