Karnataka High Court
Sri Giridhar Narayansing ... vs The State Of Karnataka on 11 October, 2023
Bench: S.R. Krishna Kumar, G Basavaraja
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WP No.105342 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 11TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2023
PRESENT
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S.R. KRISHNA KUMAR
AND
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G BASAVARAJA
WRIT PETITION NO. 105342 OF 2023 (S-KAT)
BETWEEN:
SRI GIRIDHAR NARAYANSING AGARWALE
AGE. 32 YEARS, FOREST GUARD,
O/O APCCF (HRD) AND DIRECTOR,
KARNATAKA FOREST ACADEMY
GUNGARGATTI
DHARWAD 580001.
...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. SUNIL S. DESAI, ADVOCATE)
KM
SOMASHEKAR AND:
HIGH COURT
OF KARNATAKA
DHARWAD
BENCH 1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
2023.10.16
10:52:35 +0530 BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY,
DEPARTMENT OF FOREST, ECOLOGY AND
ENVIRONMENT, M S BUILDING,
BENGALURU 560001.
2. THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF CONSERVATOR
OF FORESTS (HEAT OF FOREST FORCE)
ARANYA BHAVAN, 18TH CROSS,
MALLESHWARAM,
BENGALURU 560003
3. THE CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS
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DHARWAD CIRCLE,
NEAR K.C. PARK,
DHARWAD 560001.
4. SRI BASAVARAJ H. JADHAV
AGE. 37 YEARS,
DEPUTY RANGE FOREST, OFFICER
CUM SURVEYOR,
RANGE FOREST OFFICE,
SOCIAL FOREST RANGE, HANAGAL
DIST. HAVERI 581110.
5. SRI ISHWAR M. NAVALUR
AGE. 34 YEARS,
DEPUTY RANGE FOREST OFFICER
CUM SURVEYOR, RANGE FOREST OFFICE,
SOCIAL FOREST RANGE, KUNDAGOL,
DIST. DHARWAD 580001.
6. SRI SHAMBHULINGAYYA S. PUJAR
AGE. 35 YEARS,
DEPUTY RANGE FOREST OFFICER
CUM SURVEYOR, OFFICE OF
DEPUTY CONSERVATOR OF FOREST
AND JOINT DIRECTOR,
KARNATAKA FOREST ACADEMY
GUNGARGATTI, DHARWAD 580011
...RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI. G.K.HIREGOUDAR GOVT. ADVOCATE FOR R1 TO R3)
(NOTICE TO R4 TO R6 DISPENSED WITH)
THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 &
227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO CALL FOR
THE RELEVANT RECORDS AND, ISSUE A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
QUASHING THE IMPUGNED ORDER DATED 17/01/2023 PASSED
BY HON BLE KARNATAKA STATE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL,
BELAGAVI IN APPLICATION NO.10981/2022 VIDE ANNEXURE-
E, AS ARBITRARY AND ILLEGAL.
THIS WRIT PETITION, COMING ON PRELIMINARY
HEARING IN 'B' GROUP, THIS DAY, KRISHNA KUMAR, J.,
PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
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WP No.105342 of 2023
ORDER
This petition is directed against the impugned order
dated 17.01.2023 passed in Application No.10981/2022 by
the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, Belagavi (for
short, 'the Tribunal') whereby the said application filed by
the petitioner was dismissed by the Tribunal.
2. The material on record discloses that the
petitioner filed the aforesaid application seeking quashing
the impugned order dated 14.07.2022 denying counting of
past service in his favour and for other reliefs. It was
contended that the petitioner appointed as an Armed
Police Constable in the Police Department on 30.05.2008
was subsequently appointed to the post of a Forest Guard
by order dated 19.06.2018 pursuant to a "No Objection
Certificate" (NOC) issued in his favour from the
Superintendent of Police, Belagavi. Accordingly, the
petitioner was relieved from the Police Department on
30.06.2013 under Rule 252 clause (b) of the Karnataka
Civil Services Rules (KCSRs), pursuant to which, he
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immediately joined the Forest Department on 01.07.2013
and has been working there ever since. It was the
grievance of the petitioner that despite having been
relieved from the Police Department in terms of Rule
252(b) of the KCSRs without tendering any resignation
which entitled his past service to be reckoned for the
purpose of his seniority and in the light of Rule 6A of the
Karnataka Government Servants Seniority Rules 1957 (for
short, 'the Seniority Rules') which stipulates that past
service is to be reckoned and taken into account for the
purpose of seniority in relation to the petitioner who was a
civil servant of one department in the State of Karnataka
and joined the State Civil Service in another department,
the respondents committed an error in issuing the
impugned endorsement dated 14.07.2022 declining to
grant continuity of service and seniority in favour of the
petitioner.
3. The said application having been opposed by
the respondents, the Tribunal proceeded to pass the
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impugned order dismissing the application on the ground
that neither Rule 252(b) of the Rules nor Rule 6A of the
Seniority Rules were applicable to the petitioner who is
before this Court by way of the present petition.
4. A perusal of the material on record including
the impugned order will indicate that the sole ground on
which the Tribunal has dismissed the petition is that
neither Rule 252(b) of the Rules nor Rule 6A of the
Seniority Rules were applicable and that it was KCSR
General Recruitment Rules which was applicable to the
petitioner. In our considered opinion, the said finding
recorded by the Tribunal is not only contrary to the
material on record, but also the judgment of the Apex
Court in the case of G.Rabinathan Vs. State of Karnataka
and Ors., AIR 1995 SC 1474, as well as the subsequent
judgment of this Court in the case of State of Karnataka
Vs. Dr. K.S. Kiran Kumar, dated 27.11.2013, which was
affirmed by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Petition for Special
Leave to Appeal (C)... CC 4749/2015 dated 23.03.2015
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which is sufficient to establish that Rule 6A of the Seniority
Rules are applicable to the petitioner who, undisputedly,
was working in the State Civil Services i.e., Police
Department till he was appointed in the State Civil
Services as a Forest Guard in the Forest Department in the
same cadre, class and scale. It is therefore clear that the
Tribunal fell in error in dismissing the application on the
erroneous premise that the petitioner was not entitled to
the benefit under Rule 6A of the Seniority Rules. The
finding recorded by the Tribunal that Rule 252(b) of the
Rules will not apply to the case of the petitioner is also
contrary not only to the material on record but also to the
judgment of the learned single Judge of this Court in the
case of Dr. Arundhathi S. Vs. The State of Karnataka &
Others, W.P. No.8136/2020, dated 13.10.2020. In the
instant case, it is an undisputed fact that the petitioner did
not tender his resignation from the Police Department for
the purpose of getting himself appointed in the Forest
Department, and the petitioner was appointed in the
Forest Department pursuant to an application filed by him
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along with 'NOC' issued in his favour by the Police
Department. Under these circumstances, in the light of
Rule 252(b) of the Rules which clearly stipulates that the
petitioner having taken up another appointment with prior
permission (NOC), the same cannot be construed or
treated as resignation so as to disentitle him from seeking
seniority in the Forest Department for which he is entitled
to and under these circumstances also, the impugned
order passed by the Tribunal deserves to be set aside.
5. It is also relevant to state that in respect of
identically situated persons, who were earlier working in
other department and who were subsequently appointed in
the respondent Forest Department, the said applicants
have been extended to the benefit of seniority as can be
seen from Annexure-A14 dated 04.08.2017 in relation to
the said public servants. Viewed from this angle also, by
applying the "Doctrine of Parity", we are of the considered
opinion that the petitioner will be entitled to the benefit of
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seniority in the forest department also by considering his
past service in the Police Department.
6. In the result, we pass the following:
ORDER
i) The petition is hereby allowed.
ii) The impugned order dated 17.01.2023
passed in Application No.10981/2022 by the
Tribunal is hereby set aside only insofar as
the applicant-petitioner is concerned.
iii) The impugned order dated 14.07.2022
issued by respondent No.3 insofar as it
relates to denial of counting his past service
for the purpose of seniority is hereby set
aside.
iv) Respondents are directed to count past
service of the petitioner in the Police
Department for the purpose of fixing his
seniority in the respondent-Forest
Department and grant him all consequential
benefits in accordance with law, as
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expeditiously as possible, at any rate, within
a period of three months from the date of
receipt of a copy of this order.
Sd
JUDGE
Sd
JUDGE
KMS
