Binu V.B vs Biji Thomas Samuel @ Bijimoan T.S.
2021 Latest Caselaw 6397 Ker

             IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                              PRESENT

           THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALEXANDER THOMAS

                                 &

               THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAVI

   TUESDAY, THE 23RD DAY OF FEBRUARY 2021 / 4TH PHALGUNA, 1942

                       OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

    AGAINST THE ORDER IN OA 9/2016 DATED 06-04-2017 OF KERALA
           ADMINISTRATIVETRIBUNAL, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM


PETITIONER/3RDPARTY:

             BINU V.B.
             AGED 47 YEARS
             S/O. BALAKRISHNAN, JUNIOR GEOPHYSICIST,
             GROUND WATER DEPARTMENT,
             JALAVIJNANA BHAVAN,
             AMABALAMUKKU, KOWDIAR,
             THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695005.

             BY ADVS.
             SRI.K.JAJU BABU (SR.)
             SMT.M.U.VIJAYALAKSHMI
             SRI.BRIJESH MOHAN
             KUM.T.S.ATHIRA
             SHRI.ASADU AHMMED CHULLINTE
             SHRI.SACHIN RAMESH

RESPONDENTS/APPLICANT/ & RESPONDENTS IN THE OA:

      1      BIJI THOMAS SAMUEL @ BIJIMOAN T.S.,AGED 42 YEARS,,
             S/O. T.SAMUEL, JUNIOR GEOPHYSICIST,
             GROUND WATER DEPARTMENT,
             PATHANAMTHITTA, PIN - 689645,
             RESIDING AT PULLANJIMOOTTIL,
             PIDAVOOR P.O, PATHANAPURAM,
             KOLLAM, KERALA - 689695.

      2      STATE OF KERALA,
             REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT,
             DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES,
             GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT,
             THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA - 695001.

      3      THE DIRECTOR,
             GROUND WATER DEPARTMENT,
 OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021
                                  2

             JALAVIJNANA BHAVAN,
             AMBALAMUKKU,
             THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695003.

      4      HONEY ABRAHAM
             THEKKENATTU HOUSE,
             MANNUR WEST P.O,
             PALAKKAD - 678642.


             SRI.B.VINOD, SR.GOVT.PLEADER,
             R1 BY SRI.P.NANDAKUMAR

     THIS OP KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL HAVING COME UP FOR
ADMISSION ON 23.02.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
 OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021
                                           3




               ALEXANDER THOMAS & T.R.RAVI, JJ.
                   ===========================
                          O.P.(KAT).No.59 of 2021
                      [arising out of order dated 06.04.2017 in
                  O.A.No.9 of 2016 of the KAT, Thiruvananthapuram
                    ===========================
                       Dated this the 23rd day of February, 2021

                                    JUDGMENT

Alexander Thomas, J

The prayers in the afore-captioned Original Petition filed

under Article 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India, are as follows:

(See page No.7 of the paper book of this Original Petition).

"(i) Allow the Original Petition (KAT) and set aside Ext.P5 order dated 06.04.2017 in OA No.9/2016 of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal. Thiruvananthapuram and dismiss O.A.No.9/2016;

(ii) issue such other and further reliefs as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case;

(iii) award costs to the petitioner."

2. The prayers in Ext.P2 Original Application are as follows:

(See page No.17 of the paper book of this Original Petition).

"(i) To call for the records leading to File No.5830/15/GW1/WRD and quash the decision taken by the 1st respondent to revert the applicant from the post of Junior Geophysicist.

(iii) To issue a direction to respondents 1 and 2 to permit the applicant to continue in the post of Junior Geophysicist

(iii) To issue such other orders or directions as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case."

3. Heard Sri.K.Jaju Babu, the learned counsel instructed by OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

Sri.M.U.Vijayalakshmy, the learned counsel appearing for the

petitioner herein/3rd party in the OA before the Tribunal, and

Sri.B.Vinod, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for R2 and R3

herein/R1 and R2 in the OA and Sri.P.Nandakumar, the learned

advocate appearing for R1 herein/original applicant before the

Tribunal. In the nature of the order propose to pass by his Court in

this petition notice to R4/R3 in the OA will stand dispensed with.

4. It is the common ground that the petitioner in this OP is

a third party in the OA filed before the Tribunal. The issue as to

whether such a third party before the Tribunal can straight away

approach the High Court in exercise of the powers under Article 226

and 227 of the Constitution of India, so as to challenge the order of

the Tribunal on the ground that they are affected persons, who were

not heard by the Tribunal etc. It is covered by the decision of the

Apex Court in Rajeev Kumar & Anr. v. Hemraj Singh

Chauhan & Ors. [2010(4) SCC 554], and decision of the Division

Bench of this Court in Gireesh Babu M.B. & Ors. v. Pavithran

T.T.V. & Ors [2013(3) KHC 165], the decision of the Full Bench of

this Court in Haris K.M. v. Jahfar.K [2020(4) KLT 486] as well

as the recent decision of the Division Bench of this Court in O.P.

(CAT)No.207 of 2020 dated 05.01.2021, it is pertinent to refer to

para 15 of the recent decision rendered by the Division Bench of this OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

Court dated 05.01.2021 in OP(CAT)No.207 of 2020, which reads as

follows:-

"15. The writ petition is hence disposed of, with liberty to the petitioner to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench by filing either a petition for review of its order dated 10.1.2020 in O.A.No.824 of 2019 or with any other application, including an application for recalling the order above stated. In case such petition is filed beyond the period of limitation that is prescribed, it will be open to the petitioner to seek condonation of the delay in filing such applications and the petitioner will be entitled to plead that the period taken for prosecution of this original petition before this Court is liable to be excluded for calculation of the period of delay as envisaged in Section 14 of the Limitation Act. If such a petition is filed by the petitioner, the Tribunal may dispose of the same at the earliest, in accordance with law and having regard to the observations contained in this judgment. It is made clear that we are not making any observation regarding the correctness or otherwise of the contentions of the parties, which are left to be considered and decided by the Tribunal."

5. In the light of these aspects it is ordered that the

petitioner/third party before the Tribunal is given liberty to workout

his remedy in the manner known to law as held in the afore-cited

judgments more particularly, in the recent decision of this Court in

OP(CAT)No.207 of 2020. For the sake of clarity it is ordered that the

Registry will ensure that a copy of the judgment dated 05.01.2021

rendered by the Division Bench of this Court in OP(CAT)No.207 of

2020 shall be placed as Annexure to this judgment for easy

reference. The Registry will forward a copy of this judgment to the

KAT, Thiruvananthapuram, which is dealing with OA No.9/2016 for

necessary information at the cost of the petitioner. OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

With these observations and directions the afore-captioned

Original Petition will stand finally disposed of.

Sd/-

ALEXANDER THOMAS, JUDGE

Sd/-

T.R.RAVI, JUDGE

dlk/24.02.2021 OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

APPENDIX PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:

EXHIBIT P1 TRUE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION, 9/2016 ALONG WITH ANNEXURE A1 TO 12 FILED BEFORE THE HON'BLE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.

ANNEXURE A1 TRUE COPY OF SPECIAL RULES FOR KERALA WATER DEPARTMENT STATE SERVICE AND SUBORDINATE SERVICE.

ANNEXURE A2 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 31.08.1991 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A3 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 22.11.2005 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A4 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 28.02.2006 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A5 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 17.12.2010 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A6 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 21.12.2010 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A7 TRUE COPY OF SELECT LIST DATED 21.02.2011.

ANNEXURE A8 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 23.02.2011 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A9 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 22.05.2012 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A10 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DATED 29.04.2014 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

ANNEXURE A11 TRUE COPY OF RANKED LIST FOR THE POST OF GEOPHYSICAL ASSISTANT DATED 21.02.2009.

ANNEXURE A12 TRUE COPY OF APPOINTMENT CHART DATED 10.12.2014.

EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF REPLY STATEMENT FILED ON BEHALF OF THE 2ND RESPONDENT IN OA NO. 9/2016 FILED BEFORE THE HON'BLE KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, OP(KAT).No.59 OF 2021

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.

EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE REJOINDER FILED BY THE APPLICANT IN O.A NO. 9/2016 FILED BEFORE KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.

EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY STATEMENT FILED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT IN OA NO.9.2016 FILED BEFORE THE HON'BLE KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ALONG WITH ANNEXURE R1(A)

ANNEXURE R1(A) TRUE COPY OF THE CIRCULAR NO.

19305/RULES 1/96/O & ARD DATED 9.9.1997.

EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER IN OA NO. 9/2016 DATED 6.4.2017 OF THE KERALA ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL AT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.

EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE INFORMATION VIDE NO.

T(1) 7676/17 DATED 25.10.2017 FURNISHED UNDER THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT.

EXHIBIT P7 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT EXTRACT OF THE AUDIT FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1.8.2015 TO 31.05.2017 ALONG WITH COVERING LETTER DATED 6.7.2017 OF THE DEPUTY ACCOUNTANT GENERAL(ES II).