Click Here to Go to Main Page

A SETBACK

( CAT, Madras order dated 23.2.2012 in OA 441/2010)

The two Executive Associations existing then had welcomed the BSNL Executive Promotion Policy released on 18.1.2007 as a major achievement and congratulated its members.  One Executive Association even called it 'New Year Bonanza to the Executives of BSNL'.  It also announced in its website that it continued to fight 'until most of the adverse clauses relating to both time bound and post bound promotion were amended and benefit of one increment on vertical promotion in current scale was achieved.  Let's clearly recognise and understand meaning and importance of struggle and patience and denounce opportunism, i.e. "whatever management offers.... accept" theory.'  Thus it declared the policy was not whatever the management offered, but it was all because of its efforts.

Para 3.1 of the Executive Promotion Policy has been an irritant to all Executives who had to wait for 5 or 6 years to get the first time bound upgradation, since they had not reached the minimum of the next IDA pay scale. These two Associations never made any effort to remove this irritant. One of their members however challenged this para before Hon'ble CAT Madras Bench and an order was issued on 23.2.2012. The CHQ of the Association to which the member belonged declared (as usual even without reading the order) that, "The Hon'ble CAT, Chennai has quashed the condition (given in para 3.1 of Executive Promotion Policy ) "of reaching/crossing the minimum of the higher IDA Scale" as one of the eligibility criteria. The effect of the judgment is that every executive will get his/her first time bound promotion in four 4 years irrespective of the fact whether he/she has crossed / touched the minimum of the next scale. This will be applicable for those who got first financial upgradation from 01.04.2004 to 31.12.2006. Those who have got the first TBP even after 01.01.2007 may be benefited by giving option of Pay Fixation."

But CAT, Madras orders dated 23.2.2012 has come as a shock since the CAT has only set aside Para 3.1 of the OM dated 18.1.2007 to the extent it refers to, "the grant of upgradation on completion of four years of service in the current IDA scale subject to the condition that the Executive's basic pay in the current IDA scale has crossed / touched the lowest of the higher IDA scale for which his/her upgradation is to be considered."

The CAT has further ordered that "the rest portion of the provision of Clause 3.1 will remain unaffected."

This means that, henceforth, an Executive will get the first time bound upgradation only after completion of 6 years service in the current IDA scale even if he had already crossed/reached the minimum of the higher IDA scale in 4 or 5 years.

A reading of the judgment will show that the case has been put up and argued in such a way, resulting in an understanding by the CAT that "giving preference to certain people who may have reached higher pay scales on completion of 4 years is arbitrary."