K P Kumar v. Union of India & Ors

order as to costs.

S. RAVINDRA BHAT (JUDGE)

DEEPA SHARMA (JUDGE) DECEMBER 23, 2015

Page 1 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Reserved on: 18.11.2015 Pronounced on: 23.12.2015 + W.P.(C) 7500/2015, C.M. NOS.14300-14301/2015 COL. K.P. KUMAR …………Petitioner Versus UOI & ORS. ……..Respondents + W.P.(C) 8458/2015, C.M. NO.18128/2015 COL. G.S. GREWAL …………Petitioner Versus UOI & ORS. ……..Respondents + W.P.(C) 9242/2015, C.M. NO.21165/2015 COL. AJAY KUMAR DASS …………Petitioner Versus UOI & ANR. ……..Respondents + W.P.(C) 9360/2015, C.M. NO.21717/2015 COL. SURESH. K. …………Petitioner Versus UOI & ANR. ……..Respondents + W.P.(C) 9439/2015, C.M. NO.22057/2015 Page 2 COL. NAVAL BHUTANI …………Petitioner Versus UOI & ANR. ……..Respondents Through: Sh. S.S. Pandey, Advocate, for petitioners. Sh. Vivek Goyal, CGSC, for UOI, Sh. Ankur Chhibber and Sh. Jaswinder Singh, Advocates along with Brig. Jagdip Singh Lotay, Representative of DGQA, in W.P.(C) 7500/2015. Sh. Jaswinder Singh and Sh. Ankur Chhibber, Advocates along with Brig. Jagdip Singh Lotay, Representative of DGQA, in W.P.(C) 8458/2015, 9242/2015 & 9439/2015. Sh. Rakesh Kumar, CGSC, for UOI and Sh. Jaswinder Singh, Advocate along with Brigadier Jagdip Singh Lotay, Representative of DGQA in W.P.(C) 9360/2015. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE DEEPA SHARMA MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT % 1. The writ petitioners in these batch of cases allege discrimination in matters of promotion and question a bar contained in the service conditions applicable to them; they are working as permanently 'seconded' (in effect, permanently absorbed) officers in the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (hereafter "DGQA"). They were previously working as officers in Page 3 the Indian Army. The bar which they are aggrieved by prohibits consideration of their cases for promotion, irrespective of their work and performance in the DGQA- it is to the effect that those permanently superseded in the Indian Army would not be considered for promotion. The petitioners complain that this is discriminatory, because their colleagues (some permanently seconded from the armed forces like them, but not superseded; and other technical personnel, who never served in the armed forces) are considered for promotion purely on the basis of their merit, ability and functioning within the DGQA rather than judged on the basis of their previous performance under other employers. 2. The Directorate General of Quality Assurance falls under the Department of Defence Production, Union Ministry of Defence. The department is headed by a Central Government Secretary ranking officer. It provides Quality Assurance (QA) for an entire range of Arms, Ammunitions, Equipments and Stores supplied to Armed Forces. Apart from quality assurance activities, the DGQA is responsible for import substitution and associates with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the development projects and further ensures Documentation, Codification and Standardization Action for minimizing the variety of components / equipments. The DGQA has four disciplines: (1) Armament (2) Vehicle & Engineering (3) Electronics and (4) Stores. Its functions include providing other services such as promotion of small scale industries, post-procurement services, Defect Investigations and Technical Consultancy to the users, Ministry and the users, the Central Ministry and procurement agencies. DGQA has several establishments under its control, spread all Page 4 over the country where mainly the Ordnance Factories, Defence Public Sector undertakings are located. 3. Induction to the DGQA is from amongst personnel drawn from the different armed forces (Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force) as well as other technical personnel who are or were not necessarily members of any armed force. Officers from various Armed Forces and services are initially inducted from their respective establishments, including the Indian Army into DGQA on tenure basis. They are subsequently granted permanent secondment subject to fulfillment of