RAVINDERA SADASHIO KSHIRSAGAR versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: [2009] 4 S.C.R. 436 · Decided: 16-03-2009 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

[2009] 4 S.C.R. 436 
A 
RAVINDERA SADASHIO KSHIRSAGAR 
V. 
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 
Civil Appeal No. 1611 of 2009 
B 
MARCH 16, 2009 
[LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA AND B. SUDERSHAN 
REDDY, JJ.] 
, 
Service law: Seniority- Inter se seniority-Armed Forces 
- Ministry of Defence (Navy) made detailed scheme providing 
c 
that for maintaining inter se seniority, Commanders (Time 
Scale) and Lieutenant Commanders who were finally 
superseded became eligible for promotion to Captain (Time 
Scale) only after all erstwhile acting Commanders (Select List) 
were promoted to Captain (Select List)!Captain (Time Scale)! 
D 
retired - Contention that the scheme if implemented then no 
Commander (Time Scale) would ever be considered for 
promotion to the rank of Captain (Time Scale) for a long time 
as most of them would retire before they could be considered 
for promotion to the rank of Captain (Time Scale) - Held: Not 
E 
tenable - The scheme protected the inter se seniority amongst 
officers as per Navy list, which provided that Commander 
(Select) and acting Commander would rank senior to 
Commander (Time Scale) even if Commander (Time Scale) 
has put in more years of service as Commander (Time Scale). 
F 
The AVS Committee considered the issues of cadre 
stagnation and mobility in Armed Forces and made certain 
recommendations. The Army and Air Force duly promoted 
all its commissioned officers who had completed 20 years 
reckonable commissioned services in compliance of 
G 
recommendation of the AVS report. Pursuant thereto, by 
f . 
communication dated 14.3.2005, the Ministry of Defence 
(Navy) made a detailed scheme providing promotions to 
non-select ranks. It provided that in order to maintain 
H 
436 
RAVINDERA SADASHIO KSHIRSAGAR V. 
437 
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 
existing inter-se seniority, Commanders (Time Scale) and A 
Lieutenant Commanders who were finally superseded 
would became .eligible for promotion to Captain (Time 
Scale) only after all erstwhile acting Commanders (Select 
List) are promoted to Captain (Select List)/Captain (Time 
Scale)/retired. 
B 
Appellant joined Indian Navy in 1978 as a 
Commissioned Officer and was serving in the rank of 
Commander (Time Scale) w.e.f. 10.1.1999. Aggrieved by 
the stipulations contained in the communication dated 
14.3.2005, appellant an,d others made representation C 
which were rejected. Thereafter appellant filed writ 
petition, which was dismissed. 
In appeal to this Court, it was contended for the 
appellant that if the impugned Naval policy is implemented 0 
then no Commander (Time Scale) could ever be 
considered for promotion to the rank of Captain (Time 
Scale) for a long time as most of them would retire before 
they could be considered for promotion to the rank of 
Captain (Time Scale). 
E 
Dismissing the appeal, the Court 
+ 
HELD: 1. It is not correct to say that the Navy under 
the garb of 'service specific requirements' rendered the 
entire policy and the AVS report which was accepted by 
the government of India nugatory. The AVS report itself F 
makes it explicitly clear that its primary focus was on the 
restructuring of the officers' cadre of the Army, while 
making it applicable to the other two services including 
the Navy which has to work out its service specific 
.t 
~ 
requirements including the additional vacancies. The G 
Government's directive dated 11.3.2005 and the criteria 
and guidelines for grant of rank of Captain (Time Scale) 
dated 2.11.2005 were evolved by Integrated Headquarters, 
Ministry of Defence (Navy) in the light of the observations 
so made in the AVS Report. In the criteria and guidelines H 
438 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2009] 4 S.C.R. 
A 
so evolved it has been noticed that immediate grant of 
promotion to Commanders (Time Scale) with 26 years of 
commissioned service to the rank of Captain (Time Scale) 
is untenable since it would have an impact on the sanctity 
of the inter se seniority. The Navy Headquarter was 
B conscious that the implementation by the two other 
services was based on mitigating circumstances such as 
their geographical dispersion and selective placement. 
The Indian Navy policy is practical and based on time 
tested, functional and traditional norms followed even pre-
c AVS Committee. The guidelines clarified that the new 
regulations do not preclude promotion of erstwhile 
graded Lt. Commanders (subsequently not placed on 
select list for promotion to Captain) or as to one 
Commanders (Time Scale) and Lt. Command

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