1 2025:CGHC:1432-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WA No. 898 of 2024 1 - Veelendra Pandey S/o Shri Om Prakash Pandey Aged About 37 Years R/o Vasant Vihar Colony S E C L Bilaspur Chhattisgarh, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Presently Address- B/178 Seepat Road, Basant Vihar, Lingiyadih, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Amrish Kumar Singh S/o Madhu Sudan Singh Aged About 38 Years A- 185, Vasant Vihar Colony S E C L Bilaspur Chhattisgarh , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Presently Address- B/231, Pragati Nagar, Dipka, District Korba, Chhattisgarh. 3 - Ajit Singh S/o Shri Raviraj Singh Aged About 37 Years R/o P/64, Pili Dafai, Kotma Colliery Anuppur Madhya Pradesh, District Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh. Presently Address- Q. No. 14, New B Type Colony, Near Durga Pandal, Govinda Colliery, V.T.C- Kotma, P.O- Pasan, District : Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh ... Appellant(s) versus 1 - South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd., Through The Chairman- Cum- Managing Director, S E C L Head Quarters Seepat Road Bilaspur Chhattisgarh P S. Sarkanda Distt. Bilaspur Chhattisgarh 2 - The General Manager Personnel And Administration South Eastern Coalfields Limited S E C L, Head Quarters Seepat Road P S Sarkanda, District- Bilaspur Chhattisgarh 3 - Board Of Directors Through The Company Secretary South Eastern Coalfields Limited S E C L Head Quarters Seepat Road P S Sarkanda, District- Bilaspur Chhattisgarh 4 - Smt. Lata Jaideo W/o Jaideo Pillai Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur, P.S. Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh. Digitally signed by INDRAJEET SAHU Date: 2025.01.20 17:11:31 +0530 2 5 - Naresh Das S/o Shri Karam Das Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, Korba, Ps Dipika, Distt. Korba, Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 6 - Rameshwar Prasad S/o R. Prasad Aged About 45 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika Korba, Ps Dipika, Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 7 - Prakash Shankar Ojha S/o Shri V.D. Ojha Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Chhal O C M, P S Chhal, Distt. Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 8 - K. K. Suryavanshi S/o Shri Narayan Aged About 28 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfield Ltd. Chhal Incline Raigarh, P S- Chhal Distt. Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 9 - Anish Kumar Singh S/o Mohan Singh Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfield Ltd. Chirmiri G M Office Chirmiri P S- Chirmiri Distt. Korea Chhattisgarh., District Koriya (Baikunthpur), Chhattisgarh 10 - Anil Dighraskar S/o Shri K.D. Dighraskar Aged About 42 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Office Bilaspur P S- Sarkanda, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh. , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 11 - Vikramjeet Singh S/o Shri R. K. Singh Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur Chhattisgarh P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 12 - Abhijeet Choudhary S/o Shri A.K. Choudhary Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika- P S- Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 13 - Sumit Kumar Khaskel S/o Shri D. P. Khaskel Aged About 30 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra, P.S. Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 14 - Manoj Kumar Kesharwani S/o Shri A.K. Kesharwani Aged About 26 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra Ps Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 15 - Ramkeshwar Prasad Sahu S/o Shri Janki Sahu Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra Ps Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 3 16 - Prakash Kumar Kurmi S/o Shri R. N. Kurmi Aged About 43 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra Ps Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 17 - Ajay Kumar Gupta S/o Shri G.P. Gupta Aged About 43 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika Ps Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 18 - Ghanshyam Singh S/o Shri R. D. Raghu Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika Ps Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 19 - Bhagvat Prasad S/o Shri Balram Prasad Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevra P S Gevra Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 20 - Deepak Kumar Sahu S/o Shri S. P. Sahu Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 21 - Noharik Lal S/o Shri Ramkhilawan Lal Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 22 - Rakesh Tiwari S/o R. Tiwari Aged About 35 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika P S Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh., District Korba, Chhattisgarh 23 - Vijay Kumar Dwivedi S/o Shri Lukram Dwivedi Aged About 28 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika, P S Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh. , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 24 - Kunal Bandi S/o Shri P. D. Bandi Aged About 22 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 25 - Manoj Singh S/o Shri Madan Singh Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur Chhattisgarh P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 26 - Rishikesh Purohit S/o Shri Ashok Kumar Aged About 25 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur Chhattisgarh P S Sarkanda Bilaspur Chhattisgarh , District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 27 - Vinod Kumar Sahu S/o Shri Dile Ram Sahu Aged About 46 Years Data 4 Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 28 - Krishna Kumar Patel S/o Shri Dhua Ram Aged About 31 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika P S Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 29 - Devashish Bhoumik S/o Shri S. K. Bhoumik Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara, P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh, District Korba, Chhattisgarh 30 - Avinash Khare S/o Shri D. C. Khare Aged About 31 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara, P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 31 - Rakesh Singh S/o H. K. Singh Aged About 45 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevera Project Gevara P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 32 - Suresh Kumar Soni S/o Shri Banshi Lal Aged About 32 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevera Project Gevara P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 33 - Ram Anugrah S/o Shri R. Singh Aged About 43 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevera Project Gevara P S Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 34 - Pradeep Devangan S/o Shri B. B. Devangan Aged About 33 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Dipika P S Dipika Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 35 - Arun Kumar S/o Shri Vishwanath Aged About 34 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara P S- Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 36 - S. K. Chandra S/o Shri Ayodhya Prasad Aged About 40 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara P S- Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 37 - Sunil Kumar S/o Shri Arjun Singh Aged About 42 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara P S- Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 38 - Saint Kashyap S/o Shri R. Kashyap Aged About 38 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Gevara Project Gevara P S- Gevara Distt. Korba Chhattisgarh , District Korba, Chhattisgarh 5 39 - Roshan Krismucs S/o Shri K. M. Singh Aged About 39 Years Data Entry Operator Gr D South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Head Quarter Bilaspur P S- Sarkanda, Distt. Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 40 - S. Avinash S/o Shri S.V. Raju Aged About 25 Years H.I.G.-4, First Floor, Phase- I, Geetanjali City Bahtarai Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 41 - Shashank Shukla S/o Anil Kumar Shukla Aged About 25 Years R/o A- 144, Vasant Vihar Colony, S E C L Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 42 - Dharmendra Prajapati Aged About 26 Years C A T- I, Johilla Area, Nourozabad Colliery Distt. Umaria Madhya Pradesh, District Umaria, Madhya Pradesh ... Respondent(s) For Appellants : Shri Chandresh Shrivastava, Advocate. For Respondents 1 to 3 : Shri Pankaj Singh, Advocate. For Private Respondents: Shri Anurag Dayal Shrivastava, Advocate. Hon'ble Shri Justice Ramesh Sinha, CJ Hon’ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, J Judgment on Board 09.01.2025 Per, Ramesh Sinha, CJ. 1 The present writ appeal has been filed against the impugned order dated 05.08.2024 passed by learned Single Judge in WPS No.1079 of 2013 whereby the writ petition filed by the writ petitioners was allowed and the resolution dated 15.02.2013 (Annexure P/1) passed by the Board of Director and the order of promotion dated 26.10.2013 were quashed. 2 Brief facts of the case as emerges from the pleadings of the writ petition and the documents annexed thereto, are that writ petitioners were initially appointed on the post of Date Entry Operator (Technical & Supervisory) Grade-E in the year 2012. They were promoted to the post of Grade-D and thereafter Grade-C. The consideration for 6 promotion to the next higher post of Grade-B from Grade-C was seniority cum merit for the technical supervisory grade whereas, from Grad-B to Grade-A it was merit cum seniority. On 504th meeting of the management dated 31.12.2012 a decision was taken for promotion of departmental candidate directly in the technical and supervisory Grade-B & Grade-C based on the qualification of Bachelor of Engineering/Diploma in Engineering by ignoring the promotional channel provided in the cadre scheme of National Coal Wage Agreement (in short, NCWA). The said decision was further approved by the Board of Director on 15.02.2013 (Annexure P/1). The writ petitioners have challenged the decision taken by the management dated 31.12.2012 and its approval by the Board of Directors dated 15.02.2013 by filing WPS No.1079 of 2013 and other connected batch of writ petitions in which an interim order was passed on 31.07.2013 and the respondent authorities were restrained from giving effect to the recommendation to the extent of filling up of the post of Data Entry Operator Grade-C. The order of promotion/appointment pursuant to the scheme was stayed to Grade-B by the order dated 11.11.2013, but prior to that the respondent authorities had implemented their policy and private respondents were promoted to the post of Date Entry Operator Technical and Supervisory Grade-B vide order dated 26.10.2013 which were under challenge in the writ petition. 3 Learned counsel for the writ appellants would submit that the writ appellants are provided dependent employment who were the land oustees. The writ appellants are having higher qualification of BE and Diploma in Engineering and there was no channel for their promotion therefore a policy decision was taken by the respondent authorities to 7 give them one time benefit of promotion. Some of land oustees and dependent were promoted from Grade-D to Grade-C and from Grade- C to Grade-B taking into consideration their qualification. The decision taken by the management dated 31.12.2012 was approved by the Board of Directors on 15.02.2013. After considering the merits of the private respondents by the Departmental Promotion Committee (in short DPC), they were considered for promotion pursuant to the scheme dated 15.02.2013 and there was no intention of the management to bypass the seniority and the entire exercise was completed in accordance with provisions of NCWA which was having binding effect upon the party. 4 The counsel for appellants would further submit that learned Single Judge has erred in conclusion that without noticing the provisions of NCWA the respondent authorities have promoted the private respondents. The persons employed under the dependent employment/rehabilitation policy and the persons who is having technical qualification of BE/Diploma in Engineering is having intelligible differentia in classification, the Single Judge have not considered the law laid down by the Supreme Court with that respect. Therefore, the impugned order is liable to be set aside and the writ petition may also be dismissed. 5 Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioners have submitted that the service conditions of writ petitioners are governed under the recommendation of Central Wage Board for Coal Mining Industry for which the NCWA was executed and the settlement in terms of Sub-section(3) of Section 18 of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 are binding on all the parties to the industrial dispute. The scheme framed 8 under NCWA for promotion from the post of Junior Data Entry Operator Grade-E to Grade-D, from Grade-D to Grade-C, from Grade-C to Grade-B and from Grade-B to Grade-A, the minimum criteria for promotion is seniority cum merit from the technical and supervisory Grade-D to B and merit cum seniority from Grade-B to Grade-A. The Data Entry Operator (T&S) Grade can be promoted to the next higher post i.e. Grade-C. In NCWA, there is no provision for promotion of a non cadre employee to enter into this channel. The private respondents were appointed as category-1 Daily Rated/Piece Rated employee but have the qualification of BE or Diploma in Engineering and directly promoted to Grade-B ignoring the provisions of NCWA. By the said scheme of promotion, the private respondents who are dependent appointee or land oustee have been promoted bypassing the seniority of the writ petitioners. He would also submit that only to extend the benefit of promotion to their blue-eyed employees, the said policy decision was taken which has been turned down by learned Single Judge which is strictly in accordance with law and needs no interference. 6 We have heard the counsel for the parties and perused the documents annexed with the writ petition as well as writ appeal. 7 From perusal of documents annexed with the writ petition, it is evident that private respondents No.4 to 19 of the writ petition were initially appointed as Daily Rated/Piece Rated employees though they possessed the qualification of BE/Diploma in Engineering. The writ petitioners were appointed as Data Entry Operator (T&S) Grade-E on regular basis. The petitioners were promoted to the next higher post of Grade-D after completion of three years of their service according to 9 the scheme of NCWA. It is also provided in the NCWA the channel of promotion from the feeder cadre particularly for the Data Entry Operator (T&S) group which is relevant here to be reproduced: Designation/Grade/Feeder Post Next Higher Grade & Eligibility Junior Data Entry Operator (Trainee) T & S Gr. ‘E’ Any permanent employee having matriculate or equivalent certificate with 3 years service in the Company Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ On Completion of 1 yr as Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘E’ Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘C’ 3 year experience as Jr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘D’ Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘C’ Sr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ 3 year experience as Data Entry Operator Y & S Gr. ‘C’ Sr. Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ Sr. Data Entry Operator Grade I T & S Grade ‘A’ 3 years experience as Data Entry Operator T & S Gr. ‘B’ 8 From perusal of the said channel provided in NCWA for promotion of Data Entry Operator (T&S) group, it is clear that the minimum criteria of experience is three years for their promotion. In that scheme of NCWA for promotion there is no provision for promotion to higher post from any other channel. The employees who are recruited from any other source cannot enter into this channel as per NCWA. The private respondents No. 4 to 9 of the writ petition were initially appointed as Daily Rated employee and they did not have any substantive post in the department and they did not have any cadre also as per the above mentioned chart. 9 The decision of respondent authorities taken on 31.12.2012 to promote departmental candidates who possessed BE/Diploma in Engineering in T&S Grade-B and Grade-C which has been approved by the Board of 10 Directors on 15.02.2013, certain employees of Grade-D and Grade-C were considered for placement in the respective cadre as one time arrangement and the decision taken by the management would show that this benefit was extended to 10 employees who were having BE Degree and 14 employees who were having Diploma in Engineering. 10 In absence of any provision in the NCWA, the respondent authorities or Ministry of Coal or even the Management cannot make a decision to promote the candidate who were not in promotion channel. The respondent authorities should have considered the intelligible differentia between those two groups exists the nexus between the differentia and the object of the legislation. After considering the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the matter of Union of India Vs. Atul Shukla, AIR 2015 SC 1777 and after considering the facts of the present case, the learned Single Judge has considered that the decision taken by the management is contrary to the provisions of promotion of Data Entry Operator (T&S) given in the NCWA and there is no intelligible differential. The learned Single Judge has further considered that there is no reason to bypass the terms of NCWA and to take such a decision. The Single Judge has also considered the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the matter of State of Uttarakhand Vs. Sudhir Budakoti and Others, 2022 (13) SCC 256 and considered the exigencies and divert situation and came into conclusion that the services of workmen working in coalmines are governed by the settlement known as NCWA and the terms and conditions of the said NCWA is binding on the parties as provided under Sub-section (3) of Section 18 of the Act, 1947, unless the same is altered, modified or substituted by another settlement. 11 11 In the present case the respondent authorities could not show any alteration, modification or substitution in the said NCWA to extend the promotional benefit to private respondents. Considering the provisions of NCWA and also under the facts and circumstances of the case learned Single Judge has allowed the writ petition filed by the writ petitioners and quashed the resolution dated 15.02.2013 passed by the Board of Director and order of promotion dated 26.10.2013. 12 From the overall consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case as also the provisions of NCWA, we are of the view that the order passed by learned Single Judge is absolutely justified and we are also of the view that if there is no provision in the NCWA for creating such type of promotional channel in the Data Entry Operator (T&S), it cannot be done in the manner it was done without there being any alteration, modification or substitution in the relevant provision of NCWA. 13 In writ appeal no interference is warranted in the order passed by the Single Judge unless palpable infirmities are being shown in the impugned order. From perusal of entire material placed on record, we do not find any such infirmities or irregularities in the order passed by learned Single Judge which warrants interference of this court. 14 Therefore, we do not find any sufficient ground to interfere with the findings recorded by learned Single Judge and the writ appeal is liable to be and is hereby dismissed. Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice inder