Holding

The concession for automatic promotion of SC/ST candidates applies only when the candidate falls within the actual number of vacancies; being merely on the selection list does not entitle automatic promotion.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined whether a Scheduled Caste officer, placed 39th on a promotion selection list for Officer Scale II, was entitled to automatic promotion under a concession in NABARD circulars. The bank had 17 vacancies and a circular stating that SC/ST candidates within the number of vacancies would be automatically promoted, avoiding the usual selection process. The officer did not fall within the 17 vacancies and failed the interview, prompting a writ petition for promotion. The Court held that the concession applies only when the candidate is within the actual number of vacancies; mere inclusion in the selection list does not confer a right to promotion. Consequently, the High Court's order directing the bank to promote the officer was set aside and the appeal was allowed.

Issues considered

Whether a Scheduled Caste/Tribe candidate who is on the promotion selection list but not within the number of available vacancies is entitled to automatic promotion under the NABARD concession.
Whether the reservation provision in the bank's circular creates a substantive right to promotion for SC/ST candidates irrespective of vacancy count.
Whether the Assam Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Vacancies in Service and Posts) Act, 1978 applies to Regional Rural Banks governed by NABARD.
Whether the High Court correctly interpreted the concession in the circular.

Subjects

reservationpromotionScheduled CasteScheduled TribeconcessionNABARD circularRegional Rural Bankservice lawmerit-cum-seniorityselection listautomatic promotion

Judgment

[2009] 2 S.C.R. 299

(
!!!!!!!!llo..
i PRAGJYOTISH GAONLIA BANK & ANR. A
v
BRIJLAL DAS
Civil Appeal No. 977 of 2009
FEBRUARY 13, 2009
B
[ALTAMAS KABIR AND MARKANDEY KATJU, JJ.]

1'
Service Law - Reservation - For promotion - Candidate
of schedule caste - Finding place in selection List, but not
coming within number of available vacancies - Held: not
entitled for promotion - Automatic promotion as per c
concession provided in the Circular issued by NABARD, can
be given to SC/ST candidate only when he comes within the
number of available vacancies, and not when he finds place
in Selection List for the same - Circular dated 9.11.1994
~ issued by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural D
Development.
The question for consideration before this Court was
whether respondent No.1, belonging to Scheduled Caste
employed with the appellant-Bank as officer Scale I, was
entitled to be promoted as Officer Scale II, even if he did E
not come within the purview of available vacancies for
> ...-
the/ post.

•• Allowing the appeal, the Court
. HELD: 1.1 The provision relatinQ, to reservation F
posts, contained in the Circular dated 10 June, 1997, has
been wrongly interpreted by the Division Bench of the
High Court. The said condition is in the nature of a
concession as was contemplated in the circular dated 9th
'"' , November, 1994, issued by NABARD in order to give an G
opportunity to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
candidate to be automatically appointed, if he came within
the number of vacancies available. It was a concession
to enable such a candidate to avoid the process of
299 H
300 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 2 S. C.R.

A selection, which all the other candidates were required to
undergo. [Para 16] [ 306-G, H; 307-A, B]
1.2 Respondent No.1 was at Serial No.39 in the
Selection List and did not, therefore, come within the
number of available vacancies i.e 17 and, consequently,
8
he had to compete with all the other candidates for being
selected for one of the vacancies. The High Court's
understanding that as a Scheduled Caste candidate, the
petitioner, was entitled to be considered for one of the
C vacancies, is, therefore, erroneous since the provision
relating to the aforesaid concession does not contemplate
such a right in favour of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled
Tribe candidate.[Para 17] [ 307-D, E]
National Federation of S.B.I. v. _Union of India (1995) 3
D sec 532- relied on. ..
Case Law Refernece
(1995) 3 sec 532 Relied on Para 17
,_
E CIVILAPPELLATE J.URISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 977 '
of 2009

From the final Judgement and Order dated 29;6.2006 of
the Gauhati High Court in Writ Appeal No. 518 of 200,2

F Dhruv Mehta, Yashrah Singh Deora, Mohit Abr€lham and
T.S. Sabarish (for M/s. K.L. Mehta & Co.), for the Appellants.
Manish Goswami (for M/s. Map & Co.), .for the Respondent.
The Judgement of the Court was delivered by..
G
ALTAMAS KABIR, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. The appellant Bank, which is a rural bank and is
H governed by the circulars issued from time to time by the
•
' r

PRAGJYOTISH GAONLIA BANK & ANR. V. 301
BRIJLAL DAS

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter A
referred to as 'NABARD'), has challenged the decision of the
Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court, allowing Writ Appeal
No. 518 of 2002, and directing the appellant Bank to issue
necessary orders for giving effect of promotion to the
respondent No.1, Brijlal Dass, to the Officer Scale II Grade from B
the date his juniors in the Grade of Officers Scale I i.e. respondent
Nos. 17, 18 and 19, were promoted to the Officers Scale II.
3. In 1997 the appellant Bank categorised 17 additional
Scale I branches as additional Scale II branches. The Bank,
therefore, proposed to promote 17 Officers of the Scale I Grade c
to the Grade of Officers Scale II and issued a Circular to that
effect on 10.6.2007. As per the eligibility criteria, all officers,
who had put in minimum service of 8 years in the Officers' cadre
as on 31.12.1996, were eligible to appear for an interview for
"'I internal promotion. The total number of candidates would be D
"' restricted to 4 four times the number of vacancies. It was decided
by the Bank that such promotion would be on the basis of merit-
cum-seniority, and that out of a maximum of 150 marks 40 marks
were set apart for the number of years in service. The remaining
110 marks were allocated towards performance at the work E
place and in the interview, indicating that the selection procedure
was to be on the basis of merit-cum-seniority.
,,,. .I.

4. The case of the appellant Bank is that no reservation
had been provided for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
candidates in the matter of promotion by selection from Scale I F
to Scale II and from Scale II to Scale Ill posts in Regional Rural
Banks, and that candidates were generally subjected to interview
/written tests. However, in order to provide some benefit to
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates a
~ f concession was included in the Circular dated 10.6.1997 which G
was in keeping with certain conditions which had been provided
by the Circular dated 9.11.1994 issued by NABARD and also
certain other Government Circulars. The said concession is set
out hereinbelow :
H
_/
'
302 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 2 S.C.R.
..
A "Reservation Posts:- ~
.,..
The scheduled castes and scheduled tribes Officers, who
are senior enough in the zone of consideration for
promotion so as to be within the number of vacancies for
which the select list has to be drawn up would be included

,
B in the list provided they are not considered unfit for
promotion."
5. In terms of the said concession, officers belonging to !\-
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, falling within the
c number of vacancies from the list drawn up on the basis of
seniority, would be psomoted to the Officers Scale II Grade
•
automatically, provided they were not unfit for promotion.
6. At this stage it may be indicated that since 17 vacancies
. were available, 68 candidates were called for interviews for filling
D up the said 17 vacancies. The respondent No.1 did not fall within "'
the first 17 names in the aforesaid list but w~s placed at S. No.39
as per his seniority. As a result, though, he was called for
interview, he was not automatically selected for promotion to
the Scale II grade.
,
)
E
7. The respondent No.1 and one Shri Nagendra Chander
Dass, both of whom figured in the list of 68 eligible candidates
and were within the zone of consideration, were called for the
interview but were not found fit for 12romotion. They, accordingly,
°)..
.... "'
filed Civil Writ Petition No.1601 of 1998 for quashing the
F abovementioned Circular dated 15.9.1997 issued by the Bank )
on the basis whereof the successful candidates have been
promoted and also prayed that since both of them belong to the
Scheduled Caste community they should have been appointed ·•
against the reserved posts and that the reservation policy
G followed by the Bank was contrary to the reservation policy
l.
followed by the Government of Assam.
8. The learned single judge disposed of the writ petition
on 17.7.2002, without expressing any opinion with regard to
Nagender Chander Dass as he had been promoted in the month ~
H
'\,
.....(

PRAGJYOTISH GAONLIA BANK & ANR. V. 303
BRIJLAL DAS [AlTAMAS KABIR J.]

-:"""' -f of February 2000, after he succeeded in the promotion test held A
on 15.2.2000 during the pendency of the writ petition. While
disposing of the writ petition the learned single Judge while
taking note of the fact that the respondent No.1 had been
punished in a disciplinary proceeding erroneously noted the
dates when the punishment was imposed and when it came to B
an end. Instead of indicating that the punishment awarded to
the respondent No.1 whereby 5 increments had been stopped
J
w.e.f. 1992 and ending in 1997 the learned single Judge
observed that the punishment had been imposed in 1995 and it
came to an end in the year 2000. The importance of the said
error would be evident from the fact that whereas the punishment c
of respondent N0.1 came to an end in March 1997, the
Departmental Promotion Committee meeting was held on
15.9.1997 and on that date the learned single Judge found that
respondent No.1 was eligible for promotion since the period of
.... punishment was already over, and directed that the respondent D
No.1 's promotion should be considered by the bank along with
other eligible candidates as and when the next promotion was
considered by the authorities. This lapse on the part of the single
Judge was used to his advantage by the respondent in preferring
an appeal before the Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court.
E

•--
I
The Division Bench without going into the question of eligibility,
apart from the aforesaid error in noting the dates relating to the
-----l punishment order of 2001 set aside the order of the single Judge
-i
dismissing the writ petition and allowed the writ appeal with
direction to appoint the respondent No.1 in the Officers' Scale
Grade II from the date his juniors in the cadre of Officers Scale F
I had been promoted to the higher scale.
9. The Bank has filed the present appeal against the
aforesaid order of the Division Bench and has in particular
challenged the direction given to the Bank to promote the
G
•f respondent No.1 to the Officers Grade Scale-II.
10. Appearing for the appellant Bank, Mr. Dhruv Mehta,
submitted that the Division Bench of the High Court had decided
• the appeal on an erroneous understanding of the issue involved.
Mr. Mehta submitted that without applying its mind to the facts
..... H
304 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 2 S. C.R.

A of the case, the Division Bench simply repeated the findings of
the learned single Judge. The Division Bench lost sight of the
fact that first of all the question of eligibility for being considered
for promotion had to be cleared before clearing the cases of
the candidates who had been called for the interview could be
B taken up for consideration. Mr. Mehta emphasised the fact that
no reservation was provided for in respect of the 17 vacancies
and only a concession had been made which is reflected in the
circular dated 15.9.1997 issued by the bank for making the
promotions in the vacancies to the post of Officer Scale II. The
relevant portion of the circular dated 10.6.1997 regarding
C reservation posts has been extracted hereinbefore and
according to Mr. Mehta the same was not for the purpose of
reservation of posts as such, but for providing a benefit or
concession to a Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes
candidate in the matter of promotion subject to eligibility. Mr.
D Mehta submitted that the respondent No.1 and Shri Nagendra
Chander Dass were within the seniority which brought them into ,-
the zone of consideration and enabled them to appear in the
interview, but on the strength of their performance they were not I
considered eligible to fill up any of the vacant 17 posts. Mr. Mehta .)-
'
E urged that had they been of sufficient seniority they would have
been included in respect of one of the 17 vacancies which would
have entailed them to be automatically included within the
available number of vacancies for automatic appointment. Mr.
Mehta urged that this was the extent of reservation as was
contemplated in the Bank's circular dated 10.6.1997. In other
F words, it was not the post which was sought to be reserved but
any of the available post could have been filled in by a Scheduled
Castes or Scheduled Tribes candidate if he was found eligible
accotdin9 to the norms. Having been placed at the 39th position
in the list of candidates who were to be interviewed for the vacant
G 17 po~ts, the respondent No.1 was duly interviewed but he did
not clear the requisite number of marks which would have made
him eligible for being automatically promoted and appointed.
11. Mr. Mehta urged that this point had been completely 1

misunderstood or overlooked by the Division Bench while
H allowing the writ appeal and also directing the bank to give
PRAGJYOTISH GAONLIA BANK & ANR. V. · 305
BRIJLAL DAS [ALTAMAS KABIR J.]

- 1' appointment to the respondent No.1. It was submitted that the A
same was contrary to the Policy of the appellant and, if followed
could have serious consequences not orily for the respondent
No.1 herein, but also for all those who had already been
appointed against the vacancies in question.
12. Referring to a three~Judge Bench decision of this Court B
in National Federation of S.8.1. v. Union of India [1995) 3 SCC
532] Mr. Mehta submitted that the provisions similar to that of
the Circular dated 10.6.1997 had fallen for consideration and
the same had been very lucidly explained to mean that the list of
eligible candidates for consideration for filling up the vacancies c
is but another name for 'the zone of consideration' referred to in
the circular of the bank .dated 10.6.1997, where as those
candidates who came within the preferred requisite vacancies
would be automatically given the benefit of promotion without
any further process of selection. In other words, if the Scheduled
Caste or Scheduled Tribe candidates, on the basis of the marks
0
•
awarded came within the first 17 vacancies he would not be
subjected to any further selection process but would be
automatically granted promotion which would not be the case
with candidate from the general category. The respondent No.1
having been placed at serial no. 39 was entitled to be called for E
interview, but Mr. Mehta submitted that the said concession in
the Circular dated 10.6, 1997 would not apply to him since he
was not within the first 17 candidates which would have entitled
I him to automatic selection. Mr. Mehta urged that the direction
I
' given by the Division Bench of the High Court was contrary to F
the concession contained in the Circular dated 10.6.1997 and
was liable to be set aside, having regard to the fact that Regional
Rural Banks were governed by the Regional Rural Banks Act,
1976, and the circulars issued by NABARD and not by the State
Government. Furthermore, having once submitted to the
selection process and having proved unsuccessft,JI the G
respondent No.1 was not entitled to challenge the selection
process as was held by this Court in the case of G.N. Nayak v.
Goa University and others [(2002) 3SCC 712].
13. On the other hand, it was urged by Mr. Manish H
306 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 2 S.C.R.

A Goswamy, learned advocate for the respondent, that the claim ~ _,
of the appellant Bank was erroneous and the matter had been
considered by the Division Bench in its correct perspective and
diei not warrant any interference. It was urged that the question
of reservation had been categorically included in the circular
dated 10.6.1997 issued by the Bank in order to provide for
B
reservation and by not following the said directions, the appellant
Bank had erred in negating the claim of the respondent No.1.
14. Mr. Goswamy submitted that the provisions for ~
promotion, as engrafted in the Circular dated 10.6.1997, was
c to benefit candidates from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes coming within the zone of consideration and was not
confined only to candidates who came within the number of
vacancies.
15. Replying to Mr. Mehta's contentions, Mr. Goswamy
p sub_rnitted that the respondent was the lone Scheduled Caste )'
candidate amongst all the candidates and since no roster was •
maintained and no post was reserved within the 17 vacancies
~v(:lilable, at least one post out of the 17 vacancies should have
been reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate, in view of the
fact that at least 7 per cent of the vacancies was required to be
E
kept reserved according to the reservation policy of the State
Goverr:iment. It was also pointed out that even if the Assam
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of j.. ....
Vacancie$ ,in Service and Posts) Act, 1978, was held not apply
to the Regional Rural Development Banks which are governed
F by NABARD and Central Government circulars, in view of the
policy of reservation indicated both in the NABARD Circular
dated 9. 11.94 and the Bank's Circular dated 10.6.1997, the
Respondent No.1 was entitled to be appointed against one of
the 17 v~cancies. '
G 16. Having carefully considered the submissions made on ) ...
b~half of the respective parties, we are inclined to agree with
Mr. Mehta that the provision relating to reservation posts,
extracted hereinabove, contained in the Circular dated 10 n
1 ,•,.
Jµne, 1997, has been wrongly interpreted by the Division Bench
H ef th~ High Court. The said condition is in the nature of a
PRAGJYOTISH GAONLIA BANK & ANR. V. 307
BRIJLAL DAS [AlTAMAS KABIR J]
1
._ -+
concession as was contemplated in the circular dated 9 h A
November, 1_994, issued by NABARD in order to give an
opportunity to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe candidate
to be automatically appointed, if he came within the number of
vacancies available. It was a concession to enable such a
candidate to avoid the process of selection, which all the other
8
candidates were required to undergo.
17. The said provision has been very elaborately explained
by the Three-Judge Bench of this Court in National Federation
~
of S.8.1. v. Union of India (supra). As has been explained in the
said judgment, the zone of consideration is the list of selected
candidates chosen in order of seniority to be considered for
c
the purpose of filling up the available vacancies and merely by
coming within the zone of consideration a Scheduled Caste or
Scheduled Tribe candidate would not be entitled to automatic
selection. The concession relating to reservation does not mean
that any of the vacant posts were required to be kept reserved D
'?(
• for such Scheduled Caste or Scheduted Tribe candidate. It is
only when such a candidate came within the number of
vacancies that such a concession would be applicable to him/
her for appointment without going through the selection process.
In the instant case, the Respondent No.1 was at Serial No.39 E
and did not, therefore, come within the number of available
vacancies and, consequently, he had to compete with all the
,> ,. other candidates for being selected for one of the vacancies.
The High Court's understanding that as a Scheduled Caste
candidate, the petitioner, was entitled to be considered for one
F
of the vacancies, is, therefore, erroneous since the provision
relating to the aforesaid concession does not contemplate such
a right in favour of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
candidate.
18. The appeal filed on behalf of the'Bank must, therefore,
succeed and is allowed. The judgments of both the learned G
.___ j
Single Judge as well as the Division Bench of the High Court
are set aside.
19. There will, however, be no order as to costs.

K.K.T. Appeal allowed.