Holding

The Presidential Order merging the Time Keepers cadre with the clerical cadre is binding; employees who were in the original Time Keepers cadre must be given an option or compensation before transfer, while those who joined after the merger may be transferred without consent.

Summary

The case concerned the merger of the Time Keepers cadre with the clerical cadre in all Naval establishments by a Presidential Order dated 14 September 1966. The Supreme Court examined whether the subsequent order of 5 December 1966 could alter that merger and whether employees could be transferred without losing overtime and bonus benefits. It held that the Presidential Order was the controlling instrument and could not be modified by the later order, which was therefore ignored. Employees who were part of the Time Keepers cadre before the merger must be given a choice or compensation if transferred, whereas those who joined after the merger are bound by it and may be transferred without consent. Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeals of five senior employees who were in the original cadre, dismissed the others, and rejected the writ petition.

Issues considered

The effect of the Presidential Order of 14 September 1966 on the status of the Time Keepers cadre.
Whether the subsequent order of 5 December 1966 could modify or override the Presidential Order.
The right of employees who were in the Time Keeping Department before the merger to resist transfer and claim compensation for loss of overtime and bonus.
The rights of employees who joined the Time Keeping Department after the merger to resist transfer.
The impact of the cancellation of the 5 December 1966 order on earlier High Court judgments.

Subjects

service lawcadre mergertransferovertime benefitpromotionpresidential orderadministrative lawemployment benefits

Judgment

SHANKAR PANDURANG JADHAV AND ORS. ETC.
A
v.
VICE-ADMIRAL, FLAG OFFICER, COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF
r, AND ORS. ETC.

FEBRUARY 5, 1991
B
[A.M. AHMADI, V. RAMASWAMI AND
M. FATHIMA BEEVI, JJ.]

----..,..- Service and Labour Law: Transfer-Naval Dockyard-Time
Keepers Cadre~Entitled to benefits of over-time and productivity
linked bonus-Merger with clerical cadre-To provide avenues of pro-
motion-Transfer to other ministerial departments entailing loss of
c
benefit of over-time and bonus-Transfers resisted-Held that emplo-
yees who were serving in the Time Keeping Department before the
merger order not to be transferred without theTr ciinsent-Those joining
after the merger order have no right to resist transfer.
D
Service law-Presidential order merging Time Keepers Cadre
with Clerical Cadre-Subsequent Order issued by the Western Naval
Command-Inconsistency if any to be ignored as it could not alter or
modify the Presidential Order-To be read harmoniously with the Pre-
sident Order.
E
- _____._ The appellants and Writ Petitioners are serving in the Time keeping
Department of the Naval Dockyard, Bombay under the control of the
Western Naval Command. With a view to removing the stagnation in
the cadre of Time Keepers for lack of _promotional avenues, the
Government of India, Miriistry of Defence, by its letter dated 14.9.1966
addressed to the Chief of Naval Staff conveyed the sanction of the f
President to the merger of the Time Keepers Cadre with the Clerical
Cadre in all Naval establishments. Consequent to this merger the
Jr. Time Keepers were to be re-designated as Lower Division Clerks
and Sr. Time Keepers as Upper Division Clerks. A few days thereafter
the Office of the Rear Admiral, Western Naval Command, issued a
letter dated 5.12.1966 which reads as under: G

"

2. This merger is intended only to give promotion to the Time
Keepers along with the LDC /UDC. Their duties, terms and conditions H

219
220 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1991] I S.C.R.

of Service will remain the same and their hours of work will also con-
A tinue to be 45 in a week.

3. Consequent upon the issue of this order and in order to distin-
guish them from the UDC /LDC and UDC(s) /LDC(s) the sutitx "T" will
be added after their designation.
B

......................
"
/
· · As per their conditions of service the employees serving in the
Ti.me keeping Department were entitled to the benefit of over-time and !'-
. productivity-linked bonus but those belonging to the clerical cadre
C working in the Administrative Offices of the Dockyard were not
entitled to these benefits.

One Thoppil Ramakrishnan on being transferred in August 1980
as UDC(T) in the Spare Parts Distribution Centre, challenged his trans-
D fer by a Writ Petition in the High Court of Bombay wherein he con-
tended that as he was initially appointed Jr. Time Keeper and pro-
moted as UDC(T) in 1967 he belonged to a special cadre and could not
be transfered to the general cadre as that would entail loss of benefit of
over-time and bonus. The High Court treating the letter dated 5th
December, 1966 as inerely clarificatory, held that there was no complete
E merger of the two cadres and on the statement of the counsel for the
petitioner that the petitioner will not claim the benefit of promotion in
the clerical cadre, allowed the writ petition quashing the transfer order.

Realising the.situation created by its letter of 5th December, 1966
the Western Naval Command cancelled the said letter and consequently
F inter-se transfers became possible. Thereafter, some employees in the
Time Keeping Department were transfered by orders dated 17.4.1985
and 5.10.1985. The affected employees f'lled Writ Petitions in the High
Court which were later transferred to the Central Administrative Tri-
bun~I. The Tribunal came to the conclusion that after the cancellation
of the Order dated 5.12.1966, the field was held by the Presidential
G Order dated 14.9.1966, that under the merger Scheme envisaged by the
said order the employees in the Time Keeping Department no longer
belonged to a separate Cadre and as such the Authorities were entitled
to transfer them to. other ministerial
- branches. The Petitions were
· accordingly dismissed by a coinn,onjudgmel!t dated 9th October, 1989.
This ju~gme~t is ~ss~iled by the concerned employees in the appeals
H ~efore t~is court. O~e Writ Petition has also been filed by some other
S.P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL 221

employees apprehending similar transfers.

Allowing the appeals partly insofar as they relate to five emp-
loyees who belonged to the separate cadre of the Time Keeping Depart-
ment at the date of issuance of the Presidential Order and dismissing
the same in respect of the remaining appellants and also dismissing the
Writ Petition, this Court, B

HELD: The letter of 14th September, 1966 clearly refers to the
Presidential sanction ''to the merger of the cadre of Time Keepers with
the clerical cadre in all Naval establishments". Consequent on this
merger! the Junior Time Keepers were to be redesignated as Lower
......
. Division Clerks and the Senior time Keepers as Upper Division Clerks.
There is nothing in this letter to convey that they were to retain their c
identity as Time Keepers. [227E]

'"' The subsequent order of 5th December, 1966 issued by the
Western Naval Command could not alter this Presidential Order. If that
subsequent order was found to be inconsistent with the Presidential D
Order, it had to be ignored for the simple reason that the Officers of the
Naval establishment were not competent to alter, very or modify a
Presidential Order. [228B]

It is difficult to understand how those who entered the Time
Keeping Department after the merger order, can refuse to go on trans- E
fer on the plea that they would suffer a financial loss. They can have no
right to the post in the Time Keeping Department. So long as they are
there and are discharging the functions of the Time Keeper, they would
be entitled to the special benefit of over-time and bonus but on that plea
they cannot contend that they are not transferable to the ministerial
.~ posts. We have, therefore, no hesitation in concluding that those who F
'--.,-_./joined the Time Keeping Department after the Presidential Order
became effective, have no right to continue in that department merely
because their transfer would entail economic loss since they are gover-
ned 'by the merger scheme which had become operative before their
entry in that department. They were bol".lle on the common cadre and
were never members of the original Time Keepers Cadre. [229G-230B] G
So far as those Time Keepers who were serving in the Time
Keeping Department on and before the date of the implementation of
the Presidential Order and wlto continue to serve in the same depart-
ment are concerned, the department should give them an option if they
are proe.osed to be transferred outside ~hat departiµeJJt p~ the depart- H
222 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1991] 1 S.C.R.

A ment should undertake to make good the economic loss which they are
likely to suffer on transfer. ·[230F-G]

The State of Kera la v. M. K. Krishnan ·Nair & Ors., [1973] 1 SCC
552, referred to.

B CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 552-
554of1991.

From the Judgment and Order dated 9.10.1989 of the Central
Administrative Tribunal, New Bomb.ay in Transfer Applications
No. 430, 431and433 of 1987.
c B.K. Mehta, C.P. Pandey, M. Chopra and V.N. Sharma for the
Appellants. ·

K. Lahiri, Ms. Kitti Kumaramangalam and Ms. Sushma Suri '-y'
(NP) for the Respondents.
D
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

AHMADI, J. Special leave granted.

The appellants and the writ petitioners are presently serving in
E the Time Keeping Department of the Naval Dockyard, Bombay,
.which is under: the administrative control of the Vice-Amira!, Flag
Officer, Commanding-in-chief, Western Naval Command, Bombay.
Ih the said department there are several posts of Junior Time Keepers
and only two posts of Senior Time Keepers. Since the promotional
posts were limited in number there was.stagnation at the base level of
F Junior Time Keepers. With a view to removing this stagnation, the
cadre of Time Keepers was sought to be amalgamated with the clerical
cadre in the same department. On 14th September, 1966, the Under
Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Defence, wrote a
letter to the Chief of Naval Staff on the subject of amalgamation of the
Time Keepers cadre with the clerical cadre. The text of the letter reads
G as under: ·

"Sir,

I am directed to convey the sanction of the President to the
merger of the cadre of time keepers with the clerical cadre
H in all Naval Establishments. Consequent on this merger,
S.P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL [AHMADI, J.) 223

Senior Time Keepers will be redesignated as Upper Divi- A
sion Clerks. The authorised ratio of 1:4 between UDGs and
LDCs will be · maintained after this merger · but where
because of the merger and redesignation of Senior Time
Keepers as Upper Division Clerks the number of Upper
Division Clerks exceeds the authorised ratio, no reversions ·
B.
will be made and the excess vacancies of Upper Division
Clerks will be adjusted against vacancies of Upper Division
Clerks becoming available by way of increase in Establish-
ment, retirement, etc.

2. The existing pay of the time keepers will be protected

- and they will continue to draw increments in the·new cadre
on the due dates:

3. Any subsidiary instructions regarding seniority promo-
C

tion etc. will be issued by you.
D,
4. This letter issues with the concurrence of Ministry of
Finance (Defence/Navy) vide their u.o no. 3161 NA dated
31.8.1866.,,

A few <lays later another letter dated 5th December, 1966 was issued
by the office of the Rear Admiral, Western Naval Command,
E
Bombay, on the same subject which reads as under:

"In accordance with the Govt. of India, Ministry of
Defence
.
letter No. CP(A)/4895/NHQ/8634/D/N-II- dated
14th September 1966 the Cadre of Time Keepers will be
merged with that of LDC/UDC with effect from 1st De-
cember, 1966. F

2. This merger is intended only' to give promotion to the
Time Keepers alongwith the -i.DC/UDC. Their duties,
terms and conditions of service will remain the same and
their hours of work will also continue to be 45 in a week.
G
3. Consequent upon the issue of this order. and in order to
distinguish them from the UDC/LDC and UDC(s)/LDC(s)
the suffix "T" will be added after their designation. All
records and correspondence relating to them should also be
indicated by this suffix."
H
224 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1991] 1 S.C.R.

The employee-s working in the Time Keeping Department were en-
A titled to the benefit of over-time. and productivity linked bonus since
they were considered to belong to the industrial wing. Lower Division
Clerks and Upper Division Clerks belonging to the cleric.al cadre who
were working in different administrative offices of the Naval Dockyard
were no_t entitled to this benefit. Therefore, when one Thoppil
B Ramakrishnan was transferred in August, 1980 as UDC(T) in the
Spare Parts Distribution Centre, he challenged his transfer by filing a
Writ Petition No. 1065/80 in the High Court of Bombay on the ground
that since_ he was appointed as Junior ·Time keeper in 1953 and was
promoted as UDC(T) in 1967 he belonged to a special cadre and could
not be transferred to the general cadre as that would entail loss of the
c benefit of over-time and productivity linked bonus. His petition was
allowded by the High Court by the judgment and order dated 1st
March, 1984._ The High Court, treating the letter of 5th December,
1966 as clarificatory, concluded that the merger was intended for the
-
sole purpose of making available to the Time Keepers avenues of -y
promotion in the clerical cadre but their terms and conditions of
D service were to remain in tact and it is for that purpose that they were
to be designated by the suffix "T". The High Court, therefore, held
that there was no complete merger of the two cadres. The High Court,
however, realised that Time Keepers could not be given promotion to
more responsible assignments unless they received the required
experience of administrative work normally available to Lower Divi-
E sioH Clerks and Uppet Division Clerks, but rested content on the
statement made by the counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner
will not claim the benefit of promotion in the clerical cadre. On this
statement the High Court made the rule absolute. Against this judg-
_ment a Letters Patent Appeal was filed but without success. Another
Writ Petition No. 1066/80 filed by Chol> Singh Tamar was similarly
F disposed of by the same learned Judge on the next day i.e. 2nd March
1984.

Botti the above Judgments were mainly based on the language of
the letter of 5th December, 1966. Realising the difficulty created by
the said letter, the Flag Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Western
G Naval Command, Bombay, cancelled the said letter by his communica-
tion dated 27th August, 1984. This subsequent communication reads
as under:

"1. Ministry of Defence Letter CP(A)/4895/NHQ/86341
D(N-II) dated 14 Sep. 66 is reproduced as Annexure I to
this order for information.
S:P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL [AHMADI, J.l 225

2. This Headquarters Civilian Establishment Order Part II A•
of 1966 No. 6 dated 05 Dec. 66 and 50/80 dated 23 Aug. 80 1

are hereby cancelled."

By· a subsequent letter dated 20th November, 1984 it was farther
directed that the suffix "S" and suffix "T" should be removed from all B
records and the incumbents should be redesignated as LDCs/UDcs.
On the cancellation of the Jetter of 5th December, 1966 and the
removal of the suffix "T", what survived was only the merger order of
· ---y 14th September, 1966. Consequently inter-se transfers from the Time
keeping Department to the various administrative departments of the
Naval Dockyard became possible. Thereupon, R.A. Sawant and R.D.
J awakar who were working in the Time Keeping Department were C
..... transferred on promotion as UDC by orders dated 17th April, 1985
and 5th October, 1985 respectively to other administrative depart-
ments of the Naval establishment. These transfers triggered off certain
writ petitions in the High Court of Bombay. On the constitutic>n of the
Central Administrative Tribunal for that area, those writ petitions
D
were transferred to the Tribunal for disposal in accordance with law.
The Tribunal by its impugned common judgment dated 9th October,
1989 came to the conclusion that after the cancellation of the order
dated 5th December, 1966 the field was held by the Presidential Order
referred to in the letter of 14th September, 1966. The Tribunal held
that the employees in the Time Keeping Department no longer
E
belonged to a separate cadre and the authorities were entitled to trans-
fer them to the other ministerial branches in the Naval establishment
under the Merger Scheme. In regard to the judgments delivered by the
High Court of Bombay on 1st and 2nd March, 1984, it opined that on
the cancellation of the order of 5th December, 1966 those decisions
had lost their force and the question had to be answered solely on the
F
basis of Presidential Order referred to in the letter of 14th September,
--; ~ 1966. In this view of the matter the Tribunal djsmissed the applications
~ and vacated the interim orders. It is against the said judgment of the
Tribunal that th~ aforesaid appeals have been filed.

Certain other employees who apprehended transfer from the
Time Keeping Department to other administrative departments in the
Naval establishment approached this Court directly by way of a writ
_ petition. Their contention is identical to the contention raised in the
---« appeals preferred against the impugned order of the Tribunal' We
will, therefore, dispose of the appeals as well as the writ petition by
th~s common judgment.
226 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1991] I S.C.R.

Mr. Mehta, the learned counsel. for the appellant-petitioners
A
contended that the employees working in the Time Keeping Depart-
ment of the Naval establishment perform duties which are distinct
from ordinary clerical duties and therefore they constitute a separate
and 'distinct cadre to which are attached certain additional n:ionetary
benefits, such as, over-time payment, productivity linked bonus, etc.,
B which would be iost to them if they are transferred to other administra-
tive departments of the Naval establishment. He submitted that since
the Junior Time Keepers did not have sufficient avenues for promotion
and were stagnating at the base leval and the Senior Time Keepers had
no promotional avenue altogether, their grievance was sought to be
redressed by providing them further avenues of promotion under the
Presidential Order, without depriving them of their identity and
c special benefits available as belonging to the industrial wing of the
establishment. According to him the Presidential Order of merger
contained in the 1·euer dated 14th September, 1966 was issued for this
-
limited purpose only of giving the Time Keepers an opportunity of
career advancement which was available to their counter-part in the
D administrative (Non-industrial) dep.artments of the. Naval establish-
ment but it was never intended to deprive them of the additional
monetary benefits to which they were entitled as belonging to the
industrial wing. In other words according to Mr. Mehta the merger of
the Time Keepers' cadre with the clerical cadre was only notional and
I imited to opening avenues for promotion for the former but there was
E no actual merger in the sense of the Time Keepers losing their identity
and that is why in the subsequent letter of 5th December, 1966 the
department rightly observed that their duties, terms anci conditions of
service will 'remain the same and their hours of work will continue to
be 45 in a week and they should be distinguished by the use of the
suffix "T" after their designation. The cancellation of the order of
F 5th December, 1966 by the subsequent order of 22nd August, 1984
. ~ioes not alter the situation contended Mr. Mehta and, therefore, said
he, the Tribunal was in error in coming to the conclusion that the
earlier two decisions of the Bombay High Court had lost their force.
He, therefore, submitted that the Tribunal's approach was clearly
erroneous and this Court must correct the same.
G
Mr. Lahiri, the learned counsel for the department contended
that the Presidential Order referred to in the letter of 4th September, ..
1966 had merged both the cadres and the Time Keepers were, there- T
fore, redesignated as Lower Djvision Clerks and Upper Division
Clerks. He submitted that there was no indication in the Presidential
H Order t~at these Time l{~ep~rs who were redesignated as LDCs/
S.P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL [AHMADI, J.l 227

UDCs will continue to constitute a separate cadre and yet be entitled
A
to promotion in the clerical cadre. He, therefore, submitted that the
subsequent order of 5th December, 1966 was issued on an erroneous
reading of the Presidential Order and when the department realised
the mistake after the High Court's judgments, it promptly cancelled
the said ord~r and restored the position as on the issuance of Presiden-
tial Order. He, therefore, submitted that the Tribunal was right in B
coming to the conclusion that as the High Court's judgments were
based on the subsequent order of 5th December, 1966 and the same
was since cancelled, the judgments no longer held the field and the
appellants-petitioners were not entitled to the benefit thereof. He
further pointed 'Out that under the Presidential Order the 'pay' of the
Time Keepers has been protected and therefore, they can have no

- cause to complain but such of those LDCs;UDCs who are posted in
the Time Keeping Department are allowed to draw overtime wages as
well as bonus admi'ssible under the relevant law. These benefits are
c

attached to the post and not the individual and the one who is manning
'"--r' . the same is entitled to them and not others. He, therefore, submitted
that this Court should not interfere with the view taken by the Tri- D
bunal and should dismiss these appeals as well as the writ petition.

We have carefully considered the contentions urged before us by
the learned counsel for the contesting parties. The letter of 14th
September, 1966 clearly refers to the Presidential sanction "to the
~ · ·~ IJ1erger of the cadre of Time Keepers with the clerical cadre in all E
Naval establishments". Consequent on this merger the Junior Tinie

.. Keepers were to be redesignated as Lower Division Clerks and the
Senior Time Keepers as Upper Division Clerks. There is nothing in
this Jetter to convey that they were to retain their identity as Time
Keepers. The letter further states that their entry into the clerical
cadre should not disturb the authorised ratio of 1:4 between UDCs and F
~.... LDCs. but where because of the merger and redesignation of Senior
'r-'Time Keepers as UDCs, the number of UDCs exceeds the authorised
ratio, there should be no revision but the excess should be adjusted
against vacancies becoming available by way of increase in establish-
ment, retirement, etc. Paragraph 2 of that letter states that the existing
pay of the Time Keepers will be protected and they will continue to
draw increments in the new cadre on the due dates. It is clear from the
above text of the letter of 14th September, 1966 that the intention was
- --< to merge the cadre of Time Keepers with the clerical cadre and to
adjust the imbalance. If any, caused on account of such merger ~n a
manner so as not to disturb the authorised ratio. The pay and incre-
ments of the Time Keepers were protected by the said order. There· . H
228 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1991) ! S.C.R.

frl, can, therefore, be no doubt that the plain language of the Presidential
Order as reproduced in the letter of 14th September, 1966, tlearly
manifests an intention to merge the existing Time Keepers' cadre with ~
the clerical cadre, albeit with a view to opening avenues for promotion
for the Time Keepers. The subsequent order of 5th December, 1966
issued by the Western Naval Command could not alter this Presiden-
B tial Order. If that subsequent order was found to be inconsistent with
the Presidential Order, it had to be ignored for the simple reason that
the officers of the Naval establishment were not competent to alter,
vary or modify a Presidential Order. The interpretation placed on that -y---
subseq uent letter by the Bombay High Court in the judgments
delivered on 1st and ~nd-March, 1984 does give the impression that the
High Court thought that there was no complete merger and the
C personnel meaning the Time Keeping Department retained their
identity and were, therefore, entitled to the additional benefits of
.....
over-time and productivity linked bonus. After the judgments were
delivered the department instead of approaching this. Court thought it
wise to undo the mischief by cancelling the subsequent order of 5th Y
D' December, 1966 which was the source of trouble. Since the conclusion
reached by the High Court was based on the language of the sub-
sequent order of 5th December, 1966, the Tribunal was not bound to
follow the same on the cancellation of that order. We may also state,
with respect to the learned Judge in the High Court, that we find it
difficult to persuade ourselves to his point of view for diverse reasons.
E Firstly, the plain language of the text of the Presidential Order >-- .
manifests a clear intention to merge the cadre of Time Keepers with
the clerical cadre on the establishment. Secondly, the subsequent
order of 5th December, 1966 had to be read consistently with the
Presidential Order so as to fulfil the purpose or objective and not to
impede or stiffle it. Thirdly, even if the subsequent order was found to
-
F be inconsistent with the Presidential Order in certain respects, the
inconsistency ha:d to be ignored for the obvious reason that the officer y
issuing the order could not have altered or modified the Presidential · ~ ·
Order and lastly, if there was any confusion caused by the subsequent \
order it should have been read harmoniously with the Presidential
Order so as to advance its objective of merger of the Time Keepers'
G cadre with the clerical cadre.

In order to appreciate Mr. Mehta's contention that by the Presi-
.dential Order only a notional merger for the limited purpose of provid- )--- _
ing the Time Keepers with promotional avenues was intended and not
actual merger so as. to deprive the Time Keepers of their distinct
H identity, it is necessary to realise that the sole purpose of the exercise
S.P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL [AHMADI, J.) 229

indisputably was to make career advancement possible for the Time
Keepers. At the time of issuance of the Presidential Order there were
only two layers in the Time Keeping Department of the establishment.
The base-level which was fairly large comprised Junior Time Keepers
and above them were Senior Time Keepers. Since there were only two
posts of Senior Time Keepers, the prospects of promotion for Junior I

Time Keepers were very dim. As. there was no further promotional ij
avenue for the Senior Time Keepers, the mobility was restricted and
they too suffered on that account. There was, therefore, large scale
stagnation and with a view to overcoming the same the question of
merger of the Time Keepers' cadre with the clerical cadre was

... examined. On the same being found feasible, the Presidential Order
came to be issued. The High Court realised that if the Time Keepers
do not gather sufficient experience of administrative work they would c
not be able to handle responsible work at higher levels in the hierarcy
and hence their movement to the ministerial posts is absolutely neces-
sary. But the High Court resolved this situation by obtaining a state-
ment from the incumbent that he would not claim the benefit of pro-
motion to which he may otherwise be entitled by reason of the merger D
policy. Would this advance the policy of merger or fulfil the purpose of
opening avenues of promotion for the Time Keepers? If the mobility
from Time Keepers' post to the clerical post is halted on account of the
fon~_ier's unwillingness to move to the clerical side to gain experience
and equip himself to discharge higher responsibilities in future merely
to retain the monetary benefit accruing from overtime wages and E
bonus, it is difficult to understand how even the limited objective of
providing promotional avenues to Time Keepers would be satisfied.
And it is all the more difficult to understand how those incumbents
who entered the Time Keepers Department after the Presidential
Order became effective can claim that they have a vested right to
-· continue in the department because they would suffer a monetary loss F.
if they are transferred to the clerical posts. The list Annexure C to the 1

appeals would show that except for those shown at serial Nos. 1to3, 8
and 12, the rest of the incumbents had either joined as LDC in the
Time Keeping Department after the Presidential Order became effec-
tive or had been transferred to that department from the other
administrative departments where they were working as LDCs. It is G
difficult to understand how those who entered that department after
the merger via the other administrative branches of -the establishment
can refuse to go back on the specious plea that they would suffer a·
financial loss. They can have no right to the post in the Time Keeping
Department. So long as they are posted there and are discharging the
functions of the Time Keeper they would be entitled to overtime wages H

.•
230 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1991] 1 S.C.R.

A and bonus but on that plea they cannot contend that they are not
transferable to the ministerial posts on the establishment. We have,_-\'
therefore, no hesitation in concluding that those who joind the Time
Keeping Department after the Presidential Order became effective,
either by a dir~ct posting in that department as LDC or on transfer to
that department, have no right to continue in that department merely
B
because their transfer would entail economic loss since they are gover-
ned by the merger scheme which had become operative before their
entry in that department. They were borne on the common cadre and
were never members of the earlier Time Keepers' cadre. ~-

But the case of those Time Keepers who were serving as such in +- •
C the Time Keeping Department, such as, the incumbents at serial
Nos. 1 to 3, 8 and 12 (S.P. Jadhav, V.S. Khot, P.J. Rodrigues, B.J.
Dhamba and V.S. Shinde), must be viewed differently. They belonged
;
...
to a separate cadre of Time Keepers at the date of the issuance of the
Presidential. Order. Th~i.r terms a~d con~itions o.f servic~ ':°uld not be- y
D altered, vaned or modified to theIT detnment without givmg them an
opportunity to exercise their option. If their transfer outside the Time
Keeping Department becomes possible by the merger of their cadre
with the clerical cadre but the same entails civil consequences in the
form of loss of overtime wages and bonus, justice demands that they
must be given an option to choose which course is beneficial to them
E ai.id if they decide or opt in favour of the status quo they must be
allowed to continue as Time Keepers and not be transferred outside ~
that department without their consent, because to do so would render
the scheme vulnerable unless the department agrees to make good the
econowic loss suffered on transfer. Therefore, so far as those Time
Keepers who were serving in the Time Keeping Department on and
F before the date of the implementation of the Presidential Order and
who continue to serve in the· same department are concerned, the
department should give them an option if they are proposed to be
transferred outside that department or the department should under- -~
take to make good the economic loss which they are likely to suffer on
transfer. Such a reading of the Presidential Order is permissible on the
plain language of the order and saves it from being rendered vulner-
G able. See: 'J;'he State of Kera/av. M.K. Krishnan Nair & Ors., [1978] 1
~
sec 552 at 571. I'
I

In,the result we allow the appeals partly insofar as they concern
. the aforenamed five persons to the extent indicated above and dismiss
them in respect of the remaining appellants. Since the writ petitioners
H

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S.P. JADHAV v. VICE-ADMIRAL [AHMADI, J.] 231

are not shown to belong to the category of employees who were borne A
on the cadre of Time Keepers ·and were actually working in the Time
Keeping Department on or before the issuance ·of the Presidential
Order, their writ petition fails and is dismissed. There will, however,
be no order as to costs in the appeals as well as the writ petition.

R.N.J. Petition & Appeals dismissed.

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