Chandigarh, March 4: The Chandigarh Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has declared that police personnel appointed from a waiting list are entitled to the same service benefits as those from the main selection list. The ruling came during a hearing for three Chandigarh Police constables who asserted that their career progression was unfairly hindered by their initial placement on the waiting list.
The applicants, Anil Kumar, Mandeep, and Sabin, were part of a 2009 recruitment drive for 150 constable positions. Although they were selected under the same advertisement, they joined service on May 4, 2010, after vacancies arose from the main list. Those on the primary selection list had joined earlier on September 11, 2009.
Nitin Sharma, the advocate representing the constables, stated that the discrepancy in joining dates had negatively impacted his clients’ seniority and promotion prospects. The petitioners maintained that because they were recruited through the identical selection process, they should be considered part of the same batch as their peers.
The tribunal affirmed this position, noting that the entire recruitment process was a single entity. It declared that the principle of equality must be applied, as both the merit list and the waiting list originated from the same 150 sanctioned posts. The bench noted that candidates should not be penalized with a later seniority date simply because they filled vacancies left by others who did not join.
As a result, the tribunal directed the respondents to grant the applicants a “deemed date” of appointment. This date will be on par with the last candidate appointed from the main list of 150 constables. The order specified that the period between the deemed date and their actual joining should be counted on a notional basis for pay fixation, pensionary benefits, and eligibility for future promotions
