New Delhi: In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has said that railway servants are at par with other Central Government employees and hold the locus standi to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for service-related matters.
A railway servant does not cease to be a member of the civil service of the Union merely because his or her conditions of service are governed by railway-specific rules, the bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said.
The jurisdiction of the CAT is not barred in respect of railway servants, the Court clarified, saying that the term “service matters” concerning such employees encompasses all issues relating to conditions of service under the Union Government or its control, Deccan Herald reported.
“A railway servant, though appointed in a Government Railway under rules made exclusively for the Railways… remains a person holding a civil post in connection with the affairs of the Union under the administrative control of the central government,” Justice Datta wrote for the bench in the judgment, as reported by Deccan Herald.
The Railway Board functions as the Government of India itself for railway administration, the bench emphasised. Consequently, service under the Railway Board is essentially service under the Central Government.
The Court cited Articles 309 and 311 of the Constitution, explaining that a civil post pertains to employment in a civil capacity under the Union or a State, distinct from defence services.
It involves a master-servant relationship where the State has the right to appoint, suspend, dismiss, control work, and pay remuneration, the Court held.
The Court was hearing an appeal moved by Bency John, who joined the Indian Railways as a Junior Draftsman in August 1990. After more than 10 years of regular pensionable service, he was relieved in February 2001 to join the Kerala State Electricity Board as a Sub-Engineer. His prior railway service was counted for pay fixation and other benefits.
In December 2012 though, the Chief Internal Auditor of the Railway Board objected to the pay fixation, cancelled the weightage granted, and ordered recovery of the alleged excess amount.
The objection was on the ground that “Railway Service cannot be reckoned as a Central Government Service for weightage in pay revision”.
A single judge of the Kerala High Court held that railway service should be treated as Central Government service but a division bench reversed the order, observing that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, and the CCS (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, do not apply to railway servants, who are governed by separate rules.
The Supreme Court highlighted the Railways’ unique role, noting how it is the country’s largest civilian employer, with extensive reach across States and Union Territories. It plays a critical role in transporting passengers, troops, food grains, coal, petroleum, and other essentials, besides serving as a lifeline during disasters.
“The Railway Board is a specialised technical body… quite unlike a normal ministry,” the bench noted. It also exercises governmental powers under the Railways Act for administrative convenience and efficiency.
Delegation of powers to the Railway Board does not change the status of railway servants as employees of the Central Government, the Court concluded, expressing surprise that benefits extended to Bency John through Board orders were later withdrawn.
The SC then set aside the Kerala High Court division bench’s order and restored the single judge’s ruling, directing the extension of all benefits to the appellant within three months.
