Authority: High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi

Order Date: 10 August 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: Union of India (through the General Manager, East Central Railway, Hajipur), the Divisional Railway Manager, East Central Railway, Dhanbad, and the Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, East Central Railway, Dhanbad.
  • Respondents: Fifteen Ticket Examiners (named Mahendra Das, Jamuna Mochi, Samresh Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Birendra Kumar, Amarjeet Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Jagdish Ram, Vijay Kumar, Birendra Kumar, Prabhat Kumar, Jyotisha Prasad Barnwal, Shubham Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Naresh Kumar Kandhway) with ages ranging from about 31 to 47, all presently employed as Ticket Examiners in various divisions.
  • Proforma Respondents: Additional nine individuals listed similarly.
  • Petition: Writ petition (W.P. (S) No. 2905 of 2026) filed against the order dated 17‑Dec‑2025 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Patna Bench, Circuit Bench at Ranchi, which quashed the seniority list dated 09‑Feb‑2023 and directed the authorities to modify that list for applicants nos. 7‑15 and to issue a separate seniority list for Senior Ticket Examiner.
  • Background: The Railway Board issued Circular RBE No. 28/2018 (22‑Feb‑2018) merging the three Commercial Department categories – Commercial Clerk (CC), Ticket Checking (TC) and Enquiry‑cum‑Reservation Clerk (ECRC) – into a unified “Commercial and Ticketing Staff” cadre. A clarification circular RBE No. 59/2019 (05‑Apr‑2019) stipulated that seniority of “existing employees” as of 22‑Feb‑2018 must be maintained separately, while future direct recruitments would be merged.
  • Transfer Issue: The respondents, originally appointed as Ticket Examiners before 22‑Feb‑2018, transferred to Dhanbad Division on personal request in 2022 (after the merger date). The General Manager, Hajipur, in a letter dated 08‑Feb‑2023 clarified that staff transferred after 22‑Feb‑2018 or appointed thereafter would have seniority counted in the unified cadre.
  • Senior­ity List: Accordingly, a unified seniority list was published on 09‑Feb‑2023 including the respondents. Dissatisfied, the respondents filed OA No. 051/00253/2023 before the CAT, which quashed the list and ordered a separate seniority list for Senior Ticket Examiner.
  • Petitioners’ Submissions: Argued that the CAT mis‑interpreted Paragraph 8 of Annexure ‘A’ of RBE No. 59/2019, ignored the 08‑Feb‑2023 clarification, and failed to consider that transfers after the merger are to be treated as fresh intake under the direct‑recruitment quota (Para 312 of IREM Vol‑1). They cited subsequent Railway Board letters (10‑Jul‑2024, RBE No. 80/2024 dated 16‑Aug‑2024, and RBE No. 62/2025 dated 02‑Jul‑2025) reinforcing the unified‑cadre treatment for “Inter Railway Own Request Transfer” (IRORT).
  • Respondents’ Submissions: Contended that the CAT’s order was well‑reasoned, that Circular 28/2018 kept Ticket Checking separate, that they were existing employees (not direct recruits), and that they had accepted bottom seniority at the new posting. They argued that no option was offered to join the merged cadre, contrary to RBE No. 62/2025, and pointed to similar cases (e.g., Nawal Kishor Paswan) where transferred staff were kept outside the merged cadre.
  • Court’s Legal Analysis: The Court examined its jurisdiction under Article 226, the doctrine of judicial review, and the standards of “error apparent on the face of the record” and “perversity” (citing L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India, West Bengal Central School Service Commission v. Abdul Halim, Ashwani Kumar Singh v. U.P. Public Service Commission, etc.). It found that the CAT’s order ignored the 08‑Feb‑2023 clarification, misapplied the precedent of OA No. 266/2024 (which dealt with a different factual matrix), and therefore was perverse and contained an error apparent on its face.
  • Conclusion: The High Court held that the CAT’s order dated 17‑Dec‑2025 cannot be sustained and must be set aside.

Final Outcome

  • The order dated 17‑Dec‑2025 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal is quashed and set aside.
  • The matter is remitted back to the CAT for fresh consideration in accordance with the Railway Board circulars and the law.
  • Any pending interlocutory applications are disposed of.

Topics: Railway Seniority, Judicial Review