Shri Rajesh Kumar vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

The applicant is employed as Fire Operator under respondent no.2. He applied and got selected for a technical course “Certificate in Fire Technology & Industrial Safety Management” which is run under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi [hereinafter referred to as GNCTD], the expenses of which will be paid by the applicant himself. Though the ADO concerned forwarded his application for favourable action but the same was rejected in view of staff shortage vide Delhi Fire Service letter No.F2/DFS/LN/2020/ 326 dated 10.08.2020 (Annexure A-1). Aggrieved by this rejection, the applicant has filed this OA and sought directions to the respondents no. 1 to 3 to permit him to take admission and complete the said one year course conducted by respondent no.4 (Delhi College of Fire & Safety Engineering - recognized and affiliated to Board of Technical Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi). He has also sought quashing of the impugned order dated 01.08.2020 (No order dated 01.08.2020 has been filed, instead order dated 10.08.2020 has been filed, which has been stated by the learned counsel for applicant is the impugned order).

It is the contention of the applicant that one Shri Manoj Kumar and Shri Pradeep Kumar have been permitted to complete the same course and Sh. Pradeep Kumar is junior to him in the seniority list. He has also stated that the said course is equivalent to six months Sub-Officer course conducted by NFSC, Nagpur. He has contended that staff shortage is always claimed as the reason for not permitting people to undertake this course whereas the quantum of staff has increased considerably from 2016 when the strength was approximately 1800 which is now 2500-2600, with approximately 1000 Fire Operators being recruited recently. He has further stated that his application was forwarded by the ADO, who is well placed to understand the staff requirement. It is his contention that no batch has been sent to Nagpur in 2020 and only 3 officers were sent in 2019. He has offered that since this course is in Delhi itself, if there is a shortage of officers and he is needed for duty, he can be recalled anytime during the course. Learned counsel for the applicant also stated that he is also willing to put in two extra hours every day after the training, if so required.

It has been contended that the next promotion post is that of Leading Fireman for which 20% of posts are by promotion from Firemen with 3 years regular service, who have qualified the Sub-Officer course from NFSC, Nagpur or equivalent. Therefore, having conducted this training he will be eligible to be considered for this 20% slot.

The respondents have denied the claims of the applicant and have pointed out that the cases cited of Pradeep Kumar and Manoj Kumar cannot be taken as precedents since in the case of Pradeep Kumar, this Tribunal withdrew its interim order for sanction of NOC and allowed RA No. 275/2016 on 03.04.2017 when it came to the knowledge of the Tribunal that wrong facts had been given. They have further contended that the other case of Manoj Kumar is also incorrectly cited since Manoj Kumar was given an NOC by an official who was not authorized to give NOC and disciplinary proceedings are ongoing in the matter. They have stated that nominations for courses are done by seniority and queue jumping cannot be permitted. Further, since there is a shortage of staff, the applicant cannot be spared for the said training. They have also given the position of vacancies of Leading Fireman, which for the current calendar year are 41, of which, according to them, 9 posts are for SC/ST candidates, 6 for 20% quota and 26 for other candidates for promotion by seniority. They have reiterated that as per policy they only send their employees for Sub-Officer course from NFSC, Nagpur, an institution under the MHA, Government of India.

Heard Sh. Rajeev Sharma, learned counsel for the applicant and Ms. Esha Mazumdar, learned counsel for the respondents and perused the record.

At the outset, it is important to see what really the service rules provide. The said rules for promotion to Leading Fireman read as follows:-

NFSC, Nagpur or equivalent failing which by promotion on seniority-cum-fitness basis as mentioned under column No.12(i) above.

From the above it is clear that a premium has been set on acquisition of technical knowledge since it has been provided that 20% of the vacancies will be filled by promotion of Fireman with 3 years regular service in the grade of Rs.3200-85-4900 who have qualified the Sub-Officer from NFSC, Nagpur or equivalent… Therefore, it is evident that for promotion of those who have done the training from NFSC, Nagpur or equivalent institution, there is no seniority rule. Seniority rule is for the remaining 80%.

As far as equivalence of the 2 courses is concerned, GNCTD letter No.F.PA/Controller/BTE/2014/22 dated 07.04.2014 clearly states that a Committee of five officials including the Director, Delhi Fire Services found the two courses to be equivalent and a letter for treating the two courses as equivalent, was issued with the approval of the Chief Secretary, GNCTD. It is difficult to understand that the two trainings are not treated to be equivalent when the Committee including the Director, Delhi Fire Services itself, found the two courses equivalent and the said letter to this effect has also been issued with the approval of the Chief Secretary, GNCTD, who is the head of the Delhi Administration. This is a very piquant situation.

As far as the cases of Pradeep Kumar and Manoj Kumar are concerned, perhaps reliance on these need not be done. A perusal of Tribunal’s order dated 03.04.2017 passed in RA No.275/2016 reveals that the RA was allowed and the OA No.3131/2016 was directed to be listed for hearing on 17.01.2017. Neither the applicant nor the respondents have indicated what has been the outcome of the said OA, therefore, presumably it is still ongoing.

On the issue of staff shortage, it certainly needs to be kept in mind that the statement of the applicant of the increase in staff between 2016 and 2019 from 1800 to 2500-2600 has not been controverted by the respondents. Therefore, it is clear that there has been considerable increase in staff. Of course, Delhi Fire Service is an emergency service and would require adequate staff to perform its functions. But this has not stopped the Delhi Fire Service from nominating some people for the Nagpur Course most of the years, though they are hesitant about giving permission to anybody to participate in an equivalent course. The applicant has very fairly stated that in case he is required for services he is willing to come back immediately and also put in two extra hours everyday if required to do so. Furthermore, the applicant is paying for the training himself, hence saving departmental expenses of the organization which has itself pleaded shortage of funds.

A perusal of the service rules also reveals that in case 20% vacancies which are for promotion of Fireman who have done the qualifying training, are not filled, then they would revert to seniority-cum-fitness principle. Therefore, it does appear that not giving permission to a Fireman to participate in trainings has the effect of negating, to some extent, the provision in the service rules for higher technical proficiency by undergoing training, since de facto, inadequate candidates are sponsored for the Nagpur training and permission is denied to candidates for any other equivalent training. The very purpose of providing for equivalent training in the service rules, seems to be an admission that Delhi Fire Service has limited training capacity and financial resources to train the requisite numbers.

From the documents filed by the respondents on 21.01.2021, it is clear that there are 6 vacancies for the 20% promotion quota of trained Fireman, against which no candidate has been sponsored for training this year and even in 2019-2020 only 3 candidates were sponsored. Therefore, the number of candidates being sponsored for training is less far less than the 20% quota which means that untrained persons are promoted on the vacancies which come in this quota for trained candidates. If Delhi Fire Service wants to upgrade its skills, they should permit people to undergo training since this special provision is there in their service rules themselves, subject to the limit of number of vacancies available.

In light of the above, I am of the view that the OA has merit and is allowed. The respondents are directed to issue NOC for the applicant to participate in the said training. In case the applicant’s services are required even during the currency of this training, he shall come back to perform his duties. There shall be no order as to costs.