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Civil Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No. 64 of 1983, decided on 6th March, 1983.

(Against the order of the Service Tribunal, dated 26th November, 1982, passed in Appeal No. 247 of 1981).

---S. 4‑Selection grade‑Grant of selection grade to civil servant on basis of seniority‑cum‑fitness‑Held, within discretion of relevant autho rity and not open to appeal under S. 4.

----S. 4‑Appeal challenging grant of Selection Grade on basis of seniority‑cum‑fitness to respondents‑Second appeal filed to challenge seniority of respondents dismissed by Tribunal as time‑barred during pendency of earlier appeal and order not challenged by appellant in Supreme Court‑Order of Tribunal dismissing first appeal on ground that issue of seniority, having been settled by earlier decision of Tribunal, could not be re‑opened as Tribunal could not review its own earlier decision‑Held, justified and does not merit interference. [Civil service‑Review].

Muhammad Ahmad Hassan Khan, Advocate Supreme Court with Mahmood A. Qureshi, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioner.

Date of hearing : 23rd February, 1983.

Mrs. S. J. Usmani petitioner has filed this petition for leave to Appeal against the order of the Punjab Service Tribunal dated 25‑11‑1982,.

The facts giving rise to this petition, briefly, are that Mrs. S. J. Usmani petitioner joined service in the Education Department in Punjab in 1945. After the independence of the country she opted for Pakistan and came to Lahore to serve in the Education Department. A seniority list of teachers was prepared in 1974 in which she was shown senior to respondents 2 to 9. On 4‑11‑1980 the Government of Punjab granted Selection Grade to the respondents on the basis of seniority‑cum‑fitness. Mrs. S. J. Usmani petitioner challenged this before the Service Tribunal through Appeal (No. 744/80). On 23‑11‑1980 a new seniority list was published in which she was shown as junior to the respondents. She challenged this seniority list through a separate Appeal (No. 247/81) before the Punjab Service Tribunal which was dismissed by the Tribunal on 4‑3‑1982 (i. e. during the pendency of the first appeal wherein she had challenged the grant of Selection Grade to the respondent), on the ground of being barred by limitation. The petitioner did not chal lenge it before the Supreme Court and thus allowed the said judgment of the Service Tribunal to become final. When the first Appeal (No. 744/80) came up for hearing before the Tribunal, it was dismissed vide the impugned judgment dated 25‑11‑1982, on the ground that the issue of seniority of the petitioner had been settled by the dismissal of the earlier decision of the Service Tribunal in Appeal No. 247/81, which had become final and thus all the contesting respondents being senior to the petitioner were rightly given the Selection Grade. The learned Service Tribunal observed that issue cannot be re‑opened all over again as the Tribunal cannot review its earlier order/ decision. In any case the Selection Grade was granted to the teachers on the ground of seniority coupled with fitness and it was within the discretion of the relevant authority to consider whether or not the petitioner was fit to be granted the Selection Grade.

2. Having carefully gone through the judgment and heard the learned counsel for the petitioner we feel that the order of Punjab Service Tribunal is justified and does not merit interference. The petition is, therefore, dis. missed.

S. Q. Leave refused

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