UNION OF INDIA & ORS. vs B SRINIVASA RAO & ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

$~86 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 12.02.2026 + W.P.(C) 2019/2026, CAV 75/2026, CM APPL. 9908/2026, CM APPL. 9909/2026 and CM APPL. 9910/2026 UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Petitioners Through: Mr. Syed Abdul Haseeb, CGSC with Mr. Syed Abdur Rahman, Adv. versus B SRINIVASA RAO & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Sachin Chauhan, Adv. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN J U D G M E N T (ORAL) ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.: 1. The present Petition, filed by the Petitioners, assails the correctness of the order dated 16.10.2025 [hereinafter referred to as ‘Impugned Order’] passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal [hereinafter referred to as ‘the Tribunal’], whereby at the stage of admission and while considering the prayer for interim relief, the Tribunal directed the Petitioners to consider the cases of the Respondents for posting as Chief Engineer (Zone) in accordance with the applicable Office Memoranda and further restrained the Petitioners from posting any junior to the Respondents against the posts under question till the next date of hearing. Signature Not Verified Signed By:JAI NARAYAN Signing Date:13.02.2026 W.P.(C) 2019/2026 Page 1 of 6 15:09:59 2. The Respondents are officers of the Indian Defence Service of Engineers (IDSE) serving in the Military Engineer Services (MES), Ministry of Defence. They were promoted to the rank of Chief Engineer and were aggrieved by the action of the Petitioners in not forwarding their names for consideration for posting as Chief Engineer (Zone), while allegedly forwarding the names of certain juniors. The Respondents approached the Tribunal seeking, inter alia, a restraint against posting juniors and a direction for consideration of their cases. 3. The Tribunal, by the I