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It directed the MoD and the DRDO to “reconsider the claim of the applicant Naidu for appointment to the post of DG BrahMos within four weeks from the date of receipt of this order”.
“Till a decision is taken on the appointment, as directed above, the respondents shall make an ‘incharge arrangement’, but not with the fifth respondent (Joshi)”.
“There is manifest arbitrariness in the decision” of the respondents—MoD and DRDO—in appointing Joshi as the BrahMos Director General, it observed.
The sources, meanwhile, argued that nowhere is there a rule that only the senior most becomes the BrahMos DG and alluded to past appointments in different spheres.
“If only the senior most becomes the head, then why the process of selecting from a pool?” an official in the defence ministry questioned.
The sources are looking at the possible impact of the CAT order on other appointments at senior level that would be made by the government. “The order cannot become a precedence,” another source said without elaborating the next course of action.
What is interesting is that the CAT order said that seniority, promotion, pay level, which are obtained by dint of long service, hard work and integrity, cannot be made insignificant in government service.
“Merely fulfilling minimum eligibility criteria will not make one entitled for the selection. Though the second respondent (DRDO chief) is competent to select one among the three candidates recommended by the Selection Committee, the selection cannot be arbitrary,” the tribunal said.
The order can be challenged in the high court under whose jurisdiction the CAT Bench comes under through a writ petition. It was not yet clear whether the government would challenge this order.
Naidu argued in his petition that he was the senior most among all the candidates who had applied against an advertisement for the post of the DG.
When the application was submitted, he said Joshi was a Programme Director in Pay Level-15, and the junior most among the candidates who had applied. Naidu also argued that he was a Distinguished Scientist whereas while Joshi was an ‘Outstanding Scientist’, which is a notch below his position.
Naidu’s petition states that he topped the shortlisted candidates in terms of both merit and seniority but Joshi’s was selected by the authority.
Eight scientists had applied for the post, including two Distinguished Scientists and six others in the Scientist ‘H’ category. “However, in the minutes of the Selection Committee, the names were recommended alphabetically, for which no rule has been shown to us,” the CAT order said.
In its response to CAT, the MoD said that as per the advertisement, the selection process indicates that the desirous and eligible scientists were required to forward their applications in prescribed proforma attached therewith and a panel of two members would scrutinise all applications received and screen out those, who were not meeting the eligibility criteria, as advertised.
The panel, headed by Chairman, Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC), with other members, being Director, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Vishakapatnam; Vice Chancellor, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) and Director General, HR, DRDO HQ, called for interaction meeting with the eligible candidates before finalising the panel of recommended candidates.
The screened in candidates were interviewed by the selection committee under the chairmanship of Chairman, RAC, on 22 October last year. The panel, after conducting a discreet review on the profile of each of the eligible candidates and after interaction with the candidates, recommended three names to Secretary, DDR&D and Chairman, DRDO.
Thereafter, Secretary, DDR&D and Chairman, DRDO considered the names of Scientists recommended by the selection committee and selected the candidate and passed orders on 22 November on file for appointment of Respondent No. 5 as DG (BrahMos), New Delhi on transfer from DRDL, Hyderabad.
It further said that the DRDO Chairman, being head of service, is competent authority as per Rule 10 of DRDS Rules, 2023 to deploy any senior scientist as DG even without issuing advertisement or following the aforesaid selection process.
However, the aforesaid selection process is generally followed to select the eligible, willing and most suitable senior scientist for appointment as Director General of the respective cluster/establishment, it said.
