Railway Servant Is Central Govt Employee, Railway Service Entitled To Weightage In New Service : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Indian Railway Service would be treated as a 'civil post' under the Central Government, and therefore ex-Railway employees are entitled to weightage for the services rendered by them in Railways in pay revision, while joining a different new service

“…a railway servant is also a Government servant though it is not the CCS (Conduct) Rules but the Railway Services (Conduct) Rules that would apply to him.”, the court held.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma heard the case where the Appellant, despite having rendered service in Indian Railway for nearly ten years, before joining the Kerala State Electricity Board, was denied the benefit of pay fixation and other benefits in a new job, in ignorance of the fact that the services rendered by him in Railways was entitled to be given weightage while computing his pay fixation and other benefits.

The Court set aside the Kerala High Court's Division Bench judgment, which held that Railway service cannot be reckoned for weightage because the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, and the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, do not apply to railway servants, who have their own separate rules.

Background

The appellant joined Indian Railways in 1990 and, after over 10 years of service, joined the Kerala State Electricity Board as Sub-Engineer in 2001. Railways remitted ₹2.16 lakh towards pro-rata pension (against KSEB's demand of ₹1.50 lakh), recorded in his Service Book. KSEB's Board Order and 2000/2007 settlements provided that "regular pensionable Central Government Service" would count for weightage.

Based on this, the appellant was granted weightage. However, on December 1, 2012, the Chief Internal Auditor of KSEB cancelled the weightage and ordered recovery, stating "Railway Service cannot be reckoned as a Central Government Service." A Single Judge allowed his writ petition, but a Division Bench set it aside, holding that separate rules for railway servants exclude them from Central Government service, prompting an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Decision

Finding the High Court's approach to be erroneous, the judgment authored by Justice Datta held that the services rendered at Railways also qualify as a Central Government service, similar to All India Service under Article 311 of the Constitution. Merely because the Railway employee are governed by a different set of Rules, other than the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, this would not ipso facto negate their right to be treated as a Central Government employee, while seeking a parity in fixation of pay and other benefits based on the weightage of service rendered at Railways.

“The mere existence of separate service rules viz. the Railway Services (Conduct) Rules, 1966 is a common feature in large government departments (e.g., Defence civilians, Foreign Service) and is for administrative convenience. It does not alter the fundamental status of the employees as being servants of the Central Government. The High Court's reliance on this distinction to deny the appellant's status is an error apparent on the face of the record.”, the court observed.

The Court said that since both the Railways Conduct (Services) Rules and Central Civil Services Rules are framed under Article 309 of the Constitution in connection with the affairs of the Union under the administrative control of the Central Government, treating the Railways Service distinctly would be arbitrary and a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. Thus, the weightage of service granted to the Civil Service employees would be equally applicable to the Railway employees, the court held.

“…our inevitable conclusion is that the delegation of powers to the Railway Board does not have the effect of making a railway servant an employee of the Railway Board as distinct from the Central Government, nor does it alter his status as a member of the civil service of the Union. A railway servant though appointed in a Government Railway under rules made exclusively for the Railways in exercise of powers under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution remains a person holding a civil post in connection with the affairs of the Union under the administrative control of the Central Government. The Railway Board functions as the Government of India itself for railway administration; consequently, service under the Railway Board in the broader sense is service under the Central Government, and a railway servant does not cease to be a member of the civil service of the Central Government merely because his conditions of service are regulated by rules specific to the Railways.”, the Court observed.

“…once the Court held that the protection of Article 311 was available to railway servants notwithstanding the existence of separate service rules, it necessarily followed that railway employees were holders of civil posts under the Union, since Article 311 applies only to members of the civil services or persons holding civil posts under the Union or a State. The decision therefore rejected the notion that permanent railway employees were merely contractual servants whose services could be terminated at will by notice.”, the court added.

In terms of the aforesaid, the appeal was allowed, and the Appellant shall be entitled to all benefits flowing from the Single Judge decision, within a period of three months.

Cause Title: BENCY JOHN VERSUS KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD LTD & ORS.

Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 576

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Appearance:

For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Renjith B. Marar, Adv. Ms. Lakshmi N. Kaimal, AOR Mr. Arun Poomulli, Adv. Mr. Harsh Vardhan Shyam, Adv. Ms. Jeby Mather, Adv.

For Respondent(s) :Mr. Subhash Chandran K. R, AOR Ms. Krishna L. R., Adv. Mr. Anirudh K. P., Adv. Mr. Bineesh K., Adv. M/s KRS Associates, Adv.