M A HAQUE Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner-applicants are some of the Medical Officers who were recruited by the Railways on ad hoc basis as Assistant Divisional Medical Officers between 1968 and 1st October, 1984. They were appointed as such ad hoc employees by way of a stop-gap arrangement pending the regular recruitment to the said posts through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC for short, according to the rules. It appears that although from time to time the UPSC recruited candidates on regular basis, there remained some vacancies unfilled, either because the doctors recruited were less in number than the number of vacancies since suitable candidates were not available or some of those who were selected did not join the service or between the date of advertisement by the UPSC and that of the empanelling, some more vacancies occurred. Whatever the reasons, the fact was that even after the UPSC undertook the exercise of recruiting the doctors from time to time, some vacancies always remained unfilled. The result was that every time the petitioner-applicants and others like them were continued on ad hoc basis as a stop-gap arrangement till the next recruitment by the UPSC. It may be mentioned in this connection that the ad hoc appointees were always at liberty to appear before the UPSC for their regular recruitment. Some of them in fact did so appear and were selected; others like the petitioner-applicants either failed to be selected or did not care to appear. The fact, however, remains that the petitioner-applicants and others like them continued to serv on ad hoc basis since 1968. Hence they filed writ petitions in this Court for their regularisation in service. By an order dated 24th September, 1987 passed in the case of Dr. A. K. Jain vs. Union of India, (1987) Suppl. SCC 497 at 500 this Court directed as follows :

(2.) It appears that since they experienced difficulty in adjusting the seniority of the petitioner-applicants the Union of India moved an application before this Court and this Court on 1st November, 1988 made the following order in that application ;

(3.) The present application has been moved in Writ Petition No. 1165 of 1986 which has been disposed of on 24th September, 1987* along with other writ petitions in which also the aforesaid order of 1st November, 1988 was made by this Court.