JAGESHWAR LAL SAHU Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since common question of law is involved in the present batch of cases, as such they are clubbed and heard together and decided by this common order.

(2.) All the petitioners while filing the present writ petitions have prayed for similar relief that they are working as contingency paid Class IV employees and their services are governed by the Chhattisgarh Irrigation Work Charged and Contingency Paid Employees Recruitment and Service Conditions Rules, 1977 (henceforth 'the Rules of 1977') and according to Rule 7(3) of the Rules of 1977 the work charged and contingency paid employees of the respondent department would be considered for promotion to the next post on the basis of seniority and merit. All the petitioners are working in the respondent department as Class IV employees and their next promotional post would be Class III as per their educational qualification. All the petitioners are working since long back in the respondent department. Most of the petitioners are working since 9/12/2004. They are working as Care Taker, Waterman, Watchman. They are having legitimate expectation that after completion of more than 10 years of service they would be considered for promotion to the next higher post, i.e., Class III post. Most of the petitioners are having requisite qualification also and as such their legitimate expectation cannot be said to be without any basis. In order to decide the lis, WPS No.1190 of 2022 is taken up as the lead case and the relief claimed in the lead case is being taken for adjudication of the present batch of cases. The relief is reproduced hereinbelow as under:

(3.) In all the connected writ petitions, similar relief has been claimed by the petitioners. All the petitioners are working in the Water Resources Department. They are contingency paid employees and their services are governed by the Rules of 1977. It is the case of the petitioners that most of them are working since 2004. They have worked as Class IV employees as work charged and contingency paid employees and according to their service rules they are required to be promoted to the next higher post though on the basis of seniority and merit, but, in the Rules of 1977, there is no specific rule regarding channel of promotion though their promotion is mentioned. The petitioners being Class IV employees can only be promoted to Class III post. Several applications/representations have been made by the petitioners, however, the promotion has not been granted to the petitioners. As such, the present petitions have been filed.