P.S.PRUTHI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The aforesaid two petitions have been filed against an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi dated February 07,2013 in Original Application No.4405/2012 and as such are being disposed of by this common order. Writ Petition No.2859/2013 has been filed by Mr.P.S.Pruthi, the applicant before the Tribunal challenging the order passed by the Tribunal to the extent the Tribunal has rejected the challenge by the petitioner to the appointment of the respondents No.3 to 5 as members of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). He has been seeking entitlement to be appointed as member of CBEC against the vacancy which arose on December 31, 2012 with a consequent relief of quashing the appointment of respondent No.5 as member.

(2.) Writ petition No.4140/2013 has been filed by the Union of India challenging the order of the Tribunal whereby the Tribunal has granted the relief to Mr.P.S.Pruthi by holding that since Mr.P.S.Pruthi has rendered more than one year of regular service in the prescribed post as on December 31, 2012, that is the date of occurrence of the fourth vacancy in the Financial Year 2012-13, the Selection Committee ought to have considered him for appointment as Member CBEC in its initial meeting itself and could not exclude him from the eligibility list.

(3.) For convenience/clarity we shall be referring Mr.P.S.Pruthi petitioner in Writ Petition No.2859/2013 as "the petitioner' and Union of India, the petitioner in WP(C) No.4140/2013 as "the respondent'. We may state here that there are common respondents in both the Writ Petitions and are arrayed as R-3, R-4 and R-5. They are addressed as such in this judgment.