VIJAY KUMAR GUPTA Vs. DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is an Association representing the Laboratory staff in the Water and Sewage Department of the Delhi Jal Board. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking directions to the respondent to upgrade the post of lab Assistant to that of Lab Technician and merge these two posts in one cadre. The petitioner Association has also prayed for directions to the respondent to amend the recruitment rules for promotion to the post of Assistant chemist required for Water and Sewage Treatment Plants by reversing the ratio of promotion vis-a-vis direct recruitment. Presently, as per recruitment rules 25% posts of Assistant Chemists are earmarked to be filled by promotion and 75% by direct recruitment. However, the petitioner seeks directions to the respondents that 75% posts of Assistant Chemists should be filled up by way of promotion and only 25% by way of direct recruitment.

(2.) MR. Suresh Tripathy accepts notice of this writ petition on behalf of the respondent. Heard.

(3.) THERE are seven Water Treatment Plants in Delhi and they are at wazirpur, Haiderpur, Bhagirathi, Chandrawal, Okhla, Nangloi and Sonia Vihar. Each Water Treatment Plant has its own plant laboratory which are manned and supervised by Assistant Chemists and Laboratory Technicians. The case of the petitioner Association in this writ petition is that the 17 posts of Assistant chemists are lying vacant with the respondent for 8-9 years and they are not being filled up due to non-availability of suitable candidates in terms of recruitment rules for the said post. Further, the case of the petitioner association is that they possess the requisite educational qualifications for their appointment/promotion to the post of Assistant Chemist besides having experience of 15 to 20 years of working as Laboratory Technicians and, therefore, the prayer has been made for directions to the respondent to amend the recruitment rules for the post of Assistant Chemist and make appointment to the said vacant post by way of promotion in case the respondent is not able to find suitable candidates from open market.