PARAMJEET SINGH Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON the recommendation of the Public Service Commission the petitioner Sri Param Jeet Singh alongwith Sri S.A. Asgar and Mohd. Umar were appointed as Assistant Engineers in the Minor Irrigation Department w.e.f. 16th April, 1986. The petitioner was placed as a junior to the other two persons, even though all of three persons were appointed on the same date. The petitioner alonwith Sri S.A. Asgar and Mohd. Umar were subsequently promoted as Executive Engineer w.e.f. 2nd July, 1997. In the year 2000, the State of Uttarakhand was created and, by a Government Order dated 19th May, 2004, three posts of Superintending Engineer were sanctioned in the Minor Irrigation Department of the Government of Uttarakhand. As per the U.P. Engineer Services (Minor Irrigation Department Rules, 1991, which is applicable to the Minor Irrigation Department, three posts of Superintending Engineer were required to be filed up by way of promotion from the cadre of Executive Engineers. According to the roster of reservation, the first vacancy was to be filled up by a scheduled caste candidate and the next four vacancies was required to be filled up by the candidates from the general category. Since no scheduled caste candidate was available for promotion, the post reserved for a scheduled caste candidate could not be filled up and the said post remained vacant. For the second and the third post, Sri Mohd. Umar and Sri S.A. Asgar, who were admittedly senior to the petitioner, were promoted. The petitioner, belonging to the general category, could not be promoted against the vacancy reserved for a scheduled caste.

(2.) HOWEVER , the petitioner was given an additional charge of the Superintending Engineer by an order dated 18.11.2004. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a Writ Petition No. 146 of 2005 (S/B) praying for a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to consider the candidature of the petitioner for regular promotion to the post of Superintendent Engineer against the post reserved for a scheduled caste candidate. The petitioner contended that no scheduled caste candidate was available for promotion till the year 2011 and, that there was no justification for the respondents in keeping the said post vacant for such a long period. On 19th July, 2005, a Division Bench prima facie found that the petitioner was entitled for a direction from the court to the respondents to convert the only available vacancy of Superintending Engineer to the unreserved category and to consider the petitioner for promotion against the said vacancy and further to treat the future vacancy in the cadre of Superintending Engineer as a vacancy reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate. The court directed the Addl. Chief Standing Counsel to seek necessary instructions and posted the matter on 26th July, 2005. On 26th July, 2005 the court passed the following order : "1. When this case came up hearing on 19.7.2005, the following order was passed. "We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Addl. Chief Standing Counsel. If the facts stated in the writ petition are correct we at prima facies satisfied that in the light of the decisions of the Honble Supreme Court in 1995 Suppl. (3) SCC 693 Jogendra Sethi Vs. Rabindranath Bahura and others and K.K. Sreenivasan Vs. Flag Officer Commanding -in -Chief, Head Quarters, Kochi and others reports in 1996(7) SCC 73, the petitioner is entitled to have a direction from this Court to the respondents to convert the one available vacancy of Superintending Engineer to unreserved category and to consider the petitioner for promotion against the said Vacancy and to treat the future vacancy in the cadre of Superintending Engineer as a vacancy reserved for the Scheduled Caste. Learned Addl. Chief Standing Counsel may get instruction and make his submission on the next date. Post for orders on 26th July, 2005." 2. When this case was taken up for hearing today, learned Standing Counsel for the State of Uttaranchal submitted that through this Court order dated 19.7.2005 was communicated to the Government, he has not received any instruction in the matter so far learned Standing Counsel also could not point out any rules. Government order or judgment to show that the prima facie view taken by us on 19.7.2005 is wrong, Mr. L.P. Naithani, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that the Department promotion committee is scheduled to meet on 29.7.2005 to consider promotion to the cadre of Superintending Engineer.

(3.) IN the above circumstances, there will be an interim order directing the respondents to convert the available vacancy of Superintending Engineer to unreserved category and to consider the petitioner also for promotion against the said vacancy and to treat the future vacancy in the cadre of Superintending Engineer as a vacancy reserved for the Scheduled Caste. Any appointment made on the basis of this interim order will be provisional and subject to be final decision in the writ petition.