DHARMENDRA KUMAR Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of the present writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners seek issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus declaring amended Rule 14(1) of the Uttarakhand Police Motor Transport Branch Subordinate Services Rules, 2018 (as amended in 2024) to be illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional in the manner in which it has been interpreted and applied by the State authorities while determining seniority of Constable Drivers vide order dtd. 4/6/2025. The petitioners have also prayed for issuance of a writ of certiorari for quashing the seniority list dtd. 4/6/2025.

(2.) The core grievance of the petitioners is that while determining inter se seniority, the respondents have misconstrued the expression "substantive appointment" occurring in Rule 14(1) of the Services Rules, 2018 (as amended in 2024). According to the petitioners, the respondents have erroneously treated the date of substantive appointment in the parent cadre, i.e. Civil Police/PAC/Armed Police/IRB, as the basis for seniority, whereas under the statutory scheme, seniority can be reckoned only from the date of substantive appointment to the Motor Transport Branch cadre, which is the service governed by the Rules of 2018.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that since the creation of the State of Uttarakhand in the year 2000, the Motor Transport Branch has been functioning as a separate and distinct branch of the Police Department. The cadre in this branch commences with the post of Constable Driver, followed by promotion to Head Constable Driver and thereafter to Sub-Inspector (Motor Transport). Personnel of the Motor Transport Branch are not entitled to promotional avenues of the Civil Police/PAC/Armed Police/IRB, and vice-versa. He would further submit that appointment to the post of Constable Driver is not a promotion simpliciter, but is made through a selection process from amongst substantively appointed Constables of Civil Police/PAC/Armed Police/ IRB who fulfill the eligibility conditions prescribed under the Rules. One of the essential conditions is successful completion of the prescribed special driving training course, and only thereafter an appointment order is issued under Rule 10 of the Services Rules, 2018, which marks the entry of the incumbent into a new and distinct cadre of service.