NIKULKUMAR VALJIBHAI CHAUDHARI Vs. REGISTRAR GENERAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for a direction to quash and set aside the appointment order dtd. 11/6/2021 by which one Ms. Dimple Ambaliya was appointed as Bailiff- Class-III which she has refused and therefore appoint the petitioner on the post of Bailiff at Mehsana district.

(2.) By an advertisement dtd. 7/4/2014, the Registrar Recruitment High Court of Gujarat had invited applications for filling up the post of Peon, Class-IV for the subordinate courts of Gujarat. The petitioner applied for the said post and was appointed as Peon at District Court Kachchh by appointment order dtd. 29/5/2015. The petitioner was promoted to the post of Assistant at the Additional Civil Court, Nakhatrana vide office order dtd. 23/10/2019. It appears that in the meantime, an advertisement dtd. 31/7/2017 was issued by the respondent no. 2 calling for applications for the post of Bailiff in the subordinate courts of Gujarat. The case of the petitioner is that he applied for the said post giving a preference for Mehsana due to the ailment of petitioner's old aged parents. He was called for interview and document verification and a select list which was prepared on 29/11/2019 the petitioner was at Sr. No. 1 in the select list for candidates as Bailiffs for Mehsana. A modified list of posting was issued on 5/11/2020 allotting Kachchh (Bhuj) to the petitioner. On 10/12/2020, the petitioner addressed a letter to District Court at Kachchh expressing his unwillingness to take charge at Kachchh Bhuj since he was already working on the higher post as Assistant. The case of the petitioner is that on 11/6/2021, one Dimpleben Ambaliya was appointed by respondent no. 3 as Bailiff at Mehsana. On 15/6/2021, she refused to take charge as she was working as State Tax Inspector, Surat. The post is therefore still lying vacant.

(3.) Mr. Nimit Shukla, learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that once having been selected on merit for the post of Bailiff at Mehsana and having opted for the same on medical grounds of his parents, there was no reason for the petitioner to apply for the post of Bailiff at Kachchh. He was already serving on a higher post of Assistant at Nakhatrana. He refused appointment as Bailiff at Kachchh only because of family circumstances that he wanted to come to a vacant post at Mehsana. The action of the respondents in denying him the appointment of Bailiff on the post which has fallen vacant on refusal of Dimpleben Ambaliya to join the post was bad.