SAFIMIYA G MALEK Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in all the matters are servants of the State working in its Revenue Department and they entered the said service in the position of Clerks. The recruitment to the said post was done under Gujarat Non-Secretariat Clerks, Clerk-Typists, and Typists Recruitment Examination Rules, 1970. These Rules refer to Pre-service Training and Post-Training Examination, ideally speaking, only on successfully getting through the examination, a candidate will be appointed as a Clerk in different Departments of the State. However, gradually, this situation came to develop as to appointment preceding the Training, much less, therefore, a question of post-training examination preceding the appointment.

(2.) In course of time, there happened to be the situation where the posttraining examination may have taken place after some time, may be number of years and if the candidate in question has been allocated to the Revenue Department, further on he has to appear at the Revenue Sub-service Departmental Examination (hereinafter referred to as SSD Examination) governed by 1971 Rules. These Rules came into force with effect from 1/02/1971. The importance of this Rule for the persons working in the lower Division of Subordinate Revenue Service is that without passing the same, he cannot appear at the Revenue Qualifying Examination which is a must for being promoted to higher post. This Revenue Qualifying Examination subsequently came to be bifurcated into two, namely, Lower Revenue Qualifying Examination (hereinafter referred to as LRQE) and Higher Revenue Qualifying Examination. In the case before us, we are concerned with this LRQE for which in the year 1978 Rules came to be framed.

(3.) In the said Rules, there is a reference to a person who has already completed 5 years' service on the appointed date, but was not permitted to appear at the examination under the Old Rules and was given some chances as per sub-rule 22, the details of which are not material for our purpose. There is reference to seniority in sub-rule 2 of the Rules 6 and 7 read with its proviso.