S K SHRIVASTAVA Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India the petitioners in these two writ petitions have called in question the defensibility and sustainability of the order passed on 2.9.1997 by the Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Jabalpur ( in short 'the tribunal') in T.A.No.694/1988 whereby the tribunal has refused to interfere in the matter of seniority which was vehemently canvassed by the petitioners in each case. The factual matrix and the grounds of assail being common, they were heard analogously and are disposed of by this singular order. However, as a composite order has been passed by the tribunal we intend to deal with the facts in a single compartment.

(2.) Bereft of unnecessary details the facts which are necessitous to be exposited are that the petitioners in both the cases, 52 in number, were appointed as Assistant Engineers (Civil) in Class-II Gazetted Officers in the Department of Water Resources, State of MP, in the year 1981. It is beyond disputation that prior to their regular selection by the Public Service Commission, ( in short 'the PSC') they were working as Assistant Engineers (Civil) on ad hoc basis. There is a set of rules, namely, Madhya Pradesh Irrigation Engineering & Geological Service (Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 1968 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1968 Rules') framed under Article 309 of the Constitution of India. Rule 7 of the 1968 rules which deals with method of recruitment lays the following postulates:

(3.) Before the tribunal it was contended by the petitioners that there were various cadres existing in the Department, namely, Assistant Engineer (Civil), Junior Engineer (Civil), Sub-Engineer (Civil) and Draftsman. First category of the post fell in the compartment of class-II gazetted post, whereas the other three categories were in the sphere of non-gazetted post. At the time of recruitment there was a quota which has been mentioned in Table-A of the note. The same reads as under: TABLE -A Year AE JE SE DM 1968 75% 0% 20% 5% 1969 to 50% 25% 20% 5% 1981