(1.) THE moot question, raised in the present writ petition, is this: In the absence of any provision, in the relevant recruitment rules, for absorption of contractual or ad-hoc employee in a given cadre and/or in the absence of any provision, in the relevant recruitment rules, for relaxation of the conditions of recruitment, is it possible to absorb and/or regularize the service of an ad-hoc or contractual employee, particularly, when the conditions of recruitment are governed, in the given case, by the recruitment rules framed under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India? Yet another question of immense importance, raised in the present writ petition, is this: Whether an employee, who has been absorbed in a cadre contrary to the relevant recruitment rules, can be allowed to become senior to a regularly recruited person in the same cadre?
(2.) BEFORE I endeavour to answer the questions posed above, the undisputed material facts, which have given rise to the present writ petition, may be set out as under:
(3.) BEFORE proceeding further, it may be pointed out that though, in the writ petition, the petitioners have sought for, as already indicated above, setting aside and quashing the orders issued by the respondent No. 2 regularizing the services of the respondent Nos. 3 and 4 in the cadre of Inspector of taxes, Mr. A. Zhemomi, learned counsel for the petitioners, has candidly submitted, at the time of hearing of this writ petition, that the petitioners are more concerned with their seniority and, hence, the writ petitioners' grievances would be met if, while allowing the respondent Nos. 3 and 4 to remain in service, the seniority positions of the petitioners are suitably corrected in accordance with law.