RAKESH KUMAR KRAIL Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment shall dispose of the afore-referred two writ petitions wherein the following common question requires adjudication:-

(2.) The petitioner-Rakesh Kumar Krail was appointed as Junior Engineer under the physically handicapped quota on 21.09.1983. He, during the service, cleared Part A and B Examination conducted by the Institution of Engineers, Kolkata (commonly known as "AMIE"). He was promoted as Sub Divisional Officer in the year 2004 as per the Punjab Irrigation Department (Group-A) Service Rules, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as "the 2004 Rules"). The petitioner was, thereafter, promoted to the post of Executive Engineer on 04.08.2010. The department finalized the seniority list of Executive Engineers in the month of September, 2015 and the petitioner was placed at serial No. 121. The petitioner claims that on completion of six years of regular service as Executive Engineer, he became eligible to be considered for promotion to the post of S.E. A meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee ( hereinafter referred to as DPC) was held on 22.06.2017, however, it is claimed that he was not promoted on the ground that he does not hold a Degree in Engineering in any line from the recognized University/Institution. He claims that in the year 2007, Sh. D.K.Syal, Executive Engineer and in the year 2012, Sh. A.S.Bakshi and Sh. Vipin Chawla, who all had similarly passed AMIE, were promoted to the posts of S.E. under the 2004 Rules. He claims that he has been wrongly denied promotion to the post of S.E. It would be relevant to note here that during the pendency of the present petition, another meeting of the DPC was scheduled, prompting him to file a miscellaneous application wherein the Court directed that one post of the S.E. under the physically handicapped quota be reserved. During the pendency of the writ petition, in the meeting of the DPC held on 27.09.2019, Gurdeep Singh, another Executive Engineer, with similar qualification of AMIE has been promoted to the post of S.E. Still further, in yet another meeting of the DPC held on 23.06.2020, two more Executive Engineers, namely, Sher Singh and Karanpal Singh, with AMIE qualification, have also been ordered to be promoted as S.E.(s).

(3.) Civil Writ Petition No. 2974 of 2020 has been filed by Sukhinder Singh. He has also similarly passed AMIE after having been appointed in the service. He was promoted as Sub Divisional Engineer in the month of August, 1994 and thereafter, promoted as Executive Engineer on 04.08.2010. He claims that he was considered for promotion on 27.09.2019 but was ignored on the ground that the petitioner lacks necessary minimum qualification. He has attained the age of superannuation on 29.02.2020, however, he continues to be in the service on account of extension of one year granted to him as per the policy of the State Government.