HARBHAGWAN KATARIA Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this judgment, C.W.P. Nos. 1384, 1208, 1302, 1393, 1395, 1439, 15741 1799, 3346 and 3743 of 1984 and 4381 of 1986, will stand disposed of.

(2.) The petitioners had joined the Revenue Department in the erstwhile State of Punjab as Patwaris in the years 1954 and 1955. Thereafter they were promoted to the posts of Assistant Revenue Clerks and were confirmed on those posts. On the reorganisation of the State of Punjab with effect from 1st November, 1966, the petitioners were allocated to the State of Haryana. In the years 1973 and 1974, the petitioners were promoted as Zilledars on purely stop-gap arrangement.

(3.) According to the statutory Service Rules governing the posts of Zilledars (the Rules are known as Punjab Public Works Department (Irrigation Branch) Zilledars State Service Class III Rules, 1955), the academic qualifications which are required for the departmental candidates for the posts of Zilledars is Intermediate. It is the admitted case on both sides that the petitioners were not having these academic qualifications. After the petitioners had been promoted to the posts of Zilledas in the stop-gap arrangement, some of their juniors had also been promoted in stop-gap arrangement, but those juniors had the requisite academic qualifications. In the year 1984, direct recruitment to the posts of Zilledars was made and on arrival of the selected candidates, the petitioners were reverted to their sub-stantive posts of Assistant Revenue Clerks. An order dated 20th March, 1984 (Annexure P.3) was issued whereby certain other candidates were being appointed as Zilledars against the posts which fell vacant because of the reversion of the petitioners. It is the reversion of the petitioners that has been challenged by way of the abovesaid writ petitions.