NAROTAM KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order will dispose of Civil Writ Petitions No. 2977, 4768 and 3635 of 1992, as common question of law is involved therein.

(2.) In the aforementioned writ petitions, petitioners are challenging the action of the respondents, appointing respondent No. 3, as the ground that the same is malafide, based on irrelevant considerations, vitiated by personal bias and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

(3.) In brief, the facts are that the District Rural Development Agency (In short 'the Agency') is a registered autonomous body. It is headed by the Deputy Commissioner who is its ex-office Chairman, and the Additional Deputy Commissioner is its ex-officio Chief Executive Officer. According to the petitioners, the Agency is fully funded by government funds. In the Agency at Faridabad, two persons namely Mr. Vijay Kumar and Mr. Dharam Pal, who were working as Investigators, were appointed and promoted as Assistant Project Officers, vide order dated 30.1.1992. In consequence thereof, two posts of Investigators fell vacant. On learning that vacancies had arisen in the post of Investigators because of promotion of Vijay Kumar and Dharam Pal, the petitioners immediately applied to the Additional Deputy Commissioner for being appointed and promoted as such. Respondents instead of considering the names of the petitioners, appointed one Ramesh Prasad, who is stated to be closed relation of the Chairman/Deputy Commissioner, Mr. S.S. Prasad. According to the petitioners, Ram Prasad was called from his home State in Bihar to Bihar to fill up this post of Investigator. The action of the respondents in ignoring the claim of the petitioners and appointing Ram Prasad is being challenged in the present writ petition being arbitrary and violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.