SARWAN KUMAR MUNJAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Reliefs claimed in all these petitions are almost identical and therefore they are being decided by a common order. A detailed reference to the facts in C.W.P. No. 3219 of 1993 is being made and in respect of other writ petitions brief reference would be sufficient for the purpose of this order.

(2.) Sawarn Kumar Munjal, who is petitioner in C.W.P. No. 3219 of 1993, was appointed as Overseer in the year 1958 in the Irrigation Department of the erstwhile State of Punjab. On the reorganisation of the State of Punjab his services were allocated to the State of Haryana. He was promoted as Sub- Divisional Officer on ad hoc basis vide Annexure P1 dated 29.4.1974. Subsequently vide order (Annexure P-4) dated 15.1.1984 the petitioner was promoted as Sub-Divisional Officer on regular basis with effect from 12.6.1974. Vide order (Annexure P5) dated 11.12.1990 a revised list of promotee Sub-Divisional Officers was issued and the name of the petitioner was placed at No. 18 amongst the officers who were shown as promoted against the vacancies for the year 1974. On 28th August, 1991 the Government issued order (Annexure P6) and issued a new order of promotion of Assistant Engineer on regular basis under the Haryana Service of Engineers Class-II Rules, 1970 (for short 'the Rules of 1970'). In this order the name of the petitioner once again came to be shown amongst promotees of 1974. However, after about a period of one year and three months the impugned order (Annexure P7) came to be issued by the Government revising the list of promotee Assistant Engineers and the name of the petitioner does not figure amongst the promotee officers between the years 1971 to 1987. It is this order which has given rise to the writ petitions of Sarwan Kumar Munjal and others.

(3.) Before adverting to the grievance of the petitioner it is necessary to take notice of some more facts. By order (Annexure P1) dated 29.4.1974 as many as 348 persons were promoted on ad hoc basis and of them 24 were from amongst the Junior Engineers. Before the issue of first order of regular promotion on 15.1.1984 the petitioner was allowed to cross efficiency bar in the pay scale of the post of Assistant Engineer vide order (Annexure P2) dated 15.9.1981. In the year 1975 Shri M.L. Verma filed C.W.P. No. 1524 of 1976 wherein the petitioner had challenged the methodology of ad hoc appointments which were continued from year to year. In that writ petition Shri I.M. Khunger, the then Administrative Officer Irrigation Department filed an affidavit giving details of the vacancies in the cadre of Sub-Divisional Officers/Assistant Engineers which became available in different years between 1971 to 1979. The Court took note of this affidavit and directed the Government to make regular promotions strictly in accordance with the rules by filling vacancies falling to the share of each source on yearly basis. In compliance with this direction, the State of Haryana issued order (Annexure P4) under Rule 9 of the Rules 1970, promoting the petitioner and others against the various years between 1971 to 1982. Subsequently, Shri R.K. Jain filed C.W.P. No. 4489 of 1982 and sought a writ of mandamus for making regular appointments against the vacancies becoming available after 1982. This writ petition was allowed on 10.8.1984 with a direction to make regular promotions. The Government issued order of promotion on 12.4.1985. This order was challenged by Ranjit Singh and others in C.W.P. No. 4403 of 1985. That writ petition was allowed by the High Court on 24.5.1989 and the order of promotion dated 12.4.1985 was quashed. In Ranjit Singh and others v. State of Haryana, 1989 2 RCR(Cri) 168, a learned Single judge of this court held that ranking list of eligible candidates should be prepared every year and if a person who is senior does not acquire the requisite qualification in a particular year, he has to be ranked senior in a subsequent year after he acquires the qualification. The learned Single Judge further held that under Rule 9(7) of the 1970 Rules consultation with the Haryana Public Service Commission was necessary and in the absence of such consultation, the promotion was liable to be set aside. Against this judgment of the learned Single Judged L.P.A. No. 1588 of 1989 was filed but the same was dismissed on 22.12.1989 by a speaking order. The judgment of the High Court was challenged in S.L.P. No. 2525 of 1990 (Sushil Kumar Arora & another v. State of Haryana & others). The same was decided by the Supreme Court on 7.8.1990 with the following direction :-