AMAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner was appointed as a Peon on 20.12.1979 after having put in several years of military service. After getting the benefit of military service, his seniority was to be determined from 10.7.1975. One Ram Kishan who had been posted as Daftri in the department was promoted as a picker on 12.12.1995. The petitioner being the senior-most peon represented to the respondents that he should be promoted as Daftri in place of Ram Kishan. Vide order Annexure P-8 dated 4.1.1996, however, respondent No. 4 has been appointed as Daftri on compassionate grounds as her husband Santosh Kumar had died in harness on the basis of the government instructions Annexure P-9 to the petition which provided for appointment on compassionate grounds to Class III and Class IV staff provided they fulfilled the conditions laid down therein. Annexures P-8 and P-9 have been impugned in the present proceedings.

(2.) Notice of motion was issued and a reply has been filed on behalf of the respondents No. 1 to 3. It has been denied that the petitioner was the seniormost peon in the office by stating that he was not entitled to count the period of his military service towards determining his seniority and that the same had been given to him in an irregular manner. It has also been pointed out that the appointment of respondent No. 4 had been made on compassionate grounds due to the death of her young husband and as such, it had been necessary to accommodate her against the post of Daftri and that as no legal right to claim promotion vested in a government servant, the petition was without merit.

(3.) It has been argued by Mrs. Abha Rathore, appearing for the petitioner that by virtue of the appointment of respondent No. 4 Smt. Anita aged 28 years as a Daftri, the promotional chances of the petitioner and other persons had been shut out for all times, there being only one post of Daftri in the district.