STATE OF BIHAR Vs. RAMESHWAR SINGH SON OF LATE AWADH BIHARI SINGH : GYANESHWAR JHA SON OF LATE GANGADHAR JHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The two appeals at the instance of the State of Bihar and its functionaries have been preferred under clause 10 of the Letters Patent of the High Court of Judicature at Patna.

(2.) A brief statement of facts essential for the disposal of the appeals may be indicated. We shall draw the basic facts from the proceedings of L.P.A. No.540 of 2006, and the connected C.W.J.C.No. 2187 of 2004, except by specific ref- erence to any other proceeding. We shall go by the description of the parties occurring in the writ proceeding. The writ petitioners were appointed in the Bihar Constabulary as constables and joined the Crime Investigation Department (C.I.D. for short), on various dates between 1.8.1971 to 12.9.1971. They were confirmed as such. They were promoted as Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (A.S.I. in short). On the basis of a selection process conducted by the C.I.D., the writ petitioners were promoted to the posts of Sub-Inspector of Police ('S.I1 in short), on purely ad hoc/officiating basis on various dates between 1976 to 1981. The Central Selection Board conducted a centralized selection process in terms of Rule 659 of the Bihar Police Manual (hereinafter referred to as the Manual) dealing with the cases of all the members of the cadre of A.S.I. of police throughout the State of Bihar and promoted the writ petitioners & others to the posts of S.I., by order dated 5.3.2002. They were denied the benefit of ad hod officiating promotion to the post of S.I. Some of the writ petitioners, therefore, preferred C.W.J.C. No. 3222 of 1991, and the analogous writ petitions by similarly circumstanced persons, which were allowed by a Division Bench of this Court by judgment dated 8.5.1996, inter alia, on the following terms:

(3.) The State of Bihar challenged the same before the Supreme Court in S.L.P. Nos. 7288-7292 of 1997 (State of Bihar V/s. Anant Tiwary and Others), whereby the same were dismissed In Limine on the ground of delay. The order dated 17.9.1997 of the Supreme Court is reproduced hereinbelow: