UMESH LAL Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed this writ application challenging the order by which he has been given promotion in the year 2002 w.e.f. 1996 to the post of an Assistant Engineer in the Public Health Engineering Department (hereinafter referred to as the 'P.H.E.D.'). The claim is that the petitioner should be granted promotion from 1989.

(2.) The facts are that the petitioner was appointed as a Junior Engineer in the P.H.E.D. In the year 1989 a Departmental Promotional Committee was constituted and on the basis of the relevant considerations, five persons were appointed. The petitioner claims that he was considered for appointment by the Departmental Promotional Committee constituted in 1989, but he found that his name was not recommended, rather other persons who were also in the list were appointed in his place. In reply thereto it is clarified by the State Government that there were 25 posts vacant. 18 were meant for General Category, 4 were meant for Scheduled Caste and 3 were meant for Scheduled Tribe candidates. In the meeting held on 17.2.1989 and 22.2.1989 matters were examined and finally the Government decided that only five posts would be filled up by way of promotion. Subsequently in the general category roster points 201, 203 and 205, in the scheduled caste category roster point 202 and in the scheduled tribe 204, were granted promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer.

(3.) The petitioner claims that he is senior to two persons who were promoted earlier to him i.e. Jawahar Lal Singh and Ram Singhasan Prasad Singh. The seniority claimed by the petitioner is on the basis of the provisional seniority list annexed and marked as Annexure-B to the counter affidavit. When the seniority list was finalized in the year 1995, the petitioner's name was at serial 90 whereas the names of the aforesaid two persons were at serial 71 and 72.