AHSANUL HODA NAJMI Vs. BIHAR VIDHAN SABHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Anand Ojha, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Kaushal Kumar Singh, for the Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

(2.) The petitioner seeks a direction to the respondent authorities to consider his case for promotion to the post of Sec. Officer from the post of Assistant, Bihar Vidhan Sabha primarily on the ground that a junior Assistant has been considered for the said post and has now been tipped for being promoted to the post of Under Secretary, Bihar Vidhan Sabha. The history of the service of the petitioner in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha is not required to be noted except for the fact that he joined the Bihar Vidhan Sabha way back in the year 1993 as an Urdu Typist. He could not appear in the departmental examination which was held in the year 2016 on account of his illness. However, he felt aggrieved that one Chhote Paswan who ranked junior to the petitioner and even though he too had not passed the departmental examination, was promoted to the post of Sec. Officer. This impelled the petitioner to approach this Court for redressal of his grievances vide C.W.J.C. No. 14097 of 2016. A Bench of this Court vide order dtd. 19/1/2017 directed the petitioner to approach Respondent No. 2 by filing a fresh representation and in that event the Respondent No. 2 was asked to take a decision within a period of three months from the date of filing of such representation. Pursuant to the aforesaid representation, an order has been passed dated 13th of April, 2017, which has been impugned in the present petition, rejecting the claim of the petitioner for being promoted to the post of Sec. Officer. The order impugned inter alia reflects that in the year 2015, four posts had become vacant and since there was no availability of any candidate who had passed the departmental examination, aforesaid Chhote Paswan was promoted to the post of Sec. Officer with a caveat that if he did not clear the departmental examination within a period of six months, he would be reverted back to the post of the Assistant. Since Chhote Paswan could not pass the departmental examination which was conducted in the month of January, 2016, he was reverted back to the post of Assistant. The order further reflects that thereafter no one who has not passed the departmental examination has been promoted to the post of Sec. Officer. Simultaneously, the claim of the petitioner for his exemption from appearing in the examination also was rejected on the ground that he never appeared in the departmental examination which was conducted in the year 2016 and 2017.

(3.) Mr. Anand Ojha, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner has submitted that the issue of the petitioner not having appeared in the departmental examination comes later. The first grievance of the petitioner all through has been that Chhote Paswan who was junior to the petitioner in the rank of the Assistant was given promotion to the post of Sec. Officer, even when he had not passed the departmental examination. He has further drawn the attention of this Court to the later counter affidavit wherein it has been stated that after Chhote Paswan was reverted to the position of an Assistant in the event of his having failed in the departmental examination in the year 2016, he was again promoted to the post on the premise that he had appeared in the examination of the year 2016.