STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. MOHD. BARKAT KHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant bunch of intra-court appeals arises out of identical orders passed by learned Single Bench whereby, following the Division Bench judgment in the case of State of Rajasthan and Ors. v. Poonam Sharma (D.B. Special Appeal (Writ) No. 815/2019, decided on 29/8/2019), the learned Single Bench directed the appellant State to undertake the exercise as has been directed by the Division Bench in the case of Poonam Sharma (supra) as below:-

(2.) Learned AAG Shri Pankaj Sharma and Shri Rishi Soni representing the State submitted that the ratio of the Division Bench Judgment in the case of Poonam Sharma (supra) could not have been applied in the present controversy because the said judgment arose out of a selection process relating to Teachers Grade-II whereas the present controversy relates to appointment and posting of Teachers Grade-III (Level-I and Level-II) and hence, the impugned orders are bad in the eyes of law. Shri Sharma urged that the respondents herein, after selection vide the initial select list were provided postings in accordance with their choice with reference to their position in the merit. Thereafter, reshuffling took place as many candidates did not turn up for document verification and others did not appear for joining. As a consequence of the above situation, litigation ensued and this Court, in the cases of Kuldeep Kumar and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan and Ors. (SBCWP No. 2094/2019) and Lokendra Singh and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan (SBCWP No. 1188/2020) directed the State to fill up the vacant posts by operating the category-wise reserve list and in compliance of the aforesaid directions, the State Government issued an order dtd. 18/12/2020 proposing to fill the vacant posts by issuing the waiting list from the existing merit position. Shri Sharma urged that the recruitment in the case of Poonam Sharma (supra) was for the post of Senior Teachers under the Rajasthan Education Subordinate Service Rules, 1971 whereas the recruitment in the cases at hand has been made under the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 and Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996. He urged that there is a fundamental difference in the posts of Senior Teachers, Teachers Grade-II and the Teachers Grade-III because in the former cadre, the seniority is maintained division-wise whereas, in the case of Teachers Grade-III, the seniority is maintained district-wise. He further drew the Court's attention to the policy decision taken by the Government vide minutes dtd. 25/2/2019 wherein, the Division Bench judgment in the case of Rajasthan Public Service Commission v. Jata Shanker and Ors. (D.B. Special Appeal (Writ) No. 823/2018, decided on 9/8/2018 was referred to and finally, it was decided as below:-

(3.) Shri Sharma urged that if the directions given by the learned Single Bench are to be followed, the entire selection list would have to be re-shuffled which might lead to the disruption of a large number of candidates who have already settled on their respective posts and thus, the impugned orders deserve to be quashed and set aside.