MAHENDRA SURANA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are four Special Appeals arising out of the order dated February 1,1993 of the learned Single Judge of this Court. Out of the afore said four special appeals, three arise out of the three writ petitions which had been filed before the learned Single Judge by Sarva Shri Alauddin Azad (S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6089/92), Keshari Singh (S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5837/1992) and K. P. Singhal (S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4828/1992 ). The appellant in the aforesaid three special appeals is Mahendra Surana who was not the respondent in any of the three writ petitions before the learned Single Judge but has preferred the special appeals and under our order dated February 8, 1993, we had granted leave to Shri Surana to file the special appeals. The said order dated February 8, 1993 may be read as a part of this order in so far as the right of Shri Surana to file special appeals is concerned. The last of the four special appeals (No. 84/1993) has been filed by the State of Rajasthan. This Special Appeal is confined to only against a part of the order of the learned Single Judge in the case of S. B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4828/1992 K. P. Singhal V. State of Rajasthan under which the learned Single Judge has ordered that the services of Shri K. P. Singhal should be counted from April 1, 1972 and not from November 19, 1973.

(2.) IN these special appeals two questions have been agitated at the Bar and they are - (i) whether Sarva Shri Alauddin Azad, Keshari Singh and K. P. Singhal who are the recruits and appointees under the Rajasthan Administrative Service (Emergency Recruitment) Rules, 1976 (for short, Emergency Recruitment Rules) are eligible for consideration for promotion to the Supertime Scale post in the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS)?. IN other words, the question is as to whether the above three recruits and appointees have completed 20 years' service on the post included in the Rajasthan Administrative Service ?. Yet in other words the question is as the whether the legal fiction created by rule 25 of the Emergency Recruitment Rules for the purposes of seniority also extends to the service in the RAS? and (ii) the other question is about the date of appointment of Shri K. P. Singhal, whether as held by the learned Single Judge it should be taken as April 1, 1972 or November 19, 1973 ?.

(3.) AS per rule 6 of the Original Rules the strength of posts in each grade of the service shall be such as may be determined by the Government from time to time. Schedule-I to the Original Rules contained the strength of the service and the name of the posts in it, and it will be seen from its perusal that they are (i) selection scale post, (ii) posts in the senior scale and (iii) posts in the original time scale. Earlier there were no posts in the Super Time Scale and they were only created later on. The scheme of rule 28-B of the Original Rules which prescribes the revised criterian, eligibility and procedure for promotion to junior, senior and other posts encadred in the Service will show that whereas the selection for first promotion in the State Service is on the basis of seniority-cum-merit of such of the persons who have put in atleast five years' service, the selection for promotion to all other higher categories of posts in the State Service has to be on the basis of merit and on the basis of seniority-cum-merit in the proportion of 50: 50, except to the highest post/posts in the State Service which has to be on the basis of merit alone. Even in case of selection for promotion to the highest post/posts in the State Service on the satisfaction of the committee the suitable persons are not available for selection by promotion strictly on the basis of merit, the selection by promotion to that post on the basis of seniority-cum-merit can be made in the same manner as prescribed in the rules. It will further be seen by a reading of sub-rule (8) of rule 28-B that if a person has been selected/appointed on the basis of merit he becomes eligible for promotion to the next higher post or category of posts to be filled in on the basis of merit as and when he has put in after regular selection atleast five years of service unless a higher period of service is prescribed elsewhere in the rules on the first day of the month of April of the year of selection on the post or category of post from which selection is to be made. The condition of five years' service shall not be applicable to a person, if any person junior to him is eligible for consideration for promotion on the basis of merit.