ition No 469 of 1971
Under article 32 of the Constitution af India
V M Tarkund V N Ganpule and P C Kapoor for the petitioners
G L Sanghi and section P Nayar for respondents 1 4 respondents S to 16 not represented
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by BEG J
Twenty two petitioners under Article 32 of the Constitution have come to this Court with the following assertion 1 They are employed as civilian non gazetted Officers holding posts of Chargemen Grade II Chemists in high explosives  Factory Kirkee which is one of the 28 ordnance Factories located all over India controlled by opposite party No 2 the Director General of ordnance Factories with his Head office at Calcutta
2 The Factory has four cadres of officers i Gazetted officers ii Non Gazetted officers iii Non Industrial employees iv lndustrial employees
The petitioners belong to the second cadre which has four grades a Foremen b Assistant Foremen c Chargemen Gr
I d Chargemen Grade II
The 3rd cadre of nonindustrial employees has two grades i Supervisor A  Grade and ii Supervisor B  grade
The employees of the 3rd cadre are classified as Class III employees in the general scheme of classification of Govt
servants who are governed by India ordnance Factories Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Class II personnel Rules
3 The seniority rules of Gazetted and Non Gazetted officers of the ordnance Factories are laid down in office Memorandum dated 4th January 1956 amended in 1961 Annexure B 
4 The Director General of ordnance Factories Respondent No 2 issued an advertisement dated 14th November 1962 for direct recruitment to the grade of Foremen Assistant Foremen Chargemen Grade I and Ghargemen Grade II
At the time of this advertisement all the petitioners except petitioner No 12 were already serving as officiating Supervisors of A  Grade of Class IIl employees
In answer to the advertisement for appointment to temporary posts with prospects of being considered for permanent appointment in due course the petitioners who possessed the minimum qualification prescribed applied for direct recruitment which was open to them also
The petitioners were for interview by a letter issued by the General Manager High explosives  I Factory Kirkee on 7th February 1963 but after the interviews no letters of appointment were received by the petitioners other than petitioner No 12
760 5 They were promoted between April 1963 and November 1963 from their substantive grade of Supervisor A  to Chargemen Grade II by the General Manager of their factory on short term basis by virtue of powers delegated to him
Petitioner No 12 who was not in service at all before was appointed a temporary chargemen Grade II in April 1963 as a result of his selection after interview
Respondents 5 to 16 however entered  the  grade of Chargemen Grade II between 1st December 1963 and 4th February 1965 and were also shown as temporary Chargemen Grade II but they were not holding any post in the grade of Supervisors
The respondents were apprentices before entering into the Grade II of Chargemen
r 6 The promotions of the petitioners were given  retrospective effect by an order dated 11th June 1965 passed by the Director General ordnance Factories
In December 1967 however the petitioners were superseded by others who were alleged to be their juniors
The petitioners made representations and sent reminders which were not replied to
Respondents S to 16 were promoted from Chargemen Grade II to the grade of Assistant Foremen by an order of the respondent No 2 Director General ordnance Factories dated l 7th September 1971
This order according to the petitioners amounted to another supersession of the petitioners who were shown as holding permanent posts only as Supervisors of A  grade in 1971
The petitioners therefore called to this Court on 14th December 1971 against the orders dated 17th September 1971 Which amounted to their supersession
The petitioners also alleged that as no orders were communicated to them showing that they were considered direct recruits by the ordnance Depot by the Ministry of Defence Production in the Govt of India or anyone on its behalf they came to know for the first time as a result of the replies filed by the respondents to the Writ Petition that they were being treated as direct recruits so that they could only be confirmed when their turn came in the 20 quota of direct recruits and not in the 80 quota of the promotees
The petitioners therefore applied for the amendment of the petition and were permitted by this Court under an order dated 16th November 1973 to do so
They alleged by means of this amendment that their classification as direct recruits instead of as Promotees was Seniority fanciful arbitrary and even capricious
They also alleged that the seniority list filed in reply to their petition had been kept concealed from them and that it was prepared in utter disregard to statutory rules 101 to 10 to 4 contained in SRO 4
These rules are 101 The Director General will prepare a seniority list of all the officers in their own categories according to the following procedure i As between two officers holding a particular class of appointment in a substantive capacity seniority in that 761 class of appointment as well as in the officiating appointments held by them in the same rank or different ranks shall be determined with reference to the date of the substantive appointment
ii Subject to the provisions of clause iii an officer holding an appointment in a particular class in a substantive capacity will he normally senior to an officer holding an appointment in the same class in a non substantive capacity
iii Seniority of persons holding temporary appointments which are made on agreement or on probationary basis and which are expected to be continued after the expiry of the initial period will be reckoned vis a vis others holding permanent appointments in the same grade in the ordnance Factories from the date from which the officer concerned have been holding appointments of the same grade continuously
The seniority so assigned to such per sons shall not be disturbed on their confirmation at a later stage
Note This clause applies only to persons recruited through the Union Public Service Commission and to those recruited directly otherwise than through the Union Public Service Commission prior to 1st April 1947
iv Temporary seniority in a given grade will be reckoned from the date from which the officer concerned has been occupying it continuously irrespective of whether he has a substantive appointment in some lower grade The reply of the respondents is that the so called promotion orders of which the petitioners want to take advantage were really the result of a mistake or misunderstanding in not realising the actual legal position of the petitioners as direct recruits
It was pointed out that in the letters issued calling them for interviews as direct recruits it was made clear to them that their appointments did not carry with them any decision about their fitness for the post applied for and that they could be considered for any lower post to which they might he so entitled
In other words this clearly meant that they were on trial
It was also pointed out that promotions are only made under Rule 6 of the Indian Ordnance Factories Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Class III Personnel Rules 1956 as amended in 1961 to Chargemen Grade II on the basis of a selection list prepared by the appropriate Departmental Promotion Committee
rt was asserted that in the minutes of the Departmental Promotions  Committee held in the month of April 1963 prior to the appointment of petitioners as Chargemen Grade II the Committee had prescribed a normal minimum qualification of three years  service in the post of Grade A  for promotion barring exceptional cases of ex apprentices
It was asserted that as the Petitioners had not satisfied this condition they could not be considered for promotion to the posts of Chargemen Grade II
They did not belong to the class 762 which had any exceptional qualifications
Hence their names did not appear in the list of persons to be promoted prepared by the Departmental Promotions  Committee for the post of Chargemen Grade II
It was asserted that they were being treated as direct recruits and not promotees despite their wrong description and even wrong orders conveying the impression that they were promotees
The condition precedent to promotion not having been satisfied they could only be considered as direct recruits and get the appointments reserved for the class of direct recruits as and when their turns arrived in this quota
It was conceded on behalf of the respondents that much larger number of appointments had been made in the class of direct recruits than the vacancies available
It was however explained that this was due to the sudden and exceptional demands for these appointments as a result of the pressure on our ordnance Factories due to the war with China and other defence requirements
It was urged that the petitioners could not take advantage of erroneous orders made by the Manager of their ordnance Factory even if the error had been repeated by the Director General Ordnance Factories
If the petitioners had not satisfied the condition precedent to promotion they could not get the appointments reserved for the 80 quota of promotees whose work was watched by the Promotions  Committee so that they could be declared fit for promotion
The promotions were on the basis of a selection on merit the tests of which had not been satisfied by the petitioners In fact the petitioners were considered with others and were not selected
It was not necessary to give them opportunities of being heard on comparative merits as they claimed just as candidates at an examination are not entitled to any such opportunities as these are not disciplinary proceedings
Counsel for the petitioners was in our opinion not able to meet the objections put forward to petitioners  claims as promotees
He could not show that they satisfied the conditions precedent to promotions
Hence the so called orders of promotion could not cure the defect
It was immaterial that the petitioners were wrongly shown as Promotees in their service records or that they had not received intimations or their appointments as direct recruits
There was a justifiable ground for a distinction between them and the class to which the respondents belonged
There was no challenge to the fairness of the 20 quota reserved for direct recruits as against that of promotees
Hence we do not think that the petitioners can complain of violation of any fundamental rights under Article 16 of the Constitution
Petitioners cannot also claim any benefit resulting from being treated as persons belonging to the same class as respondents 5 to 16 whose places on the seniority list are questioned by them as 763 amounting to illegal supersessions of the petitioners
We may mention here that Mr Sanghi Counsel appearing for the Union of India Respondent No 1 and the Director General ordnance Factory Respondent No 2 and other officials has fairly conceded that so far as the case af Petitioner No 11 is concerned it stands on a special footing and that his clients are considering it on that footing
Counsel for the petitioners has also conceded that so far as 3 of the petitioners are concerned they have been rightly treated as direct recruits
We find no error in treating the others also as direct recruits
It may also be mentioned here that Mr Sanghi Counsel for the Union of India and its officials has stated to the Court that none of the petitioners will be reverted to his substantive post merely on the ground that he was treated as a direct recruit
The question of inter se seniority is a different matter
The petitioners have been unable to establish that they have been denied their seniority in violation of any right under Article 16 of the Constitution
Collector of Central Excise Central Revenue  Ors this Court laid down at p 546 It was for the petitioner to satisfy the Court that he was not given the senior grade although he satisfied all the required conditions of it and that others who were promoted into it were given unjustifiable preference over him
As we are not satisfied that the seniority list has been prepared in violation of any rule or principle of justice we are unable to accept the petition before us
We therefore dismiss this petition
The parties will bear their own costs
VPS Petition dismissed


Summary:
The Ordinance Factory in which the petitioners were employed hold four cadres
In the 2nd cadre of non gazetted officers there were four grades Foremen
Assistant Foremen Chargemen Grade I and Chargemen Grade II
The 3rd cadre of non industrial employees had 2 grades Supervisor A  Grade and B  Grade and were governed by the Indian ordnance Factories Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Class III Personnel Rules1956
Appointment was on the basis of 20 of the quota for direct recruits and 80 for promotees
In answer to an advertisement for appointment by direct recruitment to the 4 grades of the 2nd cadre the petitioners all of whom except petitioner No 12 were serving as Supervisors A  Grade applied
Petitioner No 12 was not in service
They were interviewed but none of the petitioners except Petitioner No 12 received orders of appointment
Petitioner No 12 was appointed Chargeman Grade II
Between April 1963 and November 1963 The other petitioners were promoted as Chargemen Grade II
Respondents 5 to 16 who were apprentices were also promoted as Chargemen Grade II and were later promoted to the grade of Assistant Foremen
Treating this order as an order of supersession the petitioners filed a writ petition under article 32 claiming to be promotees and seniority on the basis of statutory rules 101i to iv contained in SRO 4
Dismissing the petition  HELD
I There was a justifiable ground for distinction between the petitioners who were direct recruits and the respondents who were promotees and hence there was no violation of article 16
1762 G The petitioners were really direct recruits and not promotees despite the wrong description in their service records and even wrong orders conveying the impression that they were promoters
even though they had not received intimation of their appointment as direct recruits
Promotions arc only made under section 8 of the Indian ordnance Factories Recruitment and Conditions of service of Class III Personnel Rules 1956 as amended in 1961 to Charge men Grade II on the basis Of a selection list prepared by the appropriate Departmental Promotion Committee
The Committee had prescribed a normal minimum qualification of 3 years  service in the post of Supervisor Grade A  before promotion except in exceptional cases of ex apprentices
The petitioners did not belong to the class which had any exceptional qualification and since they had not satisfied tho 3 years  condition they could not be considered for promotion in the 80 quota reserved for promotees to the post of Chargemen Grade Ir
E Hl 2 The petitioners have not established that they have been denied their seniority in violation of any right under article 16 nor that the seniority list had been prepared in violation of any rule or principle of justice
The question of inter se seniority is also based upon the 41 80 20 ratio and it was for the petitioners to satisfy the Court that they were not given the senior 759 grade although they satisfied all the required conditions and that others who A were promoted were given unjustifiable preference over them
763C Amrit Lal Berry vs Collector of Central Excise Central Revenue  ors AIK  546 followed