IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.17629 of 2009 ARUN KUMAR & ANR Versus THE STATE OF BIHAR & ORS ----------- 02 03.03.2010 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, learned counsel for the State of Bihar and learned counsel for the State of Jharkhand. The petitioners who were Typists were applicants under advertisement no. 13 of 1987 for the Second Secretariat Assistants competitive examination. They came to be appointed after selection when followed a spate of litigations with regard to inter alia appointments made in excess of notified vacancies etc. necessitating the need for reappraisal of the appointments. This resulted in termination of their services on 22.11.1996. They came to this court in C.W.J.C. No. 11469 of 1996. The writ petition is stated to have been dismissed. No copy of the order of the writ Court has been brought on record. The petitioners then preferred L.P.A. No. 432 of 1999. It has been stated in the writ application that the L.P.A. was admitted and stay was granted. While the appeal was pending, consequent to the reorganization of the State of Bihar, the petitioners 2 were allocated the State of Jharkhand. It is their case that the State of Bihar by separate orders respectively confirmed them on their respective posts on 10.6.1996 and 9.6.1996. The order by which this confirmation was made has also not been brought on record. Leaned counsel for the State submits that such confirmation may have been done in view of the stay granted by the appellate Court and it is not known whether the confirmation done was conditional subject to the final orders in the appeal or not. After such confirmation of their services and an affidavit filed to that effect the Letters Patent Appeal was disposed off as infructous. Thereafter on 5.10.2009 the impugned order has been passed by the State of Bihar by which the order dated 13.3.1997 and in pursuance of which the order of termination dated 22.11.1996 was directed to be stayed till further order came to an end. I.A. No. 561 of 2010 has been filed on behalf of the petitioners questioning the subsequent order dated 18.12.2009 passed by the State of Jharkhand by which their services have been 3 returned to the State of Bihar on their original post of Typist after their reversion. It appears that the matter of appointments under advertisement no. 13 of 1987 has been the subject of detailed consideration by a Division Bench of this Court in L.P.A. No. 576 of 1999. The petitioners may file a proper representation within a period of ten days before the State of Bihar in context of the order dated 5.10.2009, when the respondents State of Bihar shall consider the entire matter in the perspective of orders passed on the individual writ petition of the petitioners which was dismissed, the confirmation of their services after termination during the pendency of their appeal, whether it was absolute or it was conditional, subject to the final disposal of the appeal. The disposal of the appeal as infructous in view of the desired posting of the petitioners and whether such posting was final and conclusive etc. are questions left open notwithstanding the disposal of their Letters Patent Appeal to be decided by a reasoned and speaking order. This Court directs that till the disposal of the matter by the respondent State of Bihar within a 4 maximum period of three months from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order, the impugned order dated 5.10.2009 and 18.12.2009 are directed to be kept in abeyance. The impugned orders shall then merge with such fresh final orders to be passed by the State of Bihar within the aforesaid period. This Court expects that the State of Bihar shall pass final appropriate orders within the time fixed so that neither the petitioners nor the State of Bihar or Jharkhand is prejudiced or gains any advantage in an unfair manner. The question of applicability of any orders of this Court in L.P.A. No. 576 of 1999 preferred by others to the petitioners shall naturally have to be considered in light of the orders passed on their individual writ petition and the Letters Patent Appeal so preferred by them also. The application stands disposed. P.K. ( Navin Sinha, J.)