IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.15554 of 2005 ANIL KUMAR SINHA SON OF LATE SITA RAM PRASAD RESIDENT OF VILLAGE MOGALPURA PURANI CHAUKI, PATNA CITY, PATNA Versus 1. THE STATE OF BIHAR THROUGH THE CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVT. OF BIHAR, PATNA. 2. THE HOME SECRETARY, GOVT. OF BIHAR, PATNA. 3. THE D.G. CUM I.G. OF POLICE, GOVT. OF BIHAR, PATNA. 4. THE D.I.G. OF POLICE, CHAMPARAN RANGE, BETTIAH 5. THE S.P. WEST CHAMPARAN, BETTIAH. ----------- For the Petitioner :- Mr. Ram Hriday Prasad. For the State :- Mr. A. N. Deo, S.C. X -------- 2 20/09/2010 By virtue of annexure-1 petitioner with some other persons came to be dismissed from service on the ground that proper procedure was not adopted in making appointments to the post of Constable at the relevant time which related to the year 1985 so far as the present petitioner is concerned. Submission of the learned counsel is that he was duly selected after a recruitment drive carried out by a selection committee which was headed by the then Deputy Inspector General of Police and there are indications in this regard that special drive was carried out in the given situation existing in the district of West - 2 - Champaran and the petitioner was one of the persons to be selected and appointed. Some of the reports furnished by the other officers who came to be posted also indicate that it is not a case of illegal appointment in the manner in which it is being labelled now after more than 18 years of such appointment. A reading of annexure-1 would show that the case of the present petitioner seems to have been clubbed with some others who may have been appointed on the dictates or the direction of the erstwhile Director General of Police but in so far as the present petitioner is concerned it was a case of recruitment by the Selection Board headed by a Senior Officer and not a case of appointment made at the behest of a Senior Officer. Learned counsel for the State submits that similar kind of appointments and orders of dismissal have come to be upheld in certain other cases, a copy of the said order has been annexed as Annexure-A to the counter affidavit. A perusal of the said decision of the High court would show that the facts of the case of the present petitioner are not similar to the case of those petitioners. - 3 - If that be so, then such a decision cannot be mechanically applied to the case of termination of the present petitioner. Another significant aspect which must be taken into consideration is that the respondents have dismissed the petitioner on the ground of illegal appointment or recruitment after more than 18 years which by itself has been frowned upon by the Hon’ble Supreme Court which would be evident from an order which has been annexed as annexure-2. A long period of service un-interrupted by itself creates certain amount of equity in favour of the person appointed and the length of service which the petitioner had rendered before he came to be terminated will have to be considered in light of the observation of the Supreme Court contained in the case of Abhay Kumar Pandey Vs. State of Bihar and others which is annexure-2 to the writ application. The Court is of the opinion that the respondents have applied an uniform yard stick by labeling every appointment as the appointment made by the Director General of Police not in conformity with the Police Manual without verifying the individual cases of such - 4 - appointment. There is other glaring evidence to show that the procedure was followed for appointment of the petitioner at the relevant time and he cannot be thrown out of service now after working for more than 18 years under the respondents. The impugned order of termination, therefore, is set aside. In view of the same the order passed in appeal has no meaning. That also stands quashed. This writ application is allowed with a direction that the petitioner would not be entitled to claim back wages on the basis of the reinstatement order passed by this Court but the petitioner would be entitled to other benefits of service for the period he was dismissed and reinstatement in service. AMIN/ (Ajay Kumar Tripathi, J.)