IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.11583 of 2006 Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Jaiswal, son of Sri Hari Narain Jaiswal, residentr of 20/1, Awas Vikas Colony Rauza, Ghazipur, Dist. Ghazipur, presently posted as Lecturer, Department of Medicine (Kaya Chikitsa), Govt. Ayodhaya Shiv Kumari Ayurvedic College, Begusarai – Petitioner. Vs. (1) The State of Bihar, (2) The Secretary, Department of Medicine Education, Family Welfare & Indigenous Medicine, Bihar, Patna. (3) The Dy. Secretary, Department of Medicine Education, Family Welfare & Indigenous Medicine, Bihar, Patna. (4) The Director, Indigenous Medicine, Bihar, Patna – Respondents. 6 28.2.2011 The petitioner was initially appointed as a Medical Officer and in terms of the Government decision that all those medical officers holding post graduate degree should be promoted to the post of lecturer, the petitioner was appointed as a lecturer in the subject of Medicine (Kaya Chikitsa) on 16.5.1997. The grievance of the petitioner is that although he is duly qualified and has worked for several years as a lecturer, he is not being considered for promotion to the post of Reader on the ground that there is no vacancy in the subject of Medicine. Counsel for the petitioner refers to Annexure 5 which is a resolution of the State Government dated 18.6.1991. Relying on clause (Ga), it is submitted that there is a provision that in certain subjects / specialty in case post graduate degree holders are not available, the post graduate degree holders of the specified categories shall be eligible for promotion / appointment on the higher post. The State counsel submits that besides the petitioner perhaps five others who possess the qualification in the 2 Department of Medicine are senior to the petitioner. The petitioner contends that his seniority has wrongly been calculated on the basis of his date of joining. It is the claim of the petitioner that he joined on 29.5.1997, whereas his joining is said to be on 3.6.1997. The State counsel relies on Annexure 1 whereas the petitioner relies on Annexures 4 and 4/1 to indicate that the date of joining was 29.5.1997. In the circumstances respondent Secretary, Department of Medical Education, Family Welfare and Indigenous Medicine, Bihar shall call for a report from the concerned colleges and thereafter decide the inter se seniority of all those candidates who have been appointed as lecturer along with the petitioner. I may clarify here that the date of joining cannot be the sole factor for fixation of seniority as it may be the case that from the date of notification of promotion / appointment as a lecturer, certain incumbents may be in a position to join earlier, whereas others may be posted at some distance from the post allotted to them as lecturer and, therefore, require certain amount of travelling time before they can submit their joining. All these facts are to be taken into consideration before deciding the issue. Respondent Secretary should also notice all concerned persons in the Medicine Department, in case respondent Secretary finds that the petitioner is entitled for consideration for promotion to the post of Reader, appropriate orders may be issued. The petitioner may accordingly file a representation before respondent Secretary of the department along with a copy 3 of this order within six weeks. The matter may be decided on valid service of notice to the lecturers in the Department of Medicine within six months thereafter. This writ petition is disposed of with the aforesaid observations and directions. haque ( Sheema Ali Khan, J.)