1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR O R D E R S.B.Civil Writ Petition No. 2135/2005 (Satya Narayan Sen Vs. The State of Rajasthan & Ors.) ......... Date of Order : 05/11/2008 P R E S E N T HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE H.R.PANWAR Mr. D.K.Godara on behalf of Mr. Anand Purohit for the petitioner. Dr. P.S.Bhati Addl. Advocate General for the respondents. BY THE COURT By the instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks a direction to the respondents to grant benefit of third selection scale to the petitioner on completion of 27 years of service as has been granted to the similarly situated Govt. servants namely Shri Manohar Singh, Fisherman and Damodar Das Khatri, Fieldman who have been granted the third selection scale on completion of 27 years of service vide office order Anenx.8 dated 30.11.2004 and the respondents be directed to make fixation of the pay consequent upon grant of third selection scale and pay all 2 arrears accruing thereon along with interest. The facts and circumstances giving rise to the instant writ petition are that the petitioner was initially appointed on the post of Fisherman w.e.f. 21.10.1969, he was subsequently promoted on the post of Fieldman w.e.f. 20.04.1979 and thereafter no promotion has been granted to the petitioner. As has been stated by the petitioner in the writ petition that the petitioner discharged his duties sincerely, dedicatedly and honestly and as such rendered the services with good service record. According to the petitioner, the State Government issued a notification dated 25.01.1992 for grant of I, II and III selection scales on completion of 9,18 and 27 years of services respectively. It is averred that the petitioner has completed 27 years of services on the post of fieldman, however, he has not been provided the third selection scale on completion of 27 years of service in the pay scale of Rs. 5500-9000, whereas the persons exactly similarly situated to that of the petitioner have been granted the said benefit namely Manohar Singh, Fisherman and Damodar Das Khatri, Fieldman. A reply to the writ petition has been filed by the respondent State stating therein that the respondent State Finance Department vide order No.F.16 (2)/ F.D.(Rules) 1998, 3 Jaipur dated 17.02.1998 made provision for grant of selection grades to the subordinate staff on completion of 9,18 and 27 years of continuous service. It is further stated in the reply that the respondent State Government issued an order dated 17.02.1998 which deals with the grant of selection scales to the subordinate staff and by notification dated 23.09.1998 amendment of the Rules of Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Subordinate Service Rules, 1977 (for short 'the Rules of 1977 hereinafter) was carried out and by such an amendment, for promotion to the post of Assistant Fisheries Development Officer, a candidate is required to possess the qualification of Secondary or its equivalent and therefore, according to the respondents, since the petitioner was not possessing the qualification as required by amended rules and thus, he could not be granted the selection scale in the pay scale of Rs. 5500-9000 on completion of 27 years of service. I have given my thoughtful consideration to the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and carefully gone through the pleadings and the record. In the instant case, it is not disputed that the petitioner was initially appointed on 21.10.1969 on the post of Fisherman and thereafter he was promoted to the post of 4 Fieldman on 20.04.1979. After 20.04.1979, the petitioner has neither been granted nor offered any promotion. From the date of regular appointment, the petitioner had already completed 27 years of services and therefore, in view of the notification of the State Govt. dated 25.01.1992 granting selection scales to the Govt. employees, the petitioner is entitled for III selection scale on completion of 27 years of service. The petitioner became entitled for second selection scale w.e.f. 19.04.1988 and on completion of 9 years service therefrom, he became entitled for the third selection scale w.e.f. 19.04.1997 since after promotion to the post of Fieldman on 20.04.1979, no further promotion has been offered to the petitioner. So far as the amendment of the rules which came into force by notification dated 23.09.1998 amending the Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Subordinate Service Rules, 1977, is concerned, such an amendment came into force by the notification 23.09.1998, whereas the petitioner became entitled for the third selection scale much prior to it i.e. on 19.04.1997 and therefore, in my view, such a stand of the State would not come in the way of the petitioner for his entitlement to the third selection scale. From the perusal of the reply, it also appears that no such notification has been placed on record. More so, the respondents have not specifically denied having granted selection scale to two other similarly situated persons namely Manohar Singh and Damodar Das Khatri. In this view of 5 the matter, the writ petitioner deserves the similar treatment. Consequently, the writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to grant third selection scale to the petitioner on completion of 27 years of service and consequent thereupon to make fixation of pay and also pay the arrears accruing therefrom within three months from the date of production of certified copy of this order. No order as to costs. Stay petition also stands disposed of. (H.R.PANWAR), J. rp