IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.14899 of 2005 Date of Decision : March 30, 2010. Sukhwinder Singh and others .....Petitioners versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SURYA KANT. Present : Mr.D.S.Patwalia, Advocate, for the petitioners. Ms.Charu Tuli, Senior DAG, Punjab. -.- 1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? --- Surya Kant, J. (Oral) This order shall dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos.14899 of 2005 and 3163 of 2007 as common questions of law and facts are involved in these cases. For brevity, the facts are being extracted from Civil Writ Petition No.14899 of 2005. The petitioners seek a mandamus to direct the respondents to appoint them on the post of JBT/ETT Teachers in Ferozepur District, especially in terms of the undertaking given before this Court in COCP No.811 of 2002 to the effect that as soon as the ban for recruitment will be lifted in Punjab, the case of the petitioners and other candidates will be considered. C.W.P.No .14899 of 2005 2 Shorn of the details, it may be mentioned here that vide advertisement dated 2.4.2000 (Annexure P-1), 7320 posted of JBT Teachers were sought to be filled up in Punjab, out of which, 783 posts were earmarked for Ferozepur District. The petitioners also belong to Ferozepur District. It appears that pursuant to the selection list prepared, 783 selected candidates were given appoints in order of their merit in Ferozepur District. However, the petitioners who are stated to be in waiting list, have been denied appointment on the plea that there was a ban on recruitment. Some of the petitioners approached this Court by way of Civil Writ Petition No.3175 of 2002 (Ankur Sharma and others versus State of Punjab and others), which was disposed of by this Court vide order dated 19.2.2002 with a direction to the respondents to consider and dispose of their claim. As the said order was not complied with by the respondents, the petitioners filed COCP No.811 of 2002 which was decided by this Court on 28.10.2002 in the following terms:- “Respondent is present in the Court. A written reply has been filed on her behalf. Alongwith the reply, letter dated 13.8.2002 (Annexure R-1) has been filed in which it has been stated that presently there is ban on fresh recruitment and as soon as the ban is lifted, the case of the petitioner and other candidates shall be considered. In view of the above assurance, counsel for the petitioners prays that he be allowed to withdraw this petition. Allowed to do so. Dismissed as withdrawn.” C.W.P.No .14899 of 2005 3 The petitioners' case is that though there is no ban now on appointments yet they have not been offered appointments against the available vacancies. Upon notice of motion, the respondents have filed their counter affidavit. The facts are broadly not in dispute. The respondents' case is that no candidate lower in merit than the petitioners has been given appointment and at the best, they being wait-listed, have no enforceable right to seek such appointments. During the course of hearing, learned counsel for the respondents points out that a waiting list can remain valid for a reasonable period only. She further points out that during the pendency of this writ petition, the recruitment process for the posts of JBT/ETT Teachers has been handed over to the Zila Parisads in the State and thereafter various Zila Parisads have taken effective steps to fill up the vacant posts. Learned counsel for the petitioners, on the other hand, submitted that there are over four thousands vacant posts of JBT/ETT Teachers in the State of Punjab including in Ferozepur District. I have heard learned counsel for the parties at some length and perused the record. There appears to be no dispute that the petitioners are not among the 783 candidates selected for the advertised posts of Ferozepur District. It appears that the petitioners are amongst the wait-listed candidates. The competent authority may appoint the candidates from the waiting list if the facts and circumstances of a case so justify. The C.W.P.No .14899 of 2005 4 candidates in the waiting list have no indefeasible right to seek a direction for their appointment against un-advertised vacant posts. Faced with this, learned counsel for the petitioners urges that during a long span of 7 years, some of the petitioners have now become over-age and even if the available vacancies are advertised, many of them are not eligible to compete. He submits that as and when such vacant posts are advertised, the petitioners may be given at least one more opportunity to compete by granting relaxation in age. There appears to be some substance in the above-noticed contention of the petitioners. Their placement in the waiting list gave rise to some legitimate expectation or hope in the minds of the petitioners for appointment in near future. While waiting for years, they have become over-age now. In the peculiar facts and circumstances, it appears reasonable to direct the respondents that as and when the posts of JBT/ETT Teachers for Ferozepur District are advertised by the Recruiting Agency, the candidates like the petitioners who had participated in the selection process pursuant to the advertisement dated 2.4.2000 and who were in the waiting list but could not given appointment, if have become over-age, they may be granted one time concession to compete for the afresh advertised posts. Disposed of. Dasti. March 30, 2010 (SURYA KANT) Mohinder JUDGE