Ganga Vishan Gujrati vs The State Of Rajasthan

2 The appellants were appointed as Patwaris in the Revenue Department on 21 December 1993. On 17 June 2011, an advertisement was issued by the State of Rajasthan for holding a departmental examination to select candidates for 93 vacancies in the post of Land Records Inspector1. The vacancies related to the years 2008-09 and 2009-10. A fresh advertisement dated 28 January 2013 notified an increase in the number of vacancies to 155, including the vacancies for 2010-11. In response to a query made on 24 December 2014 under the Right to Information Act 2005, a year-wise bifurcation of the 155 vacancies was provided indicating that:

3 On 16 May 2013, the appellants appeared for the departmental examination and were declared successful for the post of LRI. On 7 November 2013, a provisional seniority list was issued from 1 April 2012. The grievance of the appellants is that though (in their submission) they were appointed against vacancies that arose in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11, their names were not included in the provisional seniority list. On 31 March 2014, the appellants were promoted as LRIs in pursuance of which they have been working on that post. On 12 March 2015, the Rajasthan Revenue Board2 issued a communication to the Collector to prepare a list of persons who were appointed as LRIs against vacancies for the year 2009-10. The names of the appellants did not find mention in the seniority list as on 1 April 2012. Orders were issued on 11 June 2015, 6 July 2015 and 6 August 2015 promoting LRIs to the post of Nayab Tehsildar, treating them to have been appointed on the post of LRI against the year of promotion in which the vacancies arose. This was in terms of a notification dated 8 October 2014 by which Rule 171-A of the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Land Records) Rules 1957 3 was amended to change the criterion for determining seniority from the date of continuous officiation on the post of LRI to the recruitment year of promotion. The appellants were aggrieved by the denial of the benefit of the notification dated 8 2 “Board” 3 “1957 Rules” 3 October 2014. Aggrieved by what was perceived as differential treatment, a representation was submitted on 14 September 2015 to the Chairman of the Board of Revenue for granting the appellants the benefit of the notification dated 8 October 2014 and placing them in the seniority list against the recruitment year. A final seniority list, computing seniority as on 1 April 2012 was issued on 12 May 2016 in terms of Rule 171-A(2). According to the appellants, their names were not included in the seniority list despite the fact that the recruitment year was 2010-11. 4 This led to the institution of a Writ Petition4 by the appellants before the High Court of Rajasthan seeking a direction for the declaration of appointments; promoting them against the recruitment year of promotion and placing them in the seniority list issued on 12 May 2016 against the recruitment year of promotion with consequential benefits. On 24 April 2017, another final seniority list was issued determining seniority as on 1 April 2014. The appellants claim that they were placed below persons who were promoted against vacancies which arose after the year of vacancies against which the appellants were promoted. During the pendency of the Writ Petition, an order was passed by the State of Rajasthan on 8 May 2017 whereby, persons along with the appellants who were placed in the seniority list dated 24 April 2017, were sought to be removed from the list and were directed to 4 SB Civil Writ Petition No 6530/2016 4 be treated as appointed in 2014-15. This gave rise to a subsequent Writ Petition5 before the High Court.

5 By a judgment dated 19 April 2018, the Single Judge allowed the Writ Petition by setting aside the action of the State in not regarding the year of promotion of those, including the appellants, who were selected pursuant to the advertisements dated 17 June 2011 and 28 January 2013 against vacancies for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The Single Judge held that persons selected under Rule 284(2) of the 1957 Rules through a competitive examination restricted to serving Patwaris were entitled to be promoted against the vacancies of the respective years subject to their eligibility. The State was accordingly directed to place persons selected in the final seniority list issued on 12 May 2016 against the recruitment year of promotion with consequential benefits.

37 For the above reasons, we are of the view that the Division Bench of the High Court was justified in coming to the conclusion, though for the reasons which we have indicated, that the claim for seniority with reference to the date of the accrual of the vacancy will not be maintainable merely on the ground that no competitive examination was held in the years in which the vacancies had arisen. The view taken by the Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court is in accord with the principles of law enunciated in the decisions of this Court and consistent with the statutory rules as they held the field at the material time. 44 38 For the above reasons, we find no merit in the appeals. The appeals are accordingly dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.

August 21, 2019.