IMPORTANT POINT
Under the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Service (Class II) Recruitment Promotion and Certain Conditions of Service Rules, 1966, as amended, the training period of the direct recruits shall be counted for determining the seniority in the service provided of course the said direct recruit successfully completes the training and then is absorbed in Class II Forest Service.

JUDGMENT

Pattanaik, J.-Delay condoned.

Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment of the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Shimla dated 16th December, 1996 passed in O.A. No. 109 of 1987. The respondents are promotee officers to the Himachal Pradesh Forest Service Class II. They filed an application before the Tribunal for a direction that the direct recruits to the Forest Service Class II are entitled to their seniority from the date of their joining after completion of the training and not from the date of their joining the training at the Forest Research Institute in terms of the Notification dated 30th April, 1986. The Tribunal by the impugned judgment having granted that relief and having held that the direct recruits are only entitled to get pay while continuing under training in the Forest Research Institute and will not get the benefit of seniority vis-a-vis the promotes, the State has come up in appeal. The question that arises for consideration, therefore, is whether a direct recruit will be entitled to count the training period for the purpose of his seniority in the service or not? The answer to this question will depend upon the relevant service rules which govern the conditions of service of the employees in a particular State.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant-State contends that the Rules framed by the Governor under proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution dealing with the conditions of service in respect of Himachal Pradesh Forest Service (Class II) is called the Himachal Pradesh Forest Service (Class II) Recruitment promotion and certain conditions of Service Rules, 1966. Rule (4) thereof provides that the method of recruitment to the post in the said service, age limit, qualifications and other matters connected therewith shall be as specified in columns 5 to 18 of the said schedule. Thus the Schedule itself becomes a part of the statutory recruitment rules determining the conditions of service. By Notification dated 30th April, 1986 Schedules to the Rules were amended and in column (10) that following provision was inserted :

"The candidates selected for training at Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehradun or at any other place, shall while undergoing the training be treated as `in service candidates from the date of joining the Institute. During the period of training, the candidates shall receive pay in the lowest stage of the pay scale of HPFS-II applicable to the service & allowances admissible thereon during the first year and at the second stage of that scale during the second year;

Provided that the second increment shall be granted only when a direct recruit has passed the prescribed examination(s) from the concerned Institute/College."

4. In view of the amended provisions of the Recruitment Rules, the training period of a direct recruit will have to be treated as in service , and therefore, the said period necessarily will have to be counted for the purpose of determining the seniority of a direct recruit in the service. The Tribunal, according the learned counsel for the appellant, was in error in interpreting the aforesaid provision of the Rules. In support of his contention reliance has been placed on a decision of this Court in the case of R.S. Ajara & Ors. v. State of Gujarat & Ors. . Mr. Sharma, the learned counsel appearing for the promotes - respondents, on the other hand contended that the Rules read as a whole clearly indicate that the amended provisions merely conferred a right upon a candidate joining the Institute for training to get pay in the lowest stage of the pay scale of Himachal Pradesh Forest Service Class II and the said training period cannot be counted for the purpose of determining the seniority of the direct recruits. According to the learned counsel, if column (10) of the Rules is interpreted to mean that the training period of a direct recruit would also be counted for seniority then the said interpret