Judgment

RANGANATH MISRA, J.:- Petitioners in these applications under Art. 32 of the Constitution belong to the cadre of Section Officers in the Central Secretariat Service (Service for short). They challenge the combined seniority list of all the Section Officers belonging to the service and have asked for a direction that the select list in Grade I of the Service be recast. They have also asked for a further direction that some of the direct recruits included in the eligibility list of Section Officers shown in Annexure PI should be omitted from it and a direction should issue from the Court to appoint promotees to Grade I with effect from the date on which junior directly recruited Section Officers have been appointed to Grade I. They have further assailed the vires of the note below Rule 12. R. 13(5) and Regulation 3(3) of the Fourth Schedule as being ultra vires Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. According to the petitioners the seniority between the direct recruits and promotees in the grade of Section Officers has to be fixed, on the basis of length of service in the grade and not by the process envisaged under the Rules and the relevant Regulations.

2. The respondents have taken the stand that the provision for fixing seniority has been made by the statutory Rules and the combined seniority list as also the eligibility list are in accordance with the statutory scheme.

3. These applications were heard along with a batch of other writ petitions filed by Assistants belonging to the Service the judgment whereof is being simultaneously delivered.

4. It is appropriate that we refer to the provisions of the relevant Rules and Regulations before we proceed to examine the submissions. The composition of the Service is covered by Rule 3 which provides for four grades being :-

(i) Selection Grade (Deputy Secretary to the Government of India or equivalent) :

(ii) Grade I (Under-Secretary to the Government of India or equivalent)

(iii) Section Officers grade :

(iv) Assistants grade.

The first two grades have been combinedly classified as Central Civil Service Grade A while the other two have similarly been classified together as Central Civil Service Group B - Ministerial. In this bunch of writ applications we are concerned with the claim of Section Officers belonging to the third grade in the classification seeking promotion to in the Grade I which is covered by the second Grade. Rule 12 makes provision for recruitment to the Selection Grade as also Grade I. Sub-rule (2) thereof provides : "Vacancies in Grade I shall be filled by, promotion of permanent officers of the Section, Officers Grade who have rendered not less than eight years approved service in that Grade and of permanent officers of the Grade A of the Central Secretariat Stenographers Service who have rendered not less than eight years approved service in that Grade and have worked as Section Officers for at least a period of two years in accordance with the proviso to Rule 10 and are included in the Select List for Grade I of the Service prepared under sub-rule (4)." There are four provisos to this sub-rule. The second and third provisos which are relevant are to the following effect :

"Provided further that no person included in a later Select list shall be eligible to be appointed to the Grade until all officers included in an earlier Select List have been appointed.

Provided further that if any person appointed to the Section Officers grade is considered for promotion to Grade I under this sub-rule, all persons senior to him in Section Officers Grade who have rendered not less than six years approved service in that Grade, shall also be considered notwithstanding that they may not have rendered eight years approved service in that Grade; provided that the aforesaid condition of six years approved ,service shall not apply to a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes."

Sub-rule (4) provides that for the purposes of sub-rules (1) and (2) a Select Li