Judgment

DESAI, J. :- Another unequal fight between a giant public sector undertaking, Oil & Natural Gas Commission (Corporation for short) and a Store Keeper which has been brought to this Court by the ultra legalist stand taken by the Corporation which lacks equanimity and smacks of victimisation.

2. The appellant was appointed as Assistant Store Keeper in April, 1962 and was posted at Dehradun. Later on when the Corporation decided to recruit Store Keeper, the appellant was selected in open competition and was appointed on December 7, 1963 as such. He was posted at Cambay, Gujarat and later on December 24, 1963 sent back to Dehradun. The office order dated February 26, 1964 recites that the appellant has been appointed as Store Keeper till further orders and the post is sanctioned for the period February 7, 1964 to February 29, 1964. In other words, a man selected in an open competition was offered the post which was to last for 22 days roughly. He was also told that his appointment was purely temporary and that other terms of service were those as set out in the letter dated December 7, 1963, one of which was that the appellant will be on probation for a period of six months from