JUDGMENT

KASLIWAL, J.:- Special leave granted in all the above cases.

All the above appeals are disposed of by a common order, as identical questions of law are involved in these cases. For the purpose of understanding the controversy raised in all these cases, we are stating the facts of appeal arising out of special leave petition No. 2507 of 1992. The appellants and the private respondents were Sub-Engineers in Public Health Engineering Department of Government of Madhya Pradesh. They are governed by Madhya Pradesh Public Health Engineering (Gazetted) Service Rules 1980 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) .Under Schedule IV of the Rules, the next higher post for promotion from the post of Sub-Engineers in Civil or Mechanical is the post of Assistant Engineers. The minimum period for Sub-Engineer to qualify for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer is 12 years for diploma-holders and 8 years for such Sub-Engineers who obtain degree of graduation in the course of service. Earlier 60 per cent quota for the posts of Assistant Engineers was fixed by direct recruitment and 40 per cent by promotion from the Sub-Engineers, Draftsman and Head Draftsman. By an executive order dated 7-2-1989, quota of direct recruitment was reduced to 50 per cent and the quota by promotion increased to 50 per cent. This 50 per cent quota by promotion with which we are concerned in the above cases has been sub-divided in the following manner:

(i) Diploma holder Sub-Engineers 35% completing 12 years of service

(ii) Draftsman & Head Draftsman 5% completing 12 years of service

(iii) Graduate Sub-Engineers10% completing 8 years of service

2. In the above cases we are now concerned with the third category of cases which deal with the promotion of Graduate Sub-Engineers completing 8 years of service.

3. The State Government had been applying the principle of counting the seniority of Graduate Sub-Engineers from the date of their continuous officiation irrespective of the date on which such diploma-holder Sub- Engineer acquired degree of graduation in engineering. On this basis, the Departmental Promotion Committee took into consideration 30 Graduate Sub-Engineers for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineers. The D.P.C. by order dated 4-12-1989 prepared a panel of 18 Graduate Sub-Engineers found suitable for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer. The Government by order dated 6-12-1989 promoted M. B. Joshi and six others as Assistant Engineer who are appellants in appeal arising out of special leave petition No. 2507 of 1992. The private respondents in this appeal filed application No. 140/90 in Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Jabalpur challenging the aforesaid orders dated 4-12-1989 and 6-12-1989. The contention of these persons before the Tribunal was that the seniority for the purpose of promotion to the post of Assistant Engineers in 10 per cent quota of Graduate Sub-Engineers completing 8 years of service ought to have been considered from the date of attaining the Graduate degree of engineering and not from the date of appointment as Sub-Engineer. The Tribunal placing reliance on its earlier decision in T. A. No. 771 / 88 Sanaulla Sunzani v. State of M. P. & 5 others, held that the seniority of diploma-holder Sub-Engineers acquiring the degrees of graduation in engineering for inclusion in the gradation list of Sub-Engineers should be counted from the dates of acquisition of graduation in engineering or of any other equivalent degree and not from the dates of their initial entries as Sub-Engineers. Applying the aforesaid principle laid down in Sanaullas case, the Tribunal held that the applicants (private respondents in the appeal) having secured the degrees in engineering prior to respondents 3 to 9 (the appellants in the appeal) will rank higher in the gradation list of Graduate Sub-Engineers. The Tribunal as such allowed the petition filed before them and directed the State Government and Engineer-in-Chief, Public Health Engineer