Judgment

A.M.AHMAD, J.

(1) RESPONDENT 5, Durga Shanker Amist, filed a writ petition in the High court of Himachal Pradesh challenging his exclusion from the Select List for INDIAN POLICE SERVICE officers and the inclusion of the present appellant S.B. Dogra in the said list. His case was that he joined service as Deputy Superintendent of Police against a regular and permanent vacancy on 22/11/1967 in the erstwhile Joint Union Territories Cadre (Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service in short DHANI Police Service) on his clearing the All-India competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in 1965. He was allocated to the State of Himachal Pradesh on 25/01/1971 after the formation of that State. He was confirmed in service on 24/09/1971 and was placed in the selection grade w.e.f. 4/05/1973 on which grade he was confirmed w.e.f. 24/06/1974. He was sent on deputation as Deputy central Intelligence Officer of the Intelligence Bureau, government of India, in April 1978 and was later transferred to Delhi where he served till September 1981. He returned to his parent cadre in September 1981 but soon thereafter in June 1982 he was appointed as Commandant, 1st Armed Police Battalion, Junga, on a cadre post where he served up to 14/11/1982. It may here be mentioned that his name was included by the Selection Committee which met on 25/10/1977 in the Select List of officers found suitable for promotion to the INDIAN POLICE SERVICE under the Indian Police Service (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955, (hereafter called the 1955 Regulations). His name remained on the Select List from 1977 to 1981 but in the year 1982 his name came to be removed whereas the names of the other two officers, namely, the present appellant S.B. Dogra and B.C. Negi were included in the Select List.

(2) THE appellant S.B. Dogra (original respondent 3 was selected for Emergency Commission in the Indian Army in April 1963 and after successful completion of the training he was commissioned in September 1963. Later in May 1967 he was appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police/Company Commander in the Into-Tibetan Border Police, a Government of India Class I post. He was relieved from the Indian Army and was permanently absorbed in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in November 1967. After the formation of the State of Himachal Pradesh he was allocated to the State Police Service w.e.f. 25/01/1971. In 1974 he appeared but could not clear the Himachal Pradesh State Service Examination. However, he succeeded in the second attempt in 1975 and was appointed against the vacancy reserved for Demobilised Armed Forces Personnel under the Demobilised Armed Forces Personnel (Reservation of Vacancies in the Himachal Pradesh State Non-Technical Services) Rules, 1972 (as amended in 1974, (hereinafter called the 1972 Rules) and was given the benefit of his military service under clause (1 of Rule 5 of the said Rules. The said sub-rule reads as under:

"THE seniority and pay of the candidates who are appointed against the vacancies reserved under Rule 3 shall be determined on the assumption that they joined the service or the post, as the case may be, under the State government at the first opportunity they had after they joined the military service or training prior to the commission."

The tentative seniority list of the State Police Officers was circulated in 1977 wherein his name was shown three places above the name of the original petitioner respondent 5 D.S. Amist by assigning a deemed notional date of entry in service in the year 1964. Since respondent 5 had joined the State Service in 1967 he was shown three places below the appellant in the tentative seniority list of 31/03/1977. A final seniority list was prepared and published on 27/02/1979 showing the same position. Thereupon, one S.R. Thakur filed a Writ Petition No. 280 of 1978 in the High court of Himachal Pradesh challenging