JUDGMENT

PATTANAIK, J. - Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave is directed against the order dated 5-9-1995 of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Patna Bench, Patna in Devendra Narayan Singh v. Union of India [(1996) 2 SLJ (CAT) 322 (Pat)]. The appellants who had been recruited to the Bihar State Police Service in the year 1969 were promoted to the Indian Police Service in the year 1987 in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Police Service (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the "Promotion Regulations"). On being appointed to the cadre of IPS they were assigned the year of allotment as 1981 by the Central Government. They challenged the said order and claimed that their year of allotment should be 1979 before the Tribunal. The Tribunal by the impugned judgment rejected their claim and having dismissed the OA, the present appeal has been preferred.

3. The case of the appellants in a nutshell is that they having been appointed to the Bihar State Police Service on 1-9-1969 were eligible for being considered to be included in the Select List prepared under Regulation 5 of the Promotion Regulations since 1977. But the Committee constituted under Regulation 3 of the Promotion Regulations did not prepare any Select List for the years 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980. It is only in 1981 a Select List of 18 officers was prepared to fill up 7 vacancies ignoring one anticipated vacancy during the year. The further case of the appellants was that in the triennial review conducted for determining the strength of the cadre in the year 1981 the number of senior posts in the said cadre of IPS was increased to 137 from 123. But the Selection Committee, though met on 14-10-1981, did not take the increase in the cadre strength as a result of which the appellants suffered to a great extent. A writ petition was filed in the Patna High Court which was registered as CWJC No. 5372 of 1993. The High Court by order dated 30-7-1984 came to the conclusion that the Selection Committee had committed an error by not taking into account the number of vacancies existing as well as number of vacancies likely to fall vacant during the year and accordingly directed the Selection Committee to prepare a fresh Select List for the year 1983. The State Government challenged the aforesaid order of the High Court by filing a special leave petition in the Apex Court which was ultimately dismissed with the observation that the Selection Committee should prepare a fresh list for the year 1983 with respect to all the vacancies including the vacancies that occurred on account of triennial review by the authorities. Pursuant to the aforesaid direction of the Apex Court the Selection Committee met on 19-9-1985 and prepared a Select List of 24 officers including the appellants for promotion to the Indian Police Service and the appellants were ultimately appointed to the cadre of IPS on different dates in the year 1987, the earliest appointment being of Appellant 1 on 27-7-1987. The Ministry of Home Affairs thereafter issued order dated 4-5-1992 assigning the appellants the year of allotment as 1981. The appellants then challenged the same order of the Union Government claiming that the year of allotment should be 1979 on the ground that the Select List though was factually prepared in the year 1985 but in the eye of law it relates to the year 1983 and the Union Government has not taken that into consideration while assigning year of allotment. The Union Government contested the application before the Tribunal alleging therein that no doubt the Supreme Court had directed to draw a Select List for the year 1983 and the same was drawn on 9-9-1985 but the appellants having been appointed in the year 1987 pursuant to their names being included in the Select List prepared on 19-9-1985, their year of allotment has been rightly fixed under Rule 3(3) of the Indian Police Service (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1954 hereinafter referred