Judgment

H.K. SEMA, J. - The challenge in these two appeals is to the judgment and order dated 11 - 12 - 2002 passed in WPST No. 1044 of 2002 by the a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court.

2. Civil Appeal No. 6383 of 2003 has been filed by Sankar Deb Acharya

& Ors. and Civil Appeal No. 6384 of 2003 has been filed by the State of West Bengal & Ors. both against Biswanath Chakraborty & Ors. Both the appeals raise common question of law and as such they are being disposed of by this common judgment.

3. We have heard the parties at length.

4. Mr Raju Ramchandran, learned Senior Counsel appeared for the appellants in Civil Appeal No. 6383 of 2003 and Mr Altaf Ahmed, learned Senior Counsel, appeared for the respondents. We have also heard Mr Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Counsel for the appellants in Civil Appeal No. 6384 of 2003 and Mr Tapas Ray, learned Senior Counsel for the respondents.

5. These two appeals have a chequered history. Avoiding prolixity, we may state a few facts strictly for the purpose of disposal of these two appeals.

As the questions of facts and law raised are common, we are taking facts from Civil Appeal No. 6383 of 2003.

6. The dispute raised in these two appeals is with regard to inter se seniority and promotions of the appellants and the private respondents, under the applicable rules, namely, the West Bengal Services (Training and Examination) Rules, 1953, as amended, the West Bengal Services (Revision of Pay and Allowances) Rules, 1970 and the West Bengal Services (Appointment, Probation and Confirmation) Rules, 1979, where according to e the scheme of service rules the criterion for promotion is merit - cum - seniority and whether the private respondents can be made seniors to the appellants solely on the ground that they joined the service earlier to the appellants date of joining.

7. The facts, which are not disputed, are thus:

(a) The appellants and the private respondents are direct recruits at entry Scale 17. The next promotion is to Scale 18 and then to Scale 19.

(b) The private respondents joined the duty earlier than the appellants date of joining.

(c) The appellants passed the departmental examination and were confirmed in service in terms of the Rules prior to the private g respondents.

8. The two charts showing the details of respective dates of joining the duty and passing of the departmental examination and confirmation by the appellants and the private respondents are as under:

A. Position of the appellants

Sl. Name of the Date of Date of passing Date of

No. appellants joining departmental confirmation

examination

1. Sankar Deb Acharya 7 - 3 - 1979 26 - 6 - 1983 26 - 6 - 1 983

2. Gaur Hari Khanra 17 - 6 - 1980 1 - 12 - 1985 1 - 12 - 1985

3. Pradip Kr. Ghosh 12 - 5 - 1980 29 - 12 - 1982 29 - 12 - 1982

4. Niranjan Das 12 - 6 - 1980 13 - 1 - 1985 13 - 1 - 1985

5. Sandip Kr. Bisnu 18 - 8 - 1981 29 - 12 - 1982 18 - 8 - 1983

6. Asit Ranjan Maity 4 - 9 - 1981 1 - 12 - 1985 1 - 12 - 1985

B. Position of the private respondents

Sl. Name of the Date of joining Date of passing Date of

No. respondents departmental confirmation

examination

1. Biswanath 10 - 1 - 1978 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

Chakraborty

2. Goutam Mitra 24 - 5 - 1977 21 - 11 - 1991 21 - 11 - 1991

3. Anath Bandhu 5 - 5 - 1978 5 - 6 - 1992 5 - 6 - 1992

Biswas

4. Shyamapada Sarkar 20 - 5 - 1977 26 - 11 - 1992 26 - 11 - 1992

5. Samir Kumar 27 - 3 - 1976 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

Ganguly

6. Haider A1i 3 - 2 - 1978 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

7. Chunilal Ray 1 - 12 - 1976 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

8. Subhijit Sarkar 9 - 9 - 1977 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

9. Ashis Kr. Ghosh (1) 20 - 6 - 1977 29 - 12 - 1982 29 - 12 - 1982

10. Debabrata Das 20 - 5 - 1977 26 - 11 - 1992 26 - 11 - 1992

11. Dilip Kr. Dutta 19 - 7 - 1979 16 - 12 - 1988 16 - 12 - 1988

12. Dinendra Kr. 1 - 6 - 1977 1 - 6 - 1984 1 - 6 - 1984

Chandra

13. Amarendra Nath 13 - 1 - 1978 16 - 4 - 1994 16 - 4 - 1994

Bhowmik

14. Ramesh Ch. Sarkar 16 - 7 - 1977 26 - 11