Judgment :-

G.S. Singhvi, J.

1. Whether the alleged use of unfair means by Palak Modi and Prabhat Dixit (hereinafter described as ‘the private respondents’) in the test held by appellant No.1 – State Bank of India (for short, ‘the Bank’) constituted the foundation of the decision taken by General Manager (NW-I), State Bank of India, Human Resource Department (respondent No.3) to terminate their services under Rule 16(3) of the State Bank of India (Officers’ Service) Rules, 1992 (for short, ‘the Rules’) is the pivotal question which arises for consideration in these appeals filed against order dated 17.11.2011 passed by the Allahabad High Court in Writ Petition Nos.1298/2011 and 1512/2011.

2. In response to an advertisement issued by appellant No.1, which was published on 1.7.2008, the private respondents applied for appointment as Probationary Officers. They appeared in the two-tier examination held by the Bank, which was followed by group discussion and interview. On being declared successful, the private respondents were appointed as Probationary Officers vide letters dated 5.5.2006, paragraph 5 of which reads as under:

“5. You will be on probation for a period of two years from