JUDGMENT

Deepak Gupta, J.

1. Three original applications being O.A. No. 238 of 2004, O.A. No. 264 of 2004 and O.A. No. 365 of 2004 were filed before the Jodhpur Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (for short ‘the Tribunal’). There were in all 14 original applicants. The dispute raised in these original applications was that in the Bikaner Division of the Railways, the Divisional Manager, while issuing advertisement for filling up the posts of ‘fresh face substitutes’ in Group-D in Bikaner Division, had directed that only those candidates who had done their apprenticeship training with the Railways would be eligible for appointment. The contention of the original applicants was that this was violative of the directions given by the Railways and while making similar recruitments in all other parts of the country, though preference was given to those who had done there apprenticeship with the Railways, the selection was not exclusively limited to such candidates and all persons who were otherwise qualified, were entitled to apply for being selected. These original applications were filed before selection was made and after the selection process had been initiated.

2. The stand o