JUDGMENT :

MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise against the final judgment and order of the High Court of Patna dated 06.04.2018 passed in Civil Writ Jurisdiction No. 13773 of 2017 allowing the appeal filed by Respondent No. 1 herein, and quashing the appointment of the Appellant in SLP (C) No. 12370 of 2019 (“the Appellant”) to the Indian Administrative Service.

3. The brief facts giving rise to these appeals are as follows:

3.1 The instant appeals pertain to the selection to two vacancies in the Indian Administrative Service (“the IAS”) from amongst non-State Civil Service officers (“non-SCS officers”) for the Selection Year 2014. The Appellant, Baidyanath Yadav, Respondent No. 1, Aditya Narayan Roy and Respondent No. 9 in SLP (C) No. 12370 of 2019, Ram Prakash Sahni (“Respondent No. 9”), belonged to the Bihar Agricultural Service. The Department of Agriculture, along with other departments, was invited to recommend the names of two officials to the State Screening Committee for selection of ten persons to be recommended to the Union Public Service Commission (“the UPSC”) for final selection. The Selection Committee of the Department of Agriculture, hea