JUDGMENT :

L. NAGESWARA RAO, J.

1. In this Appeal the correctness of the order of the High Court directing the respondents in Writ Petition to conduct a review Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) for considering allotment of the 4th Respondent to earlier batch.

2. The State of Uttar Pradesh was reorganized under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). The State of Uttarakhand was created pursuant to the said Act. The Central Government issued guidelines on 30.09.2000 for allocation of erstwhile employees of the State of Uttar Pradesh amongst the two States. A tentative final allocation list was prepared and circulated to the employees calling for their objections, if they were aggrieved by the proposed final allocation. A State Advisory Committee was constituted by the Central Government. The State Advisory Committee prepared a list of State Civil Service (SCS) Officers on the basis of their seniority for allocation to the State of Uttarakhand. Though, some of the officers joined the services in the State of Uttarakhand, there were others who objected to their allotment. Writ Petitions were filed in the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad questioning the allotment to the State of Uttarakhand. Appellant No. 2 was also a party to the Writ Petition. The High Court stayed the orders of allocation during the pendency of the Writ Petitions.

3. After considering the objections received from the aggrieved parties, the Central Government issued the final allocation list on 22.04.2003 in accordance with Section 73 of the Act. By a judgment dated 11.12.2003, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition filed by Appellant No. 2 and others challenging the allocation to the State of Uttarakhand. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court, Appellant No. 2 and other SCS Officers including Respondent No. 4 filed Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) in this Court. By an order dated 07.01.2004, this Court directed the authorities to maintain the status quo.

4. The State of Uttarakhand communicated to the Government of India by a letter dated 09.01.2011 that 9 vacancies in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) cadre for the select list for the year 2010 were available. 2 additional vacancies had arisen in the year 2009. In all, there were 11 vacancies in the IAS cadre in 2011. Appellant No. 2 withdrew SLP (C) No. 24078 of 2003. Thereafter, a final allotment order was passed by the Government of India, pursuant to which the Appellant No. 2 joined the State of Uttarakhand on 15.04.2011.

5. The Appellants were included in the select list for 2011 and they were promoted to IAS in the vacancies determined in accordance with Regulation 5(1) of the IAS (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955.

6. SLPs filed by Respondent No. 4 and others against the judgment of the High Court were dismissed on 12.02.2015. Thereafter, Respondent No. 4 filed a Review Petition which was also dismissed by this Court. On 09.06.2015, the Government of India allocated Respondent No. 4 and other PCS officers to the State of Uttarakhand. The request made by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for retention of Respondent No. 4 in the State of Uttar Pradesh was rejected by the Central Government by order dated 25.06.2015. The Government of India on 02.09.2015 reiterated its direction of allocation of Respondent No. 4 and others to the State of Uttarakhand. Respondent No. 4 was relieved on 28.09.2016 from Uttar Pradesh and thereafter, he joined the services of the State of Uttarakhand on 01.10.2016. A seniority list of State Civil Services Officers (Executive Branch) was prepared on 20.02.2017. Respondent No. 4 submitted his objections to the tentative seniority list wherein he requested for the period of service rendered by him in Short Service Commission of the Indian Army and as Deputy Superintendent of Police to be counted for the purpose of calculating the total qualifying services. A final seniority list of SCS Officers (Executive Branch)