JUDGMENT :

Vikram Nath, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. I.A.D.No.133982 of 2021 is allowed.

3. In these three Civil Appeals, this Court has been called upon to decide whether principle of estoppel and acquiescence will prevail over statutory service rules prescribing the procedure for promotion of Class-IV employees to Class-III working in the Banaras Hindu University¹[BHU], Varanasi, a Central University. The learned Single Judge was of the view that the statutory rules would prevail and must be strictly adhered to, whereas, the Division Bench, although, agreeing with the reasoning of the learned Single Judge that the procedure prescribed under the rules was violated, still proceeded to set aside the judgment of the learned Single Judge applying the principle of estoppel and acquiescence over and above the eligibility conditions having statutory force laid down by the statutory rules.

4. The learned Single Judge had allowed the writ petition filed by the appellants and after setting aside the promotion of respondent Nos.3 to 16, had directed the BHU to carry out the exercise for promotion afresh as per the law and the observations made in the said judgment. The Division Bench allowed the appea