ORDER

1. This petition seeking leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution is at the instance of unsuccessful original respondents in a writ application filed before the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir (Judicial Officers) and is directed against the judgment and order passed by a Division Bench of the High Court dated 27.05.2022 in the SWP No. 1350/2011 by which the High Court allowed the Writ Petition filed by the Respondents No. 3 to 19 herein (original writ applicants).

2. The facts giving rise to this special leave petition may be summarized as under:

2.1 At the outset, we may state that this is a 2nd round of litigation before this Court on the issue relating to fixation of the seniority of the Munsiffs (Batch of 2003) for promotion to the post of Sub-Judge in the State of Jammu & Kashmir (Now Union Territory).

2.2 This Court in the 1st round of litigation took notice of the fact that the respondents herein (original writ applicants) qualified at the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Judicial) Examinations 2002 and were appointed as the Judicial Magistrates in 2002-03. They were placed higher in the merit list compared to the petitioners herein. However, the gradation li