ORDER :

The petitioners in this writ petition who are seventeen in number call in question an order of promotion dated 13-03-2020, promoting private respondent Nos.3 to 18 to the cadre of Tax Inspector ignoring the claim of the petitioners.

2. Sans unnecessary details, the facts in brief as averred by the petitioners in the writ petition, are as follows:-

All the petitioners entered the service of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (hereinafter referred to as ‘the BBMP’ for short) as Group-D employees with the qualification of SSLC, which was the requisite qualification for the post at the time of their entry. The petitioners entered service between 18-12-2002 and 19-04-2010. The petitioners further claim that they have cleared all the requisite departmental examinations for consideration of their cases for promotion to the next higher cadre which is Tax Inspector/Second Division Assistant.

3. On 13-12-2013, an amendment was brought about to the Karnataka Civil Services (Recruitment to Ministerial Posts) Rules, 1978 by the Karnataka Civil Services (Recruitment to Ministerial Posts) (Amen