Sachchidanand Jha, J.

1. Young doctors, seeking to improve their qualification by doing Post-graduation in the different disciplines of Medical Science, have knocked the doors of this Court complaining of the recalcitrant attitude on the part of the authorities in not granting study leave for the said purpose. Many of them had. died writ petitions being C.W.J.C. Nos. 3784, 3640, 3743 and 3479 of 1991, which were disposed of by a Bench of this Court on 23-5-1991, inter alia, with a direction to the authority concerned, namely, the Coin-missioner-cum-Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Bihar, to dispose of the applications for study leave by 30th June 1991. The said authority, pursuant to the aforesaid direction has rejected all such leave applications by his order dated 23-6-1991. Accordingly, the petitioner have also prayed for quashing of the said order, besides seeking mandamus directing the authority to grant study leave for the said purpose.

2. There are 42 petitioners in these two applications. The facts being similar and the points arising for consideration being the same, these two applications are being disposed of by a common judgment at the stage of admission itself, having regard to the urgency and with consent of the parties. During course of hearing it was stated at the Bar that there are some writ applications filed in this court on behalf of similarly situate persons, which have not been listed along with these two cases despite order to that effect. It was also said that there are some more persons similarly situate as these writ petitioners, who have not as yet filed any writ petition, many of whom having already resigned their jobs in the Bihar Health service to enable them to prosecute post graduate studies, out of desperation. The order that I propose to make in these two cases shall govern all such cases of similarly situate persons whether they have filed writ petitions or not.

3. The petitioners were selected for appointments in the Bihar Health service on the basis of a competitive examination, which is said to be second of its kind in the State of Bihar and held after gap of many years, by the Bihar Public Service Commission. Appointment letters are said to have been issued in their (as well as others) favour on 22nd September and 23rd November, 1990. A competitive examination is held every year for the purpose of selection of candidates for admission in various disciplines at the post graduate level with respect to clinical, para-clinical and non-clinical subjects. The said competitive examination is known as Post-Graduate Medical Admission Test (in short "PGMAT"). It is said that only 15 candidates were initially declared successful in the first list at the aforesaid admission test held in 1990. A second list of successful candidates was published sometime in April, 1991. Similarly, in respect of admission test held in 1991 the result of successful candidates was published on 2nd May, 1991. The petitioners and others belong to all these three groups.

4. According to petitioners, although in terms of the provisions of the Bihar Service Code having statutory force, leave cannot be claimed as a matter of right and that the grant of leave has been circumscribed by different conditions as mentioned therein, study leave, particularly for the purpose of prosecuting post graduate study in the medical science has been liberally granted to the members of the Bihar Health Service and, as a matter of fact, the Government, it was said, has always been granting such study leave upto 1989 irrespective of the fact as to whether subject(s) is clinical or para-clinical or non-clinical, the underlying idea being to encourage the doctors to attain higher and better professional qualifications. It would not be out of place to mention here that in the notifications dated 22-9-1990 and 23-11-1990, appointing the petitioners and others in the basic grade (Ci