Jayanandan Singh, J.-Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the State as well as learned Senior Counsel for respondent no. 6.

2. Petitioner has filed this writ application for quashing of part of letter no.277 dated 3.2.2009 (Annexure-1), issued under the signature of Deputy Secretary, Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Government of Bihar and addressed to the Chief Secretary, ,Jharkhand, by which, inter alia, a decision of the Government that, in cases of transfer of the employees to the State of Bihar on mutual consent, their claim for seniority shall not be entertained, has been communicated for follow up action. He further prays for quashing of part of the notification contained in Memo No. 2179(S) dated 15.2.2008, issued under the signature of the Deputy Secretary, Road Construction Department, Bihar, Patna, by which services of the petitioner and others, who had applied for their transfer back to the State of Bihar on the basis of mutual consent, were returned in the Department on the condition that their claims for seniority• shall not be accepted. He further prays for a direction to the respondents for restoration of his seniority in the cadre of Assistant Engineer (Mechanical), Road Construction Department, in consonance with merit list prepared by Bihar Public Service Commission at the time of his appointment.

3. Foundational facts of the case are that, vide notification dated 9.5.1997 (Annexure-3), petitioner alongwith others was appointed on temporary basis as Assistant Engineers (Mechanical) in the Road Construction Department, Government of Bihar. Vide notification dated 27.8.2002 (Annexure-4), a seniority list was prepared in which petitioner was placed at serial no. 68, whereas respondent no. 6 was placed at serial no. 73. Thereafter, in terms of the Bihar Reorganization Act, 2000, a list of employees of different departments was prepared by the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, provisionally allocating their services to the State of Bihar or the State of Jharkhand and the same was sent to different departments for information by letter no. 725 dated 30.6.2003. By this allocation of cadre, services of the petitioner was provisionally allocated to the State of Jharkhand. A copy of the said letter of the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms has been placed on record by respondent no. 6 as Annexure-I with his supplementary counter affidavit.

4. While final allocation of services of employees to different States, as proposed by the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, was pending in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Department of Personnel & Training, Government of India, it issued a letter dated 15th September, 2004, addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, which mentioned that, after final allocation of services of the State Services Personnel in the case of M.P./Chattisgarh, Government of India had received a large number of representations. Hence, broad categories were being laid down, in which it would be inequitable not to consider the representations. This letter of the Government of India has been placed on record by respondent no.6 as Annexure-J with supplementary counter affidavit. One of the guidelines contained in the letter was that in case of request of the employees for mutual transfer with other consenting personnel, 'it is open to the successor State Governments to consider requests of employees for mutual transfer based on broad consensus arrived between the State Governments, inter alia, either defining the terms and conditions for such consideration or by framing suitable Rules for this purpose'. In view of the liberty granted by the Central Government to the State Governments, the State of Bihar, vide letter dated 21.5.2005 (Annexure-16), addressed to the Chief secretary, State of Jharkhand, proposed to consider such requests of employees for mutual transfer, to be granted on