The central legal point established in the judgment is the duty of the respondents to consider seniority and grant promotions in accordance with the prescribed recruitment procedure and final gradation list.

This writ petition has been filed by the petitioners for the following reliefs:-

(i) For a direction on the respondents to consider the case of petitioners for promotion with all consequential benefits to the post of Live Stock Supervisor w.e.f. 19.03.1991 and subsequent promotion to the post of Live Inspector w.e.f. 20.04.2000 and still subsequent promotion to the post of Assistant Fodder Development Officer/Assistant Technical Officer w.e.f 19.03.2001 i.e. the date juniors to the petitioners have been given such promotions.

(ii) For a direction on the respondents to pay the petitioners difference of arrear of salary on account of aforesaid promotions along with 10% interest from due date of payment to actual date of payment.

2. I.A.No.7670 of 2012 has been filed by the petitioners for amending the reliefs claimed in the writ petition in the terms stated hereinbelow. The said interlocutory application had been allowed by this Court vide order dated 10.01.2013.

(iii) For a direction on the respondents to produce the final gradation list of the posts of Live Stock Assistants containing the names from Serial No.1 to 3601.

(iv) For a direction on the respondents to produce the orders cancelling promotion to the juniors of the petitioners who are in service and who stood retired.

(v) For quashing of reasoned orders contained in Memo No.638 and 924 dated 25.05.2012 and 11.07.2012 respectively by which the claim of similarly situated to the petitioners for promotion to the higher post were wrongly rejected on incorrect facts.

3. The claim of the petitioners is that after following the prescribed recruitment procedure, they were initially appointed on different posts in the then Bihar State Dairy Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Corporation’ for the sake of brevity) and their services were regularized against different class III posts vide order dated 07.11.1977. However, when the Corporation did not prove to be a profitable venture the State Government decided to close the same and to transfer its assets and liabilities to Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Federation’ for the sake of brevity) which was constituted to execute and implement the scheme ‘Operation Flood-II’ and to absorb the services of the officers and Staff of the Corporation in the Federation in accordance with their utility and thereafter the services of the remaining officers and staff of the Corporation shall be absorbed in different Government Departments, including Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department, Agriculture Department, Public Works Department, Rural Engineering Organization Department, etc. A resolution in that respect was published on 10.02.1984.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners stated that vide letter dated 07.02.1986 the Special Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department sent the names of Class III and Class IV employees of the Corporation, including the petitioners, for absorption in the Federation. However, in the said letter the name of one Sri Awadh Kishore Singh was at serial no.19 and he was subsequently regularized with effect from 01.04.1974, whereas the petitioners, several of whom, were above serial no.19 and were senior to him were not regularized, although all the employees whose names were forwarded by the aforesaid letter were absorbed against Class III posts of Live Stock Assistant in the then pay scale of Rs.535-765 vide order dated 07.03.1986 and were posted under Intensive Cattle Development Branch (hereinafter referred to as ‘the ICDB’ for the sake of brevity) and even then they were working regularly on that post without any promotion, although they were given pay protection and continuity of service vide letter dated 15.06.1987.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that several Live Stock Assistants in the Federation who were junior to the petitioners were given promotion to the post of Live Stock Supervisor in the ye