IMPORTANT POINT
Contractual employees are entitled to weightage in recruitment processes only if appointed through lawful means, adhering to Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

JUDGMENT :

K. VINOD CHANDRAN, CJ.

1. The petitioners in both the above writ petitions impugn the weightage granted to contractual employees in the Government and specifically asserts that as per Government resolution it could have been granted only to those persons who are continuing in the post of Fisheries Extension Officer. Two writ petitions were filed when the advertisement was issued in the year 2021. The selection had gone ahead and appointments have been made. In CWJC No. 2043 of 2021, the Government resolution regarding weightage to contractual employees, is relied on to argue a prohibition from conferring such weightage to other contractual employees, working in posts other than Fisheries Extension Officers and asserts that only the petitioners and like contractual employees can be conferred with such weightage. In CWJC No. 17781 of 2021, the petitioners challenge the provision for weightage in Bihar Animal and Fisheries Resources (Fisheries) Service Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 2020.

2. Learned Senior Counsel Shri Y.V. Giri took us to Annexure-17, which is a resolution issued by the Department of General Administration, Bihar Government. Weightage as provided in Clause (4) of the resolution is only to regular appointment in that post on which work has been done under contractual employment. It is also pointed out that as per the resolution, such appointment can only be to those who were appointed and continued in sanctioned posts. It is argued that there have been many instances pointed out in the memorandum of writ petition itself; shown in the tabular form, wherein persons appointed even to projects on a temporary basis have been given weightage. It is urged that the Government resolution was clearly in so far as the weightage, with reference to the instant selection being permissible only to contractual employees appointed and continued in the posts of Fisheries Extension Officers; who were conferred the benefit of regular appointment to that post. The advertisement, however, provided for a weightage to those employees from other departments also, without work experience in the post to which selection is made and without verification as to whether the contractual appointment is made to a sanctioned post.

3. Learned counsel appearing in CWJC No. 17781 of 2021 Shri Gaurav Bihari adopts the arguments already addressed and further submits that the provision in the rule itself is challenged in the said writ petition.

4. Learned Government Advocates appearing in both the writ petitions Shri Vikash Kumar, and Shri Amish Kumar specifically refer to the rules produced as Annexure-4 in CWJC No. 2043 of 2021 and the provision which provides for weightage to all contractual employees. Learned Counsel also relies on the decisions of a Division Bench and a Full Bench of this Court in Dr. Dharmbir Kumar & Ors. v. The State of Bihar & Ors. 2015 (2) PLJR 916 and Krishna Pratap Singh & Ors. v. The State of Bihar & Ors. 2017 (3) PLJR 642. Benefit of weightage and age relaxation granted to the contractual employees were upheld by the Division Bench and on a doubt raised was referred to a Full Bench, which affirmed the Division Bench decision. Reliance is also placed on the decision of another Division Bench of this Court in Abhay Kumar Patel and Others v. State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary and Others, 2023 SCC OnLine Pat 3080.

5. First we look at the Government resolution produced as Annexure-17 in