The main legal point established in the judgment is that AAI had the right to prescribe different eligibility criteria for different cadres and that the impugned recruitment and circular were based on valid classification and organizational needs. The 2005 Guidelines were also found to be within the competence of the delegated authority and not ultra vires the mandate of the Act.

JUDGMENT

Sanjeev Narula, J. - The Petitioners, who are employees of Respondent No. 3 - Airport Authority of India (hereinafter referred to as "AAI") and have preferred the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 1950 as they are aggrieved by an advertisement dated 3rd July, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the "impugned advertisement") issued by the AAI for direct recruitment to the post of Manager (Electronics), contending that their promotional avenues for the said post, to which they are otherwise eligible, are being curtailed. At the same time, they seek quashing of the Recruitment and Promotion Guidelines, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "2005 Guidelines") as well as a circular dated 18th July, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the "2016 Circular") of AAI. They also seek to challenge the legality of Section 6(1) of the Airports Authority of India (General Conditions of Service and Remuneration of Employees) Regulations, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as the "2003 Regulations") which, they claim, is liable to be quashed as being illegal, ultra vires and without any authority of law, on account of it being excessive delegation in contravention of the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") as well as the Constitution.0

Brief Facts

2. The legislative and regulatory framework leading to the filing of the present writ petition is as follows:

i. AAI is a Public Sector Enterprise ('PSE') engaged in both airspace as well as on-ground civil aviation infrastructure. It provides engineering support required to the civil aviation industry through its Air Navigation Services wing (hereinafter referred to as "ANS"), which is further divided into the Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (hereinafter referred to as "CNS") and the Air Traffic Control (hereinafter referred to as "ATC"). The CNS branch comprises of the Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance sub-units and provides niche technical support to the ATC branch.

ii. Under the mandate of the Act, in particular Sections 42 and 43, the AAI framed and introduced the 2003 Regulations concerning various matters set out therein, which includes recruitment processes as well. Section 6(1) of the 2003 Regulations provides for framing of further guidelines for recruitment by AAI.

iii. In exercise of its powers under Section 6(1) of the 2003 Regulations, AAI framed the 2005 Guidelines. The 2005 Guidelines envisaged that 25% of the posts may be recruited by way of direct recruitment, while the remaining 75% may be appointed by way of promotion. Insofar as direct recruitment is concerned, Section II of the 2005 Guidelines deals with the process of direct recruitment and related matters. Clause 6.3 stipulates as under:

"The detailed qualification and the kind of experience required for posts filled through DR will be specified with reference to the requirement of each post. These are broadly specified in Annexure-I (Executives) and Annexure -II (Non Executives). The educational qualification / experiences for direct recruitment of promotions for employees joined prior to 29.08.2011 to the various grades in executive cadre are indicated in Annexure-III".

iv. Clause 2 of Annexure I of the 2005 Guidelines provides that:

"2 year's work experience in the executive cadre in the discipline concerned is essential for direct recruitment to Manager (E-3) level."

v. By way of the 2016 Circular, the 2005 Guidelines were amended and the work experience required for recruitment to the post of Manager (E-3) through direct recruitment, was enhanced from two years to five years in the concerned discipline.

vi. On 3rd July, 2018, the impugned advertisement titled 'Recruitment of Managers and Junior Executives in various disciplines' was issued, inviting applications from eligible candidates for several posts, including the post of Manager (Electronics), for which the minimum qualification was prescribed as "Full time regular B.E / B.Tech Degree in El