ORDER :

N.V. Anjaria, J.

1. Heard learned advocates for the petitioners in the respective petitions, learned Government Pleader Ms. Manisha Lavkumar with learned Assistant Government Pleader Mr. Manan Mehta for the respondent - State and its authorities.

2. In all these petitions, the prayers were similar and the grievance was same. The petitioners who were Assistant Sub Inspectors, applied for appointment by way of Mode-3 promotion to the post of Police Sub Inspector pursuant to advertisement dated 15th April, 2017 issued by the Director General of Police, Gujarat.

3. What the petitioners prayed in their respective petitions was to direct the respondent authorities to permit the petitioners to appear in the departmental examination and in all subsequent stages for the promotion to the post. In the advertisement it was provided on the basis of the Rules which governed the process, that the candidates concerned should have minimum experience of 40 months as Assistant Sub Inspectors as on 30th April, 2017.

3.1. The rules called Police Sub Inspector (Unarmed) Class-III Recruitment Rules, 2008 framed in exercise of powers under Section 5(6) of the Bombay Police Act, 1951, inter alia, Rule 2 of the Rules deal with the manner of appointment. It is provided in sub-rule (1) that appointment to the post of Police Sub Inspector (Unarmed), Class-III in the Gujarat State Police Service can be made by way of promotion of a person of proved merit and efficiency from amongst the persons who have worked for not less than five years in the cadre of Assistant Sub Inspector (Unarmed), Class-III in the Gujarat State Police Service. Thus, the Rule provided for minimum experience of 60 months on the post of Assistant Sub Inspector as a requisite criteria of experience for consideration for promotion to the post of Police Sub Inspector. The Proviso to the Rule permitted the competent authority - Director General & Inspector General of Police to relax the criteria upto two-third, that is upto 40 months.

3.2. On the basis of the Proviso to Rule as above, criteria of 60 months came to be relaxed to 40 months, due to which the petitioners' stood ineligible, and they filed the present petitions. The petitioners had undergone the physical test and other examinations in recruitment process, but due to their non-matching with the experience criteria as per the prescription in the advertisement, their case was not considered.

3.3. The recruitment and the departmental examination in question was in respect of the year 2016-17. The advertisement was given for total 401 vacancies. Learned Government Pleader stated that result of total 220 candidates were kept in sealed cover pursuant to interim orders passed by the Court in the petitions.

4. The petition involving the case of similarly situated petitioner of one Gauttambhai Danabhai Parmar, Assistant Sub Inspector v. State of Gujarat being Special Civil Application No. 8808 of 2017 was subjected to an order disposing of the same, in view of the policy decision taken by the State Government declared before the Court that the Government had decided to grant promotion to all the candidates who have now completed 40 months on the post of Assistant Sub Inspector.

4.1. Order dated 19th February, 2019 passed in Gauttambhai Danabhai Parmar (supra) recorded thus, extracting only the operative paragraphs.

"4. When the matter came up for consideration today, it was stated on behalf of the State Government by learned Government Pleader that a policy decision is taken for all those 220 candidates appeared in the departmental examination that since the said candidates have now completed the experience of 40 months on the post of Assistant Sub Inspector, they would be treated as eligible if have completed 40 months experience and have passed in the departmental examination. It was stated that some of the candidates concerned are on the verge of retirement. Learned Government Pleader made a statement that all such petitioners candidates