Point of Law: Once an incumbent is appointed to a post according to rule, his seniority has to be counted from the date of his appointment and not according to the date of his confirmation.

JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. F. Lalengliana, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. C. Zoramchhana, learned Addl. Advocate General appearing for respondent Nos. 1, 2 & 3 and Mr. A.R. Malhotra, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4.

2. By filing this writ petition, the petitioner seeks for a direction to the respondent authorities to make appropriate modification in the inter-se-seniority list of the officers and staff of the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) in respect of him and the respondent No. 4. According to him, he and the respondent No. 4 should be placed at par in their seniority. He also prays for stay of the process for filling up the post of Secretary, MBSE till final disposal of the writ petition.

3. This Court on 09.03.2021, while issuing notice of motion passed an interim order to the effect that the respondent authorities may go ahead with the process of selection for filling up the post of Secretary, MBSE but the same should not be finalized without leave of the Court till the returnable date. It is noticed that since then, the respondent authorities have not sought for any leave for finalizing the selection process and therefore, the matter rests at that.

4. The case of the petitioner in brief is that the constituted Selection Committee for selecting and appointing Group–A & B Officers held its meeting on 4th & 5th October, 2005 under the Chairmanship of the President of MBSE for filling up of one post of Academic Officer (English) and another post of Academic Officer (Mathematics). The Selection Committee selected the respondent No. 4 against the post of Academic Officer (English) while the petitioner was selected for the post of Academic Officer (Mathematics). Following the selection, they were both given an offer of appointment on 06.10.2005. The respondent No. 4 in response to the offer submitted her letter of acceptance on 07.10.2005. Thereafter, an Order of Appointment was issued separately to both the petitioner as well as the private respondent No. 4 on 10.10.2005. The respondent No. 4 submitted her joining report on the same date while the petitioner submitted his joining report on 14.10.2005. The petitioner as well as the private respondent No. 4 were then confirmed in service vide Order dated 11.04.2008 (Annexure-B) with effect from the date of the order. The petitioner was then promoted to the Grade-III post i.e. Deputy Controller of Examinations under the MBSE on 13.10.2011 (Annexure-E). Similarly, on the same date, the respondent No. 4 was promoted as Senior Academic Officer which is also a Grade-III post under the MBSE. Subsequently, the petitioner was promoted to the Grade-II post of Director (Academic) on 29.10.2015 and on the same date, the respondent No. 4 was also promoted to a Grade-II post i.e., the post of Controller of Examinations. According to the Mizoram Board of School Education (Recruitment) Regulations, 2017 (2017 Regulations), promotion from Grade-II post to Grade-I post under the MBSE i.e. the post of Secretary is 100% by way of promotion and failing which, by deputation through selection method. Both the petitioner as well as the respondent No. 4 in terms of the 2017 Regulations, are qualified to be considered for promotion to the said post. The respondent authorities started initiating the process of selection for filling up the said post but in the meantime, the petitioner has approached this Court with his grievance through the instant writ petition.

5. The grievance projected by the petitioner is that after he and the respondent No. 4 entered service as Academic Officer, the respondent MBSE came up with a provisional inter-se-seniority list for the officers and staff under the MBSE vide Notification dated 29.07.2011 (Annexure D-I). Against the list of officers in Grade-IV, the respondent No. 4 was placed at Serial No. 12 while the petitioner was placed at Serial No. 13. Thereafter, a final seniority list was published vide Notification dated 27.09.2011 wherein, the private r