JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. A.M. Barbhuiya, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. B. Goswami, learned Additional Advocate General, Assam for the respondents No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 being the authorities in the Water Resources Department, Government of Assam, Mr. S. Biswas, learned counsel for the respondent No. 5 Ms. Priyanka Acharjee and Mr. R. Dhar, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate for the respondent No. 6 being the authorities in the WPT&BC Department.

2. The writ petitioners Th. Dipen Kumar Singha, Lal Mohan Singha and Rajeev Singh as well as the respondent No. 5 Priyanka Acharjee participated in a selection process pursuant to an advertisement dated 06.07.2013 issued by the Executive Engineer, Silchar Water Resource Division inviting applications for 17 numbers of sanctioned vacant posts of Section Assistant(district level) in the establishment. The advertisement specifically provided that the last date of receipt of application was 22.07.2013 and that no applications would be entertained after the last date. The petitioners as well as the respondent No. 5 submitted their respective applications before the last date of submission. All the petitioners and the respondent No. 5