The appointing authority is obligated to make year-wise determination of vacancies for direct recruits as well as promotees, and any inaction or omission to do so cannot become the basis for denying eligibility to candidates who were found eligible in a particular year.

1. - The petitioner, which is the representative body of the Rajasthan Assistant Accounts Officers' Association, District Branch, Jaipur through its President, by way of the instant writ petition, has raised the question for determination by this court as to whether it was open to respondents to fill-up the vacancies in Rajasthan Accounts Service without determining at first instance the actual number of sanctioned posts in the said cadre?

2. During the pendency of this writ petition, the petitioner has filed an additional affidavit from which it is apparent that the State Government has leased clarification-cum-direction vide its order dated 7.9.1996, which is self-explanatory and which clarifies that the vacancies should be determined on the basis of total number of sanctioned posts in service irrespective of nomenclature/scale of the posts.

3. The perusal of the aforesaid circular, which is forming part of the additional affidavit vide Annexures 14 & 15 dated 7.9.1996 & 13.11.1996 respectively, reveals that the State Government has already done the necessary exercise is not only determining the total number of sanctioned posts in the Rajasthan Accounts Services cadre but has also done the needful by determining the said vacancies category-wise and it is only thereafter that recruitment's have been made in various services by way of the open competitive examination conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission for short "R.P.S.C." and also in accordance with other methods, prescribed by the appointing authority. Hence it cannot be said that the recruitment in said service in the financial year 1993-94 or in the subsequent years has been done by the respondents contrary to the aforesaid procedure. In view of the Notification dated 13.11.1996, which was issued by the Department of Personnel, Government of Rajasthan on 13.11.1996 vide (Annexure-15), in exercise of the powers conferred on the State by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, after carrying-out necessary amendment in the Services Rules, the following new Rule mentioned in column No. 4 was added as follows:

"Recruitment to the service by the aforesaid method shall be made in such a manner that the persons appointed to the service by each method do not at any time exceed the percentage laid down in the Rules/Schedule of the total cadre strength as sanctioned for each category from time to time."

4. During the course of hearing, Shri Rastogi, learned counsel for the petitioner has contended at the bar that the then Secretary of Department of Personnel as well as the Special Secretary (finance) along with the representatives of the respondents held detailed discussions and it was agreed in principle that in view of the number of vacancies calculated for promotees quota, the exercise for which was not done properly and, therefore, the D.P.C. which was scheduled to be conveyed for determining the vacancies for the year 1994-95, which was to be held on 12.5.1994 for making promotions for the posts of Assistant Accounts Officers was directed to be postponed till the correct number of vacancies were determined.

5. During the course of hearing, learned counsel for the petitioner has further contended that the respondents had also issued promotional orders in the petitioner's cadre vide order dated 27.12.1996 and as per the cadre strength in the Rajasthan Accounts Service was 500 candidates to he filled the ratio of 50 per cent by direct recruitment and 50 percent by promotion. As against this the actual working strength was 470 as against which 297 posts were filled-in by way of direct recruitment and 173 posts were filled-in from amongst the promotees.

6. As a result the said exercise done by the respondents was as follows: