Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

The appellants of SAW No. 852/2018 were respondents 4 and 5 in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6530/2016 filed by Ganga Vishan Gujarati and four others, which has been allowed vide impugned judgment dated 19.4.2018 challenged in SAW No. 852/2018. The appellants of SAW No. 850 and SAW No. 917/2018 have been granted leave to appeal by this Court to challenge the same judgment dated 19.4.2018.

2. Whether Patwaris appointed through Limited Departmental Competitive Examination under Rule 284(ii) of the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Land Records) Rules, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as the 1957 Rules), to the post of Inspector Land Records, are entitled to seniority from the date of such appointment or from the year when the vacancies against which they were promoted became available is the controversy involved in the above captioned intra-court appeals.

3. The facts as pleaded by the parties would reveal that the Revenue (Land Records) Department issued an advertisement on 17.6.2011 to fill up 93 vacancies to the post of Inspector Land Records by way of Limited Departmental Competitive Examination from amongst the serving Patwaris of the Revenue (Land Records) Department. The number of posts to be filled was enhanced to 155 vide subsequent notification dated 28.1.2013. The result of the examination was declared on 16.5.2013 wherein the writ petitioners were selected. By a posting order dated 31.3.2014 the writ petitioners were promoted as Inspector Land Records.

4. On 7.11.2013, a provisional seniority list of Inspector Land Records as on 1.4.2012, was published in terms of Rule 171-A of the 1957 Rules, in which names of the writ petitioners were not included. Vide notification dated 8.10.2014, Sub-rule (2) of Rule 171-A was amended, altering the criteria for determining seniority of Inspector Land Records from the then 'the date of continuous officiation to 'the recruitment year of promotion'. Post amendment, the Revenue Board issued communication dated 12.3.2015 seeking details of such Inspector Land Records who had been promoted in DPC years 2009-10 or before and whose names were not included in the seniority list as on 1.4.2010. Later, orders for promotion of eligible Inspector Land Records were issued promoting them to the next higher post of Nayab Tehsildar on ad-hoc basis. This gave birth to the grievance of the writ petitioners and a representation dated 4.9.2015 was made to the Revenue Board, claiming that since the Inspector Land Records promoted under Rule 284(ii) of the 1957 Rules, have been accorded seniority from their respective vacancies years, the Patwaris promoted as Inspector Land Records through departmental competitive examination under Rule 284(ii) of the 1957 Rules are also entitled to seniority with reference to the year when the vacancies against which they were selected had accrued.

On 12.5.2016 the State issued a final seniority list of Inspector Land Records wherein names of the writ petitioners were not included.

5. In the writ petitions a challenge was made to the final seniority list dated 12.5.2016 pleading that since recruitment through departmental competitive examination had been made for the vacancies which accrued in the years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11, the petitioners selected against these vacancies were entitled to seniority from the respective vacancy years. It was submitted that Rule 347A(8) incorporates Rajasthan Subordinate Services (Recruitment and other Services Conditions) Rules, 1960; since replaced by Rajasthan Subordinate Services (Recruitment and other Service Conditions) Rules, 2001, which by Rule 9 of the 1960 Rules and Rule 13 of the 2001 Rules, require determination of actual number of vacancies occurring during a financial year, as of 1st day of April of each year. It was also submitted that by application of Rule 347B of the 1957 Rules, the Rajasthan Services (Recruitment by Promotion Against Vacancies of Earlier Years) Rules, 1972 also apply to the service.