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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR
INDERJEET SINGH, J.
Mukesh Kumar Sharma S/o Late Shri Om Prakash Sharma – Appellant
Versus
State Of Rajasthan – Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 16922 OF 2019
Decided on : 06-05-2022
Rajasthan Subordinate Offices Ministerial Service Rules, 1999 – Rule 37, 28, 29 – Writ petition has been filed by petitioners with prayer – Held, Hon’ble Supreme Court, meaning thereby said judgment has already attained finality, then respondents were duty bound to obey and comply directions contained in judgment passed in matter (supra) in letter and spirit but on contrary respondents kept matter pending for grant of seniority & notional benefits as per Rules for more than five years with them and; lastly, petitioners have participated in same selection process and their appointment got delayed due to negligence of respondents, therefore, petitioners are entitled for benefits of notional fixation i.e. seniority, promotion & pay scale etc from date when persons were appointed in same selection process – Writ petition is allowed.
ORDER :
1. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioners with the following prayer:-“In these circumstances, it is, therefore, prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to accept this writ petition and
(ii) by issuing the writ of mandamus, order or direction in the nature thereof respondents may kindly be directed to
(i) grant notional seniority, pay fixation and notional promotions to humble petitioners from the date of their initial appointment;
(ii) grant arrears on the pay fixation amount with interest @ 9% per annum;
(iii) Any other appropriate order or direction which this Hon’ble Court deems just and proper in the facts and circumstances of this case may kindly also be passed in favour of the petitioners.”
2. Brief facts of the case are that in pursuance to the advertisement dated 17.05.2011 the petitioners applied for the post of LDC and after holding the examination, the result was declared by the respondents. The claim of the petitioners is that in an arbitrary manner the persons less meritorious to the petitioners have been selected & given appointment by the respondents in the year 2013. The history of the present litigation reveals that the petitioners filed writ petition, outcome thereof became subject matter of challenge before the Division Bench of this court.
3. The Division Bench of this Court after taking an overall view of the matter & examining at length the issue in the matter of Saurabh Kumar Kothari & Ors. Vs. RPSC & Ors (D.B. Special Appeal (Writ) No.1379/2014 and other connected matters) vide judgment dated 03.02.2016 finally concluded as under :-
“Consequently, the special appeals stand allowed and the judgments passed by the ld.Single Judge dt.02.04.2012, 01.05.2014, 25.07.2014, 03.09.2014, 01.10.2014 & 09.10.2014 in relation to the recruitment process held for the post of Lower Division Clerk, pursuant to the advertisement dt.17.05.2011 are quashed and set aside and the writ petitions assailing validity of proviso to R.29 of Rules, 1999 to the extent that candidate has to secure a minimum of 36% marks in each of the paper of Phase-II of the competitive examination for the post of Stenographer are without substance and accordingly stand dismissed. The Commission is directed to prepare a fresh merit list of all the candidates who have participated in the combined competitive examination, 2011 held for the post of Lower Division Clerk, pursuant to advertisement dt.17.05.2011 and the corrigendums issued in furtherance thereto and obtained a minimum of 40% marks in each of the paper of Phase-I and a minimum of 36% marks in each of the paper of Phase-II of the competitive examination and upload such fresh merit list on its official website and after taking note of the objections, if any, within seven days thereafter recommend the names of successful candidates to the State Government keeping in view their order of merit, as per the number of advertised vacancies and the State Government is directed to process the same thereafter and give appointments to the selected candidates after due compliance of the requirement of law & the scheme of Rules.
The process shall be completed within 90 days. At the same time, State Government is at liberty to cancel the appointments of such of the candidates who failed to qualify with a minimum of 40% marks in each of the paper of Phase-I and a minimum of 36% marks in each of the paper of Phase-II or were not eligible to appear in Phase-II of the competitive examination held for the post of Lower Division Clerk under the scheme of Rules, after due compliance & in accordance with law.”
4. In compliance of the judgment passed by the Division Bench of this court in the matter of Saurabh Kumar Kothari (
Seniority in public service must be determined by the date of first appointment, not by roster points, as per statutory rules.
Merit-based seniority must prevail in public service appointments despite procedural delays, ensuring fair treatment and equal opportunities as mandated by service regulations.
Seniority in service is a statutory right determined by established merit lists, with waiting list candidates lacking rights to precedence over those appointed from the main list.
Point of Law : Only those appointments which were made up to the date of the learned Single Judge's decision would be continued and no further appointments on the basis of Rule 3(B) would be consider....
Seniority in recruitment must align with merit rankings, ensuring fair treatment of candidates based on their performance in a common selection process.
Entitlement for appointment on the basis of the originally prepared merit list cannot be denied, and seniority should be assigned based on the placement of candidates in the select list.
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