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Rajasthan High Court
Honble G.S. Singhvi, J.
Manoj Kumar Bansal - Appellant
Versus
State of Rajasthan & Another - Respondents
S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5147 of 1992
Decided On :

Advocates Appeared:
R.P. Garg, Advocate & L.L. Gupta, Advocate, for Petitioner Sumitra Goyal, Dy. Govt. Advocate

Headnote:(a) Constitution of India, Art. 226 and Rajasthan Civil Services (Service Matters Appellate Tribunal) Act, 1976, Sec. 4-The rule that the court should not entertain writ petition where equally efficacious alternative remedy is available to a party, can not be invoked in service matters where appeal lies to service Appellate Tribunal—Jurisdiction of this court must be used to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens asnd to reach wherever injustice has been done. (Para 10 & 30)(b) Constitution of India, Art. 226 and Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Sec. 10 and 25 — Availability of remedy under the Industrial Disputes Act can not be a bar against the enter-tainability of the writ petition u/A. 226. (Para 15)

       

Honble SINGHVI, J. - It is indeed unfortunate that despite a clear verdict given by this court as early as on 7.10.91 in S.B.Civil Writ Petition No.5368/90 Riyas Ali Vs. State of Rajasthan & others and 36 connected Writ Petitions, the petitioner has been compelled to file this Writ Petition seeking the same relief which had been given by this court to similarly situated persons who had filed writ petitions No.2281/91, 2293/91, 2294/91, 2403/91, 2404/91, 2619/91 and 2586/91 which were decided on 07.10.91. It is strange that the cases of those persons who have approached the court the Director of Agriculture Department himself issued order on 15.5.92 for reinstatement of those petitioners and yet he has failed to give effect to the order of the court in totality leading to the filing of this writ petition which could have been avoided if the departmental authorities had been a bit sympathetic and fair to the petitioners case. Before I proceed further, I consider it necessary to have mention of few facts.

(2). Petitioner, who passed academic qualification of B.B.(Agriculture) with .62% marks, had been registered with the Man Power Department of the Government of Rajasthan. His name was sponsored by the Man Power Department to the Director of Agriculture for appointment as Junior Engineer. Out of the list of candidates whose names were sponsored by the Man Power Department, a merit list was drawn up by the Agriculture Department for appointment on the post of Junior-Engineer in the pay scale of Rs. 1400-2600. A large number of persons, including the petitioner, were appointed by order dated 25.2.91 (Annexure-2). He was kept in the Department while some others were sent to Jawahar Rozgar Yojna.

(3). Services of 32 persons were terminated by the Director, Agriculture on the ground of abolition of posts of Junior Engineers created under Jawahar Rozgar Yojna.

(4). A number of persons whose services had been terminated by the Director, Agriculture and by the District Rural Development Agencies, filed writ petitions before this court. These writ petitions were decided by a common order dated 7.10.91 passed in Riyaz Alis case(supra). This court rejected writ petitions filed by those Junior Engineers who were employed by the District Rural Development Agencies. Writ Petitions No.2281/91, 2293/91, 2294/91, 2403/91, 2404/91, 2619/91 and 2586/91 were allowed by the court. Petitioners in all those writ petitions were Agriculture graduates who had been appointed by the Directorate of Agriculture. This court found that termination of the services of all those who were sent to Jawahar Rozgar Yojna on deputation irrespective of their merit in the Directorate of Agriculture, was arbitrary. The court found as a matter of fact that the merit of candidates had been ignored for the purpose of applying the rule of last come first go. The Department had prepared the seniority list on the basis of date of joining of the candidates and the court held that preparation of such seniority list for the purpose of effecting retrenchment was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court held that seniority for such purpose can be determined only on the basis of merit of the candidates determined at the time of appointment and the date of joining of the candidates, which is purely fortuitous, cannot constitute a valid basis for the purpose of seniority. The court observed: —

"It has not been disputed by the respondents that the petitioners in writ petition Nos. 2281/91, 2293/91, 2294/91, 2403/91, 2404/91, 2619/91 and 2586/91 have been appointed in Directorate of Agriculture along with large number of persons. In Maninderjit Singhs case(writ no.2294/91), detailed facts have been given that persons who were appointed by common orders issued by the Directorate of Agriculture were posted in the DRDAS as also in the Department. In his writ petition, Maninderjit Singh has categorically asserted that out of one order dated 11.1.91, twenty-two persons were posted within the Departme






































































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