The court upheld the legality of the duty rotation system under the Rajasthan Home Guards Act, 1963, emphasizing the petitioner's lack of standing due to insufficient documentation.

Judgment :

1. At the outset, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner-Samiti has submitted that the present petition is filed with the following prayers:

“1. By way of a writ, order, or direction in the nature thereof held that the dutywise rotation system adopted by the respondent in the garb of section 4 of the Rajasthan Home Guards Act, 1963 is impermissible holding that the term “calling for duties” do does not means a whimsical approach to call a few and debar the others from engagement; and

2. By way of a writ, order, or direction in the nature thereof held that if there are available duties & requisition from the various departments seeking engagement of the home guards on regular basis then the home guards be given duties continuously without any break in the name of rotation or “calling of duties”.

3. By way of a writ, order, or direction in the nature thereof direct and hold that any enrolment of the home guards made pursuant to the advertisement dated 09.01.2023 be not given effect to unless the present strength of the already enrolled home guards is utilized fully and further that the advertisement dated 09.01.2023 thus be quashed and set aside and direct the respondents to refund the amount collected under this advertisement as application fee to the candidates if any so proposed to be enrolled during the pendency of the present writ petition.

4. By way of a writ, order, or direction in the nature thereof direct the respondents to make available in public domain and the website of the Department the total strength of the home guards, UptoDate position of enrolled home guards with their particulars and details, duties and their details assigned to the home guards against their name, and not to lay of for give break to any home guard in the name of rotation in engagement.

5. By way of a writ, order, or direction in the nature thereof direct the respondent to put in place appropriate rules for the recruitment of the voluntary home guards in future and not make any enrolment unless a transparent enrolment mechanism is notified by the respondent State in pursuance to the Act of 1963 like the one made for a person appointed to a post in the service on the basis of regular selection.”

2. It was further contended that the nitty-gritty of the present dispute is that the petitioner herein is a registered society of home-guards of the State of Rajasthan which is working for the welfare of its members. There are as many as 30,714 sanctioned strength of home guards in the State wherein around 28,206 home-guards are enrolled for present and only 10,134 home- guards, as per the latest available records are given duties that too on rotation basis.

3. Learned counsel representing the petitioner had contended that despite the fact that no regular duties/deployment is granted qua the enrolled home-guards, the respondents have issued the impugned notification dated 09.01.2023, inviting applications for 3,842 vacant posts of home-guards.

4. Consecutively, learned counsel had apprised the Court with the manifold grievances of the petitioner-society/samiti, which are enumerated herein below:

4.1 That the rotation system, as adopted by the respondents with respect to duties and the allotment, is inherently illegal, arbitrary, and untenable in the eyes of the law. In this regard, it was submitted that the rotation or lay-off policy, implemented by the respondents under the guise of "calling out for duty," is legally unsustainable. Withal, the same is assailed on the grounds that the respondent Department has failed to satisfy the requirements for year-round deployment.

4.2 That despite the fact that the existing force members are surplus and the duties required are insufficient for the current strength of the force, the respondents intend to recruit additional personnel, as evidenced by the advertisement dated 09.01.2023, for the appointment of 3,842 Home Guards in the State of Rajasthan.

4.3 That there is a far-reaching lack of transparency in t