1. Claiming consideration for selection and appointment as Junior Engineer (Civil) in the Public Works Department of the State, the petitioners, who are stated to be Degree-holders in Civil Engineering from various recognized Engineering Colleges and belonging to the Scheduled Caste Category, had approached this Court on an earlier occasion in SWP No. 1800/2004 seeking reliefs which reads thus:--

"(a) Writ of mandamus commanding upon the respondents to fill up all existing and backlog vacancies of Junior Engineers (Civil) in addition to the vacancies advertised vide Notification No. 03 of 2004 dated 14-09-2004 in the same selection process.

(b) Further writ of mandamus commanding upon the respondents to conduct the selection process for all the existing and backlog vacancies for the posts of Junior Engineer (Civil) in ST and SC;

(c) Further writ of mandamus commanding upon the respondents to select and appoint the petitioners as Junior Engineer (Civil) in view of their eligibility and merit in their respective categories."

2. During the pendancy of this writ petition, the Jammu and Kashmir State Subordinate Services Recruitment Board issued its advertisement notice no. 03 of 2004 dated 14-09-2004 inviting applications for selection and consequent appointment against 256 posts of Junior Engineers, break-up whereof indicated, inter alia, twenty one (21) posts against the Scheduled Caste Category. The petitioners, therefore, in view of the issuance of aforementioned notification, withdrew SWP no. 1800/2004.

3. Yet another notification appears to have been issued by the Board vide its advertisement notice No. 04 of 2005 dated 14-09-2005 inviting applications from eligible candidates, inter alia, against twenty one (21) reserved posts of Junior Engineers for the Scheduled Caste Category. It was followed by another advertisement notice No. 08 of 2005 dated 29-11-2005, inviting applications from eligible candidates for twenty (20) posts of Junior Engineers (Civil) against Scheduled Caste Category. The closing date for filing applications in terms of this last notification of the Board was 12-12-2005. This notification specifically provided that it had been issued in continuation to earlier notice No. 03 of 2004 dated 14-09-2004 and 04 of 2005 dated 14-09-2005.

4. It was during the process of finalization of the selection process for the posts of Junior Engineers (Civil) that the petitioners filed this writ petition, claiming PREFERENCE and WEIGHTAGE in selection against the reserved category posts of Junior Engineer (Civil), urging that delay on the part of the Board in holding selection, when the first notification had been issued, had expanded the area of competition, which, according to them, entitled them to Preference and Weightage in selection.

5. The petitioners, therefore, seek a command of the Court to the respondents for providing them PREFERENCE on the basis of batch-seniority in reference to advertisement notice Nos. 03 of 2004 dated 14-09-2004, 04 of 2005 dated 14-09-2005 and 08 of 2005 dated 29-11-2005.

6. An interim order was issued at the motion hearing stage restraining the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board not to issue the select list. This interim order was later clarified on April 13, 2007 when while dismissing the applications of the interveners belonging to the categories other than Scheduled Caste for their impleadment as party respondents, it was provided on the concession of learned counsel for the petitioners that the interim direction issued by the Court would apply only to the vacancies reserved for the Scheduled Caste Category. It was noticed in the interim order that the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board had issued select list of candidates for the posts of Junior Engineers, which was published in the newspaper on 17-04-2007.

7. Keeping in view the urgency projected by the interveners selected against the Scheduled Caste Category and the respondents to the writ petition, the whole matter was tak

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