JUDGMENT

1. The petitioners are M.D.in Paediatrics and were engaged on the tenure post of Registrars in Govt. Medical College, Jammu for a period of three years vide Office Order No.915 of 2015 dated 11.09.2015. While the petitioners were undergoing their Registrarship, they applied for and were granted 180 days maternity leave vide office Order No.2127 of 2017 dated 03.07.2017 and Order No.2096 of 2017 dated 13.06.2017 respectively passed by the respondent No.2. The maternity leave in the case of the petitioner No.1 commenced w.e.f. 13.05.2017 whereas in the case of the petitioner No.2, it commenced w.e.f. 26.05.2017. The petitioners, after availing maternity leave sanctioned in their favour, joined back their duties as Registrars in Govt. Medical College, Jammu. In the year 2018, the respondent No.4 vide Notification No.01-PSC (DR-P) of 2019 dated 17.01.2018 invited online applications on the prescribed format from the eligible permanent residents of State of Jammu and Kashmir for ten posts of Assistant Professors (Lecturers) in Paediatrics in various newly opened Govt. Medical Colleges of the State. The petitioners claiming to be possessed of the requisite qualification and exper