ORDER :

N. Kotiswar Singh, J.

1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioners being aggrieved by the decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Srinagar Bench, dated 27.09.2023 passed in O.A. No.921/2022, by which the prayer of the applicant-petitioners for determining their seniority in the post of Patwari on the basis of the select list dated 13.08.2012 prepared as per results of the initial entrance examination conducted by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) for the purpose of selecting Patwar Trainees pursuant to the advertisement No.20-BOPEE of 2012 dated 09.05.2012 and in terms of Rule 24 of the J&K Classification, Control and Appeal Rules, 1956, (CCA Rules) which provides for determining the seniority on the basis of the merit obtained in the competitive examination was rejected. The plea of the petitioners is that the seniority should not be based on the Departmental Examination conducted before they were appointed as Patwaris as had been done.

BASIC FACTS:

2. Before we examine the rival contentions of the parties, it would be appropriate to refer to the basic facts of the case which are briefly summarized as under.

3. An advertisement was