JUDGMENT :

HARSH BUNGER, J. 

1. Prayer in the instant civil writ petition filed under Articles 226/227 of Constitution of India, inter alia, is for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for setting aside the order dated 16.02.2023 (Annexure P-5), passed by learned Financial Commissioner (Appeals), Punjab (in short 'Financial Commissioner') to the extent whereby the matter has been remanded to learned District Collector, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (in short 'Collector') for fresh consideration.

2. Briefly, on demise of Smt. Gurbachan Kaur, previous Lambardar of village Gobindpur (Patti Nihala), Tehsil Banga, District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, proceedings were initiated for filling up the aforesaid vacancy, wherein petitioner-Darshan Singh (in short 'petitioner') and respondent No. 4-Joga Singh (in short 'respondent No. 4') were also the candidates.

2.1 Tehsildar, Banga as well as Sub Divisional Magistrate, Banga recommended the candidature of petitioner for appointment to the aforesaid vacancy and placed the matter before learned Collector.

2.2 Learned Collector, vide order dated 10.07.2014 (Annexure P-1), appointed petitioner as Lambardar of village Gobindpur (Patti Nihala).

2.3 Feeling aggrieved against learned Collector's order dated 10.07.2014 (Annexure P-1), respondent No. 4 preferred an appeal before learned Commissioner, Rupnagar Division, Rupnagar (in short 'Divisional Commissioner'), which came to be allowed, vide order dated 03.06.2019 (Annexure P-2), whereby learned Collector's order was set aside and respondent No. 4 was appointed as Lambardar of village Gobindpur (Patti Nihala).

2.4 Feeling dis-satisfied, petitioner preferred a revision petition (ROR-340-2019) before learned Financial Commissioner, which came to be partly allowed, vide order dated 16.02.2023 (Annexure P-5), whereby orders passed by learned Collector as well as learned Divisional Commissioner were set aside and the matter was remanded to learned Collector for deciding the matter afresh.

3. In the aforementioned circumstances, petitioner has filed the instant civil writ petition before this Court for seeking relief(s), as noticed hereinabove

4. Heard.

5. Here, it would be apposite to refer to comparative merits of petitioner as well as respondent No. 4 (as noticed by learned Collector in its order dated 10.07.2014), which are as under :-

5.1 A bare perusal of above extracted comparison would clearly show that respondent No. 4 is younger in age than petitioner and is also more educated than him.

5.2 Evidently, learned Collector, vide order dated 10.07.2014 (Annexure P-1), appointed petitioner as Lambardar primarily on the ground that his name was recommended by lower revenue officers, whereas the order is silent as to what has weighed in the mind of learned Collector so as to not consider the candidature of respondent No. 4, who was younger in age and more educated than petitioner.

5.3 However, on an appeal being filed by respondent No. 4, learned Divisional Commissioner set aside learned Collector's order and appointed respondent No. 4 as Lambardar by observing as under :-

“After hearing the arguments from Ld. Counsels for both the parties and on the perusal of the record available on the file minutely, it is found that the appellant is aged 45 years, matric pass and can read and write Punjabi, Hindi and English. He actively participates in the social welfare works of the society and belongs to a family who enjoys good reputation in the village. Apart from this respondent No. 4 and 5 candidate Smt. Daljit Kaur and Smt. Tarsem Kaur are also agreeing for appointing appellant as a lambadar. The respondent Darshan Singh is aged 60 years, he is 8^th class pass. Therefore, I do not agree with the order dated 10.07.2014 passed by District Collector, SBS Nagar and hereby set aside this order and the appeal filed by Sh. Joga Singh appellant is hereby accepted and thereby Sh. Joga Singh is hereby appointed as lambardar (General) of Village Gobindpur (Patti Nihala)