JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Mr. Awadh Behari Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Manvendra Dixit, learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents.

2. The petitioner was a Collection Amin, when he instituted this writ petition on 19.12.2016. His appointment, however, was ad-hoc. Working against a sanctioned and vacant post of Amin, he was drawing a regular monthly salary, until he retired from service on 31.07.2018. The rights of the petitioner in this petition are traceable to and pegged at the time when the cause of action arose and he brought these proceedings. The petitioner calls in question an order of the District Magistrate, Deoria dated 08.10.2016, by which, his prayer, seeking regularization in service and appointment to the post of Collection Amin against which he was working, has been rejected.

3. The petitioner was initially appointed as a Seasonal Collection Amin on 09.01.1990. He filed a writ petition before the Lucknow Bench of this Court, being Writ Petition No. 430 of 1991 (SS), where an interim order was passed directing that till further orders, the respondents shall not terminate the petitioner's services, so as to create an artificial break, and further, that the petitioner be continued in service. On 30.11.1990, the petitioner was placed against the vacant post of Collection Amin, by an order made by the Joint Magistrate, Rudrapur, Deoria. This order was made by the Joint Magistrate in compliance with this Court's order dated 25.01.1991, and the petitioner was placed against the vacant post of one Ajay Kumar Singh, a Collection Amin, who had been transferred out. It is asserted by the petitioner that pending Writ Petition No. 430 of 1991 (SS), the Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Deoria, cancelled the order dated 13.11.1995 passed by the Joint Magistrate. Thereupon, the petitioner made an amendment application in the pending writ petition before the Lucknow Bench of this Court, where a prayer was made to set aside the order dated 23.01.1996. By an interim order dated 11.04.1996 passed in Writ Petition No. 430 of 1996 (SS), this Court sitting at Lucknow, stayed the operation of the order dated 23.01.1996 passed by the Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Deoria. Writ Petition No. 430 of 1991 (SS) came up for determination before this Court sitting at Lucknow on 21.04.2004 and by an order of that date, the writ petition was disposed of on the same terms and conditions as ordered in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 242 of 2001, Poshaki Lal & Others v. State of U.P. and Others, decided on 16.04.2001. A reference to the said decision shows that Poshaki Lal (Supra), in turn, gave effect to the decision in Mata Deen and others v. State of U.P. and others, 1996 (3) UPLBEC 2227 and ordered in the following terms :

However, in case junior to the petitioners have been regularized as alleged, then the case of the petitioners will be considered with effect from the date of regularization of that junior considering the law that the right of the senior for consideration of regularization is superior in comparison to similarly circumstanced junior. In case the petitioners are still continuing he shall be allowed to continue till the regularization/appointment on the post of Collection Amin is considered with the direction given above.

This writ petition is accordingly disposed of with the direction contained in the case of Mata Deen and others v. State of U.P. and others (Supra).

4. The result of the said orders were that the petitioner continued in service, drawing a monthly salary. It is asserted that he continued all this while on an ad-hoc basis. The final seniority list of Collection Amin was drawn by the Committee, on 09.04.2012. The U.P. Collection Amin Service Rules, 1974, for short “Rules of 1974” were amended in 2015 by the U.P. Collection Amin (Service) 7th Amendment Rules, 2015 For short “the 7th Amendment Rules”. It is pointed out that this seniority list did