Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:1512 AFR Court No. - 6 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4610 of 2024 petitioners :- Ravi Kumar Shukla And Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Its Addl. Chief Secy. Home Deptt.

And 3 Others Counsel for petitioners :- Ripu Daman Shahi,Chhaya Tripathi,Vivek Kumar Verma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Shireesh Kumar,Utkarsh Kumar along with Writ A No.7284 of 2024 Prabhat Kumar Pandey Vs. State of U.P. and others Hon'ble Alok Mathur,J.

1. Heard Sri Ripu Daman Shahi along with Ms. Chhaya Tripathi and Sri Pradeep Kumar Mishra for the petitioners, learned Additional Chief Standing counsel on behalf of State-respondent No.s 1 and 2 and Sri Shireesh Kumar and Sri Utkarsh Kumar for respondent No.s 3 and 4.

2. Sri Shireesh Kumar has moved an application for impleadment stating that the applicants are necessary party considering the fact that they have also participated in the selection for the post of Head Operator / Head Operator (Mechanical) in U.P. Police Radio Cadre and are diploma holders and has sought to be impleaded as a respondent.

3. The application for impleadment is not opposed by the learned Counsel for petitioners and on consideration of the application for impleadment, we find that the applicants are necessary parties and accordingly, the application for impleadment is allowed.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners is directed to implead them as respondents.

5. Since common questions of facts and law are involved in both the writ petitions, as such, they are being heard and decided by this common judgment and order. All the parties have been heard at length including Sri Shireesh Kumar, counsel for the respondents and accordingly, with the consent of the parties, the Court is proceeding to dispose of the petition at the admission stage itself.

6. It has been submitted by counsel for the petitioners that an advertisement was issued on 06.01.2022 by the Additional Secretary (Recruitment) Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board Lucknow inviting online applications for the post of Head Operator / Head Operator (Mechanic) in the Police Radio Department. It has been submitted that in Clause 3.2 of the said advertisement, the qualifications were prescribed as per the provisions contained in the Uttar Pradesh Police Radio Adhinasth Sewa Niyamawali , 2015 where in Clause 8(c) the qualifications required for the post of Head Operator / Head Operator (Mechanic) are that the candidate should have passed three years diploma course in Electronics / Telecommunication / Electrical / Computer Science / Information Technology / Instrumentation Technology / Mechanical Engineering by a board established by law in India or a qualification recognized by the Government as equivalent thereto.

7. The petitioners, who are degree holders in various branches of engineering considering themselves to be eligible had applied for participation in the said recruitment and they were also issued admit cards for appearing in the online examinations and the written examination was conducted on 31.01.2024. It has been submitted by counsel for the petitioners that prior to publication of the said advertisement, the Police Recruitment Board had taken a decision on 25.08.2021 where it was resolved that the candidates having four years as Bachelor of Engineering (BE) / Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in stream like Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics, information Technology, Computer Science and Telecommunication were also to be treated as eligible on account of them having higher qualifications. Accordingly, the reading of the advertisement dated 06.01.2022 along with the resolution of the Police Recruitment Board, the petitioners were in a bonafide belief that they were fully eligible to participate in the said selection. After the written examination the answer key of the said result was also published by the respondents on

06.02.2024.

8. Before any further steps could be taken by the Police Recruitment Board, by means of or