(ORDER)

(DELIVERED BY HON’BLE MR. RAKESH SAGAR JAIN, MEMBER-J)

Applicants Janak Sharma, Subhash Chander and Anil Gupta have filed this T.A.

seeking the following reliefs:-

“i. Certiorari seeking quashment of the Government Order No. 454- PW (Hyd) of 2019 dated 02.12.2019 by virtue of which claim of the petitioners in the light of directions passed by the Hon’ble Court on 02.08.2019 and 20.09.2019 in SWP No. 3272/2019 has been rejected by the respondents.

ii. Certiorari seeking quashment of Promotion/adjustment Order bearing No. 42-PW (Hyd) of 2010 dated 31.01.2020 by virtue of which charge has been assigned to various AEEs as XeNs.

iii. Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to implement SRO 14 dated 15.01.2016 and grant consequent promotion to the petitioners to the post of Executive Engineers in terms of amended schedule for Class-III category –‘A’ of J&K Engineering (Gazetted)

Services Recruitment Rules, 1978.

iv. Prohibition restraining the respondents from making any further promotions/temporary arrangements to the post of Executive Engineer from the Feeding Cadre of Assistant Executive Engineer (Hydraulic) in violation of Rule 61 and 62 of J&K Civil Service

(Leave) Rules, 1979 read with SRO 346 dated 17th October, 2012.

v. Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to accord charge of the post of Executive Engineer in favour of petitioners as being eligible in the light of SRO 14 datd 15.01.2016.

vi. Mandamus commanding upon the respondents to grant the promotion to the petitioners to the post of Executive Engineer and place them appropriately with retrospective effect in the seniority list of Executive Engineers with all consequential benefits.

viii. Any other appropriate order, direction or command which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the given facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioners as against the Respondent.”

2. The case of the applicants is that applicant no. 3 secured Masters in Engineering/M.Tech in Irrigation and Hydraulic before joining the service as Junior Engineer in 1994. Whereas applicant no. 1 and 2 during the currency of their service as junior engineers got sponsored by the Government and granted study leave whereby they obtained higher qualification of post graduation in M.Tech in Environmental Engineering and Management from IIT/NIT. It is the case of the applicants that before grant of study leave the Government on seeking information from the concerned Chief Engineers were informed vide communication dated 27.06.2016 (Annexure No. VII and VIII) that the post graduate course to be undergone by the said applicant no. 1 and 2 is of definite advantage from the point of view of public interest and is aimed at capacity building of in service engineers by updating the technical knowledge, and the same would help in better service to the common public and that there is dearth of M.Tech Engineers in the Department.

3. It is the further case of the applicants that SRO 14 dated 15.01.2016 was issued whereby the schedule annexed J&K Engineering (Gazetted) Services Recruitment Rules, 1978 (hereinafter referred to as rules) was amended. It would be fruitful to refer to reproduce the rules pertaining to promotion to the post of Executive Engineer in this regard. The Schedule to J&K Engineering (Gazetted)

Services Recruitment Rules, 1978 is reproduced below:- III A (1) Executive Engineer (a) 80% by promotion from Class IV Category A amongst

(2) Dy. Director persons possessing Bachelor’s

(3) Tech PA to C.E. Degree in Engineering or AMIE Section (A&B) India, with atleast

(4) Officer on Special Duty 8 years of total Gazetted Service in the same branch of Engineering in which appointment is to be made with at least 4 years experience as Asstt. Executive Engineer.

4. SRO-14 dated 15.01.2016 (Annexure-IX) made the following amendment:-

“SRO-14.- In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to section 124 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the Governor hereby directs t