IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWPOA No.:1007 of 2019 a/w CWPOA Nos. 3163, 3627, 4374, 6355, 6368, 6392, 6400, 7039 of 2019 & CWP No. 1562 of 2020, CWPOA Nos . 588, 3092, 4268, 4631,5321, 5481, 5604 and 6641 of 20

20.

Reserved on : 13.09.2023 Decided on : 28.09.2023

1. CWPOA No. 1007 of 2019 Bhagat Ram and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

2. CWPOA No. 3163 of 2019 Santosh Raj Sharma and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

3. CWPOA No. 3627 of 2019 Kali Dass Sharma and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

4. CWPOA No. 4374 of 2019 Karma Nand and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

5. CWPOA No. 6355 of 2019 Nikka Ram and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

6. CWPOA No. 6368 of 2019 Om Chand and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus hState of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

7. CWPOA No. 6392 of 2019 Jeet Kumar. .…Petitioner.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

8. CWPOA No. 6400 of 2019 Satish Kumar. .…Petitioner.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

9. CWPOA No. 7039 of 2019 Mukesh Chand and Another .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

10. CWP No. 1562 of 2020 Aan Dass. .…Petitioner.

Versus State of Himachaul Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

11. CWPOA No. 588 of 2020 Geeta Ram and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

12. CWPOA No. 3092 of 2020 Mukul Kumar and Others. …Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

13. CWPOA No. 4268 of 2020 Pratap Chand and Others. .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

14. CWPOA No. 4631 of 2020 Mohinder Singh and Others. .…P.etitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Another. …Respondents.

15. CWPOA No. 5321 of 2020 Ram Sain and Others. t .…Petitioners.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

16. CWPOA No. 5481 of 2020 Jafar Mohamed. .…Petitioner.

Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Another. …Respondents.

17. CWPOA No. 5604 of 2020 Sher Singh and Others. ….. Petitioners Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

18. CWPOA No. 6641 of 2020 Bhupinder Singh. .…Petitioner.

Versus The State of Himachal Pradesh and Others. …Respondents.

Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Satyen Vaidya, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?1 Yes For the petitioner(s) : Mr. Bhuvnesh Sharma, Senior Advocate, w ith Mr. Parv Sharma & Mr.Shfekhar Badola,Advocates, Mr. Daleep Singh Kaith, Advocate and Mr. Vikas Rajput, Advocate, for the respective petitioners in the respective petitions.

For the respondents : Mr. Pushpender Jaswal, Additional Advocate General with Mr. Gautam Sood, Mr.

Rahul Thakur and Ms.

Priyanka Chauhan, Deputy C Advocate Generals, for the respective respondents-State, in all the petitions.

Satyen Vaidya, Judge All these petitions are being decided by a common judgment as the identical question of facts and law are involved.

2. Petitioners are Laboratory Attendants in the Department of Higher Education, Government of Himachal Pradesh. Some of them are directly recruited and others have been promoted from Class-IV grade.

1 Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

Petitioners are posted in various Government Senior Secondary Schools and Government Degree Colleges throughout the State.

3. The Recruitment and Promotion Rules for the post of Laboratory Attendants, Clafss-III (Non-Gazetted) have been notified by the State Government on 03.08.2000 (for short, “2000 Rules”). The pay scale applicable to the post of Laboratory Attendant was Rs. 3120-5160. 25% of the total cadre strength is to be filled in by direct recruitment and remaining 75% by way of promotion, failing which by direct recruitment. The feeder category is amongst Class-IV Peons, Chowkidars, S