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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Letters Patent Appeal No.519 of 2023 In CIVIL REVIEW No.21 of 2020 ======================================================
1. Kumar Gaurav Singh, Son of Kaushal Kishore Singh Resident of Village-
Sahjahanpur, Police Station Sahjahanpur, District Patna, Roll No. 21506672.
2. Arvind Kumar, Son of Gulshan Rai, Resident of Village- Panchbhiriya, Police Station Garkha, District Saran at Chapra, Roll No. 21508143.
3. Surya Prakash Nirala, Son of Dinesh Prasad Resident of Village-
Abdalpur,Police Station Warisaliganj, District Nawada, Roll No. 21502278.
4. Vikash Kumar, Son of Umesh Prasad Resident of Raxaul, Police Station Raxaul, District East Champaran, Roll No. 21510979.
5. Abhinandan Kumar, Son of Shambhu Prasad Resident of Village Mathiyan, Police Station Lauriya, District West Champaran, Roll No. 21503774.
6. Rajnikant Saxena, S/o Saroj Kumar R/o Village-Gaurav Nagar, P.S.-
Parwalpur, District-Nalanda, Roll No. 21505864.
7. Sanjeev Kumar, Son of Raj Kumar Sah Resident of Village Maniyarpur, Police Station Barish Nagar, District Samastipur, Roll No. 21500802.
8. Rakesh Kumar Singh, Son of Late Rajendra Prasad, Resident of Village-
Navtoila, Jamalpur Road, Police Station-Kashim Bazar, Dist-Munger, Roll No.-21511817.
9. Shyam Babu Kumar, Son of Rajendra Prasad, Resident of Village-
Mushasniya, Police Station-Sonwarsha, Dist-Sitamarhi, Roll No-21511662.
10. Nitish Kumar, Son of Gyan Chand Bhagat, Resident of Village-Parwata, Police Station-Parwata, Dist-Khagariya, Roll No-2150914.
11. Sudhir Kumar, Son of Sadhusharan Prasad, Resident of Village-Samabad, P.S.-Rahui, District-Nalanda, Roll No. 21510431.
... ... Appellant/s Versus
1. The Bihar Staff Selection Commission Patna through its Secretary.
2. The Chairman of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission, Patna. 3. The Secretary of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission, Patna.
4. Shashi Bhushan Singh, Son of Shyam Mohan Singh Resident of Village-
Sakari, Police Station- Kudra, District- Kaimur at Bhabhua, Roll No.-
21514540.
5. Santosh Kumar, Son of Krishnadeo Prasad Resident of Village- Pansalwa, Police Station- Beldour, District- Khagaria, Roll No.- 21511091.
6. Chandra Kishore Kumar, Son of Suresh Mehta Resident of Village- Depura, Police Station- Gwalpara, District- Madhepura, Roll No.- 21514166.
7. Vijai Shankar Kumar, Son of Shiv Nath Yadav Resident of Village-
Telkathu, Police Station- M.H. Nagar, Hasanpura, District- Siwan, Roll No.-
21511298.
8. The State of Bihar.
9. The Director, Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
10. The Director (Administration)- Cum- Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Patna.
11. The Agriculture Production Commissioner, Bihar, Patna.
... ... Respondent/s ======================================================
with Letters Patent Appeal No. 520 of 2023 In CIVIL REVIEW No.19 of 2020 ======================================================
1. Navnit Kumar, Son of Late Bhagwat Prasad Resident of Village- Ratanpura, Police Station- Ishlampur, District- Nalanda, Roll No. 21508391.
2. Chandan Kumar Son of Hiralal Prasad Resident of Mohalla- Pusa Bazar, Pusa, Police Station- Pusa, District Samastipur, 21504788.
3. Suresh Kumar Son of Ganesh Singh Resident of Village- Bhup Bhairo,Police Station- Sitamarhi, District- Sitamarhi, Roll No. 21503865.
4. Vijay Kumar Son of Asharphi Ray, Resident of Vill-Khapura, Post and Police Station-Khanpur Pakri, Dist-Vaishali, Roll No. 21511011.
5. Bipin Kumar Son of Mathura Prasad Resident of Village- Khakhra, Police Station- Sheikhpura, District- Sheikhpura, Roll No. 21512292.
6. Lalan Kumar Son of Mundrika Prasad Yadav Resident of at Jainagar Bari Kawaiga, Police Station- Lakhisarai, District-Lakhisarai, Roll No.21504710.
7. Shashi Bhushan Kumar Son of Madhav Prasad Yadav Resident of Village-
Rahi Jagatpur, Police Station- Laxmipur Lalchand, District- Madhepura, Roll No. 21502683.
8. Ravindar Kumar Son of Vakil Singh, Resident of Village-Rajpur, Police Station-Rajpur, Dist-Rohtas, Roll No.-21505435.
9. Sanjay Kumar Son of Late Shyam Kishor Singh Resident of Village-
Mahathin Tola, Post and Police Station-Baligirwn, District Bhojpur, Roll No. 21504660
10. Nandan Singh Son of Jawahar Singh Resident of Village- Jamuraha, Police Station- Ramgarh, District Kaimur , Roll No. 21502502.
11. Deepak Kumar Son of Sushil Kumar Yadav Resident of Village- Kushaha ,P.O. Kamaldaha, P.S. Kishanpur, District Supaul, Roll No. 21506290
12. Anshu Kumar Anand Son of Shiv Narayan Singh Resident of Village-
Ratanpur, Police Station- Bariarpur, District Munger, Roll No. 21503758.
13. Kumar Birendra Singh Son of Naval Kishore Singh Resident of Village-
Sherpur, P.O. Nehusa, Police Station- Harnaut, District Nalanda, Roll No.21508055.
14. Umesh Prasad Singh Son of Late Bhagwat Singh Resident of Village-
Bishunpur Bedauliya, Police Station- Jandaha, District - Vaishali , Roll No.21509314.
15. Dhananjay Kumar Yadav Son of Suresh Yadav, Resident of Azad Nagar, Road No. 3, Police Station- Kankarbagh, District Patna, Roll No. 21510343.
... ... Appellant/s Versus
1. The Bihar Staff Selection Commission Patna through its Secretary.
2. The Chairman of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission Patna. 3. The Secretary of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission Patna.
4. Hans Raj Hans, Son of Ramsevak Singh, Resident of Village- Somnaha Math, Police Station- Pusa, District- Samastipur, Roll No. 21513082
5. Manoj Kumar Son of Ram Badan Chaudhary Resident of Village Gamhariyan, Police Station- Nokha, District-Rohtas, Roll No. 21512974.
6. Amit Kumar, Son of Ashok Kumar Chakarwarti Resident of Village Ramdiha, Police Station- Rahui, District Nalanda, Roll No. 21510622
7. Manoj Kumar Akela, Son of Rajendra Prasad Akela Resident of Village Nanand, Police Station- Silaw, District Nalanda, Roll No. 21509910.
8. Abhishek Prasad, Son of Pradeep Kumar Sah Resident of Village- Hafla Ganj, P.O. P.S. Sirnea, District Katihar, Roll No. 21504108
9. Amit Kumar, Son of Late Bharat Bhushan Prasad Resident of Village Jalalpur, Police station- Sohsarai, District Nalanda, Roll No. 21500334.
10. Anand Kumar Son of Ram Badan Prasad Resident of Central Revenue Colony, Type-III, Q.No. 49, Police Station- Digha, District Patna, Roll No.
21513795
11. Bipu Kumar Prasad, Son of Harhangi Prasad Resident of Village Tiwari Chapra, P.O. P.S. Bhathwa.. District Gopalganj, Roll No. 21500029
12. Swran Kiran Kumar, Son of Nawal Kishor Prasad Resident of Village Kewal Bigha, Ghangh. P.O. P.S. Saistapur, District Patna, Roll No. 21501110
13. Ravi Kumar, Son of Shankar Lal Sah Resident at Durga Asthan Kasba, Police Station- Kasba, District - Purnea, Roll No. 21502813.
14. Nishant Kumar, Son of Mathura Prasad Keshri Resident of Village Madhubani Bazar, Prema Electrical, Police Station- K.Hatt, District-Purnea, East Roll No. 21510378
15. Suresh Giri Son of Late Bindeshwari Giri Resident of Village- Khushara, Police Station- Kalyanpur, District- East Champaran, Roll No. 21510495
16. Chandra Shekhar Kumar Son of Bhikhari Mahto Resident of Village Rajwara Birta, P.O. Mushamia, Via Sonbarsa, P.S. Musharnia, District Sitamarhi
17. The State of Bihar Through the Director, Agriculture, Bihar, Patna. 18. The Director, Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
19. The Director (Administration)- Cum- Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Patna.
20. The Agriculture Production Commissioner, Bihar, Patna.
... ... Respondent/s ======================================================
Appearance :
(In Letters Patent Appeal No. 519 of 2023)
For the Appellant/s : Mr. Mrigank Mauli, Sr. Advocate Mr.Prince Kumar Mishra, Advocate For the State : Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13 For the BSSC : Mr. Satyabir Bharti, Advocate Mr. Abhishek Anand, Advocate Ms. Kanupriya, Advocate Ms. Sushmita Sharma, Advocate (In Letters Patent Appeal No. 520 of 2023)
For the Appellant/s : Mr. Mrigank Mauli, Sr. Advocate Mr.Prince Kumar Mishra, Advocate For the State : Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13 For the BSSC : Mr. Satyabir Bharti, Advocate Mr. Abhishek Anand, Advocate Ms. Kanupriya, Advocate Ms. Sushmita Sharma, Advocate ======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY
CAV JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)
Date : 12-01-2024 The tricky question of reservation and the mandate to confine it to 50%; so as to not compromise merit is the subject matter agitated herein. The application of the principle, on the facts of the case resulted in meritorious reserved candidates (for brevity, ‘the MRC’) being given their choice districts; enabled only by reason of their higher merit, leading to ouster of reserved candidates to accommodate the meritorious general candidates in the resultant vacancies.
2. Two line of decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, one in the matter of recruitment in public employment and the other in the matter of admissions to academic institutions were relied on by the appellant and the respondents respectively, to support their rival contentions. The appellant, the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (for brevity, ‘the BSSC’) asserts the distinction insofar as admission to academic institutions and appointment to service; while the respondents- the candidates from the reserved category, who were ousted from the select list by reason of ‘the MRC’ candidates having occupied reservation posts, assert that the principle applied in admission to academic institutions squarely applies here though it is an appointment to public service.
3. The two separate line of decisions relied on by both parties are Ritesh R. Sah v. Y.L. Yamul (Dr), (1996) 3 SCC 253, Tripurari Sharan v. Ranjit Kumar Yadav, (2018) 2 SCC 656, Dega Venkata Harsha Vardhan v. Akula Ventaka Harshavardhan, (2019) 12 SCC 735 which relate to admission to academic institutions and Union of India v. Ramesh Ram, (2010) 7 SCC 234, a Constitution Bench decision followed by Alok Kumar Pandit v. State of Assam, (2012) 13 SCC 516, with respect to appointment to civil services.
4. In the writ petition filed by the 93 ousted candidates, the petitioners brought on record a letter written by the Director of Agriculture addressed to the Secretary of ‘the BSSC’ seeking recommendation of the 93 candidates for district wise allotment and consequential appointment. This was based on a letter of the General Administration Department, (for brevity, ‘the GAD’) which found that when ‘the MRC’ candidates are adjusted to their optional districts, the resultant vacancy should be given to the reserved candidate who would have got the post to which ‘the MRC’ candidate is appointed, which was the practice employed in medical education. The agricultural department was chastised for taking a different path and was directed to follow the same principle. The learned Single Judge noticed this communication; which appeared to have redressed the grievances of the petitioners and directed the recommendations to be made to the vacant posts. An appeal was filed from the judgment in the writ petition, in which there was a direction to file a review if necessary.
5. Based on a legal opinion from the office of the learned Advocate General, ‘the GAD’ changed its stance, by reason of which ‘the BSSC’ filed a review, leading to the impugned order in the Civil Review cases. The review sought was on the ground that when a MRC candidate is recommended to the unreserved category by virtue of his overall merit, but has exercised an option for getting a choice post or posting, based on the merit within the reserved category candidates, then the reservation vacancy has to be adjusted on the basis of the choice made, conceding the resultant vacancy to general merit. Thus, on an option exercised by a MRC candidate, if he is moved to a choice posting, set apart for the reserved category, then such reservation post is occupied by ‘the MRC’ candidate. However, if such an option is not exercised by ‘the MRC’ candidate and he is posted on the basis of his merit alone, then a reserved category candidate with a lesser merit would be entitled to occupy the reservation post. This would also be in consonance with the mandate of reservation at one time not exceeding 50% as laid down
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