JUDGMENT

Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J

Civil Appeals @ SLP (C)Nos 30797-30798/2017:

1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise from a judgment of a Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir dated 12 October 2017. While allowing the Letters Patent Appeal, the High Court set aside a judgment of a learned Single Judge and, in consequence, directed that the writ petitions shall stand dismissed.

3. By a Government Order dated 4 December 1996, 23,297 posts were created in various departments of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. 5,330 fresh posts were created in the Power Development Department, including among them 3,675 posts of Technician-III and 200 posts of Junior Engineer. The qualification for the post of Technician-III was “Matric with ITI”. The qualification for the post of Junior Engineer, which ranks higher in the hierarchy of posts, was a B E (electrical) / diploma (electrical).

4. On 23 February 2013, an advertisement was issued by the J & K State Service Selection Board (SSSB) for filling up the posts of Technician-III in the Power Development Department for various districts including Budgam, Srinagar and Ganderbal. Note 3 of the advertisement contained the followi