KRISHAN CHAND Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) (Oral) - The, present judgment disposes of Civil Writ Petition No. 905 of 1980 and Civil Writ Petition No. 4265 of 1980. The facts of the case have been taken from the latter case.

(2.) The petitioner joined service in the erstwhile state of Punjab as Overseer on 11th. of Jan., 1992, and was confirmed with effect from Ist Nov., 1971 vide order passed in 1978. He took the A.M.I.E. examination in the year 1969 and was declared successful the following year. It is the admitted case that the post, of Overseer is a class III post. The petitioner was thereafter promoted as officiating Sub Divisional Officer, which is a class II post, on 22nd of Dec., 1978. The promotion from class III service to class II is governed by the Haryana Service of Engineers, Class II, Public Works Department (Irrigation Branch) Rules, 1970 (hereinafter called 'the rules'). Rule 6 provides that the recruitment to the service was to be made from four different sources including source 4 detailed below : <FRM>JUDGEMENT_133_LAWS(P&H)8_1992(1).html</FRM>

(3.) Although on the passing of A.M.I.E. examination in 1970, the petitioner fulfilled the eligibility requirement to be considered for promotion to the class II post on a regular basis, yet this was not done on account of the fact that the department read the rules to mean that a person was eligible for regular appointment to class II service only after he had put in five years of confirmed service in a class III post. Certain other persons aggrieved by this interpretation of the rules filed Civil Writ Petition No. 645 of 1978, which was decided on 23rd March, 1978 holding that :