Ashwani Kumar Mishra - (1.) This writ petition arises out of a seniority dispute in the cadre of Junior Engineer, Department of Minor Irrigation, State of Uttar Pradesh. An order dated 5th March, 2010, passed by the Chief Engineer (Minor Irrigation), U.P. Lucknow, rejecting petitioner's objection against the tentative seniority list is assailed in addition to the final seniority list drawn for the cadre. A further prayer is made to command the respondents to prepare and publish a revised seniority list in conformity with the U.P. Government Servant Seniority Rules, 1991 (hereinafter referred to as "the Seniority Rules of 1991"), within a period to be specified by the Court.
(2.) Undisputed facts that emerge on record are that U.P. Public Service Commission initiated recruitment exercise vide Advertisement No. 3 of 1998-99 for appointment to the post of Junior Engineer (Agriculture, Civil & Mechanical) in the Department of Minor Irrigation, PWD & Irrigation. The advertisement contained a stipulation that a screening test would be conducted in accordance with the provisions of U.P. Direct Recruitment through Public Service Commission (Preliminary Examination) Rules, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as "the Rules of 1986"). Selection was to be made on the basis of screening test to be followed by Interview. The preliminary examination consisted of two papers. The first paper was to be of 40 marks towards General Knowledge while the second paper consisted of 60 marks in the respective stream i.e. Agriculture, Civil and Mechanical Engineering. By virtue of Rule 3(3) of the Rules of 1986 the marks obtained in the preliminary examination were not to be counted for determining the final order of merit. The appointment itself was to be made in accordance with government orders issued from time to time. All posts in the cadre of Junior Engineer were to be filled by direct recruitment. The cadre of Junior Engineer (Minor Irrigation) is a composite cadre inclusive of the three streams i.e. Agriculture, Civil & Mechanical. A Government Order dated 31st March, 1993 had been issued as per which the quota for three streams in the cadre of Junior Engineer were to be in the ratio of 50:30:20 for Agriculture Engineering, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering respectively.
(3.) The process of recruitment was ultimately concluded by the Commission and three separate select lists were sent to the State Government on different dates. The first list in that regard was sent by the Commission on 28th September 1999 for Agriculture Stream while the next list was sent on 6.1.2000 for Mechanical Stream and the last list was sent on 7.11.2000 for Junior Engineer (Civil). Based upon the three select lists sent by the Public Service Commission, appointment letters were issued to Junior Engineers in the three streams. Petitioners before this Court are the Junior Engineers belonging to Civil Stream. A composite seniority list was required to be drawn in respect of the cadre of Junior Engineer in the Department of Minor Irrigation. An exercise in that regard commenced sometime in the year 2005. A tentative seniority list was prepared to which objections were invited. Ultimately, the seniority list was finalized on 5th September, 2006. It contained a specific assertion in the last paragraph to the effect that seniority of Junior Engineers in the cadre is based upon merit. The relevant extract contained in seniority list, in that regard, is reproduced hereinafter:- img1;