S.B. Sinha, J. - (1.) These three appeals arising from a common judgment and order dated 22.9.1999 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P. No. 11404 (W) of 1997, W.P. No. 8437 (W) of 1997, W.P. No. 8768 of 1997 and W.P. No. 18544 (W) of 1998 depict a sordid state of affairs prevailing in matter of grant of employment in one of the largest Public Sector Undertakings of India.
(2.) The factual matrix of the case is as follows:- On 14th January, 1993, the Alloy Steel Plant (A.S.P. for short) which is a Unit of the appellant herein notified vacancies in the posts of unskilled labourers to the Regional Employment Officer, Durgapur in terms of the provisions of the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies), Act, 1959, pursuant whereto the names of the petitioners were sponsored. Such appointments were to be made in terms of the Recruitment Rules relevant provisions whereof, inter alia, are:- "Recruitment : All recruitments from outside are made out of candidates sponsored by the Employment Exchange. When suitable candidates from Employment Exchange are not available the posts are advertised in Newspapers. Recruitment is made by means of open competitioin by a test (written examination or practical test) or by interview or both. Selection Board : Selection Board consists of at least one member each from Personnel Department, one from the department in which the vacancy occurs and from another department(s). A representative of State Government is also associated in the Selection Board. Selected candidates are placed in a panel. The panel is subject to approval of the competent authority. Appointment : Appointments should be made in the order in which names appear in the panel approved by the appointment authority. The offer of appointment should be in the prescribed form. The appointment offers will be issued after receipt of satisfactory report from Vigilance Department. Age : On first appointment every candidate should declare the date of birth by Christian era, with confirmatory documentary evidence. Recruitment Procedure : When a particular post cannot be filled up through normal promotion channel, vacancies are notified for recruitment action. As a first step towards recruitment, inter-departmental circular is issued giving the specification for the post to be filled up inviting applications from the candidates who fulfil the specification. Selection is then made on the result of the interview as well as the trade test, if so stipulated. Panel : Where the number of candidates selected are more than the number of vacancies, a panel is generally formed and is kept valid for 6 months initially. This panel is reviewed after 6 months and is generally operated unless in the meantime, the posts have been graded or specifications have been changed."
(3.) The petitioners were called for interview on 24th March, 1993 whereafter a select list of 11 candidates were prepared out of 214 candidates sponsored by the Employment Exchange. Subsequently another select list of 20 candidates was prepared on 29th September, 1993 for which 419 candidates were interviewed. However, no intimation was sent to the candidates concerned about the result of the selection process. They filed the writ application on 9th May, 1997 whereafter some appointments had been made by the appellant herein from 10th to 12th May, 1997. Prior thereto, an intimation had been sent only in the year 1994 to the Employment Exchange Officer but the names of the writ petitioners had not been returned, which was done only by letter dated 17.8.1997.;