S. B. Sinha, J. - (1.) This writ petition is directed against a judgment and order dated 2-3-2000 passed by a Bench of Central Ad- ministrative Tribunal, Calcutta Bench in O.A. No. 174/1999 whereby and whereunder the appellants' application had been dis- missed.
(2.) The petitioners are members of all India services. They were appointed as preventive officers in the Customs Department.
(3.) Their next promotional post is either Superintendent or Appraisers. Admittedly, the petitioners' services were governed by Recruitment Rules of 1961, Rule 4(c) whereof reads thus : "The percentage of posts to be filled by direct recruitment, by competitive examination or by selection otherwise than by competitive examination, shall not be less than 50% of the total cadre of Appraisers. The remaining posts may be filled up by any other method mentioned in Rule 3.";