- (1.) Petitioners have approached this Court with a prayer for issuance of a writ of certiorari for quashing the instructions dated 16.03.2006 (Annexure P-8), vide which the State of Haryana has granted accelerated seniority' to the scheduled caste category employees in violation of Article 16 of the Constitution of India and the law as laid down by the Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj vs. Union of India, 2006 8 SCC 212. Prayer has also been made for quashing the orders dated 16.09.2010 (Annexure P-5) and 17.09.2010 (Annexure P-6), vide which the claim of the petitioners for stepping up of their pay at par with their junior scheduled caste category employee Sh. Amar Singh stands rejected.
(2.) Petitioners are general category employees and were appointed, after clearing the departmental test, as Sub-Divisional Clerks before Sh. Amar Singh, a scheduled caste category employee. Since Sh. Amar Singh belongs to the scheduled caste, he was promoted as Accounts Clerk on 01.02.1982 as per the roster point granting him the benefit of reservation whereas the petitioners, who were senior to him in the feeder cadre of Sub-Divisional Clerk, were promoted as Accounts Clerk after 16.03.2006 on various dates.
(3.) It was settled by the Supreme Court in the case of Ajit Singh Janjua and others vs. State of Punjab and others, 1999 7 JT 153 vide its judgment dated 16.09.1999 that though a reserved category employee can be promoted on a higher post on the basis of reservation (roster point) but whenever a senior general category employee will be promoted to the higher post to which the reserved category candidate stands promoted, the general category employee on such promotion shall be declared senior to the reserved category employee on that particular post and will be granted the benefit accordingly. On the basis of this judgment of the Supreme Court, Government of Haryana issued instructions dated 14.10.1999 explaining therein that no employee belonging to the reserved category of scheduled caste or backward class shall be allowed the benefit of accelerated seniority over his/her senior belonging to the general category from the feeder service under the policy of reservation.;