I.S. Tiwana, J. - (1.) (Oral) - The two petitioners in C.W.P. No. 4632 and 4328 of 1979, who claim to have been appointed to the Punjab Forest Service Class II, vide order dated April 29, 1976 (Annexure P. 1), contend that though the private respondents in these petitions have never been appointed to Class II Service, yet are being made to man the posts meant for I.F.S. cadre in spite of the fact that they (private respondents) are junior to them (petitioners). This, according to the petitioners, is being done in spite of the fact that in the seniority list Annexure P. 3, these respondents have been shown junior to them. On behalf of the respondent authorities it is maintained that Annexure P. 3 is not the seniority list and as a matter of fact no seniority list of Class II Service has been finalised so far and Annexure P. 3 is only a Quarterly Gradation List. In addition to this plea the private respondents even seek to contend that as a matter of fact the petitioners themselves have not been appointed to P.F.S. Class II and, therefore, there is no question of their (petitioners) being senior to them (private respondents). In support of the latter mentioned stand, Mr. T. L. Gupta, learned Senior Advocate for these respondents places firm reliance in Gurdev Singh Brar Vs. The State of Punjab and others, 1981 (1) S.L R. 328 wherein the appointment of the petitioners to P.F.S. Class II was adjudicated upon and it was held that they (present petitioners) have not been appointed to Class II Service as the said service only consists of 16 permanent posts. So was even the plea taken by the petitioners in that case.
(2.) In the light of the above, when there is no material on record to show that the petitioners were members of Class II Service and no seniority list has been prepared or finalised in accordance with the rules, I refrain from expressing myself on the merits of the case and am of the opinion that the following direction would squarely meet the ends of justice in these cases:- (i) The respondent authorities are directed to finalise the seniority list of members of P.F.S. Class II if not already finalised, within a period of four months from today ; and (ii) to start acting on the basis of that list to be prepared or already prepared in accordance with law. I, however, pass no order as to costs. Order accordingly.;