- (1.) Swaran Singh, Mehal Singh Dhillon and Jasjit Singh Samundri who remained unsuccessful before a Single Bench of this Court have assailed the legality of the order dated December 6, 1984, passed by a learned Single Judge in Civil Writ Petition No. 3395 of 1983, and have prayed that the order passed by the learned Single Judge be be set aside.
(2.) Brief facts of this case are as under: Recruitment to the Punjab State Forest Service Class II posts used to be made in accordance with the provisions of the Punjab Forest Service, Class II, Rules, 1941 (for short the Rules). Rule 4(b) of the Rules specifies two sources of recruitment, namely, by direct recruitment by promotion from amongst Forest Rangers. Rule 10 deals with seniority of the members of service. Direct recruitment to the service was made by appointment of S/Shri Varindra Mohindra and Gurmeet Singh. In the year 1972, the Government of Punjab decided to fill two posts by direct recruitment. Requisition was sent to the Public Service Commission and on its recommendations S/Shri K.K. Modgil and Rajinder Singh were deputed for two years training at the Northern Forest Rangers College, Dehradun. Before this recruitment was made, S/Shri Gurdial Singh, Jaswant Singh Dayal, Amarjit Singh, Bishan Chand, Attar Singh and Niranjan Singh were occupying the post in the service by virtue of their promotion from the post of Forest Rangers. In the year 1973, S/Shri Bhag Singh, Ram Singh, Gurdip Singh, Rattan Chand and Tarsem Singh Sahota, who were at that time holding the post of Forest Rangers, were promoted to Class II posts of state service with a condition that they were liable to be reverted as Forest Rangers on the availability of the candidates selected by direct recruitment. After the recruitment of 1972, the Government of PUnjab once again sent requisition to the Punjab Public service Commission and units recommendations three petitioners were selected for being deputed for training at Dehradun. On successful completion of training, they were appointed to the service on probation w.e.f. March 19, 1976. After completion of the period of probation, the petitioners became entitled to be treated as confirmed.
(3.) When respondents No. 4 to 7 were posted as Divisional Forest Officers in preference to the petitioners, Swaran Singh, petitioner No. 1, filed Civil Writ Petition No. 4328 of 1979 claiming that he had preferential claim for posting as Divisional Forest Officer. Subsequently, petitioner Swaran Singh and two others filed Civil Writ Petition No. 3395 of 1983 and prayed for issue of a direction to respondents No. 1 to 3 not to regularise the service of respondents No. 4 to 7 in Punjab Forest Service Class II Posts or to confirm them in the said service and not to promote them to the Indian Forest Service. They also prayed for issue of a direction to respondents No. 1 to 3 to consider them for promotion to the Indian Forest Service, petitioners pleaded that respondents No. 4 to 7 had been given promotion far in excess of the quota specified in rule 4(b) and, therefore, these respondents had no legal right to be treated as seniors to the petitioners and their services could not have been regularised in violation of the quota rules.;