- (1.) This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been moved by the petitioners claiming therein seniority over and above respondent No. 3 on the ground that he was not entitled to regularization as per the Policy dated 01.01.198.0 (Annexure P-2) as he did not fulfill the condition of two years of minimum period of service on a Class-III post, on which he has been regularized.
(2.) It is the submission of the petitioners that petitioner No. 1 was initially appointed as Instructor on 23.10.1975 and petitioner No. 2 on 13.10.1975. They continued as such and through the regular process of selection, petitioner No. 1 and petitioner No. 2 were selected by the Subordinate Services Selection Board, Haryana in an interview, which was held in the month of November, 1980. Respondent No. 3, qua whom the petitioners claim seniority over and above, was appointed as an Instructor on 15.10.1975. He was appointed on ad hoc basis as a Group Instructor on 04.04.1978 and he continued as such. It is the submission of the petitioners that respondent No. 3 also participated in the selection process for appointment to the post of Group Instructor on regular basis and participated in the interview along with the petitioners in the month of November, 1980. Petitioners No. 1 and 2 were selected on the said post, however, respondent No. 3 could not make the grade and was thus not selected. It is the further submissions of the petitioners that respondent No. 3 made a request for regularizing his services on the post of Group Instructor to the respondents but his request was turned down and was duly conveyed to him by the then Director, Industrial Training Department, Haryana vide his letter dated 17.12.1980. It would not be out of way to mention here that the Director, Industrial Training Department, Haryana, is the appointing authority of the petitioners as well as respondent No. 3. It is on this basis that the petitioners submit that petitioner No. 1, who joined on regular basis on 31.03.1981 and petitioner No. 2, who joined on regular basis on 08.07.1981 as Group Instructors would be senior to respondent No. 3 in the light of the fact that his request for regularization has been rejected by the respondents on 17.12.1980 and subsequently when he was regularized he did not fulfil the requirement of the policy under which his services were regularized.
(3.) However, counsel for respondent No. 3 has submitted that there was a Policy decision taken by the Government of Haryana, which is dated 01.01.1980. According to this Policy decision, such Class-III posts as were held by the employees for a minimum period of two years on 31.12.1979 on ad hoc basis were taken out from the perview of the Subordinate Services Selection Board on which such employees were required to be regularized, who fulfil the conditions prescribed in the said Policy. According to him, respondent No. 3 fulfilled the requirement of the Policy and, therefore, he was, in accordance with the Policy, regularized as Group instructor w.e.f. 01.01.1980. His services having been regularized from 01.01.1980 as Group Instructor, he would, therefore, rank senior to petitioners No. 1 and 2 as they were appointed on regular basis after the said date and as a matter of fact, petitioner No. 1 was appointed on 31.03.1981 and petitioner No. 2 was appointed on 08.07.1981.;