Amarjeet Chandhary, J. - (1.) THIS judgment will dispose of C.W.P. No. 8579 of 1987 and C.W.P. 5716 of 1988 as identical questions of fact and law are involved therein.
(2.) FOR the purposes of rendering judgment, facts are taken from C.W.P. No. 8579 of 1987. The Petitioner is a manager in the Bank of India in the Middle Management Grade Scale II to which he was promoted in the year 1981. The Bank has its own service regulations which envisage the procedure for promotion. Instructions issued by the Government from time to time in the matter of reservation of vacancies for the Scheduled Castes/Tribes members are followed. There were 75 vacancies to be filled up by promotion from about 742 candidates who were interviewed and considered. The Petitioner along with Scheduled Castes/Tribes candidates who were interviewed are considered. The Petitioner, however, could not get berth in the selection. The Petitioner, through this writ petition challenges the selection criteria and seeks promotion to the higher post on the plea that the Respondent -bank has not followed the Government instructions pertaining to the reservation of seats as per policy indicated in the Brochure on Reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Services.
(3.) LEARNED Counsel for the Petitioner has invited the attention of this Court to the relevant extract of Chapter 12 2 (a) of the Brochure. The second ground of attack is that the Government of India, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Ministry of Home Affairs, have issued instructions stipulating that at least one member of every Selection Committee/Interview Committee has to be a member belonging to the Scheduled Castes/Tribes. The non -inclusion of the Scheduled Castes/ Tribes member has vitiated the selection. In order to substantiate this argument the counsel for the Petitioner has relied upon a decision of the Supreme Court rendered in Civil Appeal No. 2443 of 1984 (All India Overseas Bank SC/ST Employees Welfare Association v. Union of India and others Civil Appeal No. 2443 of 1984 (S.C.), on April 30, 1985.;