- (1.) By this writ petition, the petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:- "(i) by an appropriate order or direction the schedule appended to the Rules, which makes Agriculture Supervisors, who are in Agriculture with 10 years experience, as eligible for promotion to the post of Asstt. Agriculture Officers may kindly be declared to be unconstitutional and the same may be struck down and deleted from the statute book. (ii) by a further appropriate order or direction, the seniority list dated 2.2.2006 may kindly be declared to be illegal and the same may be quashed and set-aside. (iii) by a further appropriate order or direction, the respondents may be directed to prepare separate seniority list of Agriculture Supervisors, who are B.Sc. (Ag.), M.S. (Ag.) and having higher qualifications in Agriculture and then consider them for promotion to the post of Asstt. Agriculture Officer taking into consideration this separate seniority list. (iv) by a further appropriate order or direction, the respondents may be directed to provide a separate quota for promotion to the post of Assistant Agriculture Officer for Agriculture Supervisors, who are B.Sc.(Ag.), M.Sc.(Ag.) or having the higher qualification in Agriculture. (v) by a further appropriate order or direction, the order dated 15.7.2006 may kindly be declared to be illegal and the same may be quashed and set-aside and the respondents may be directed to make promotion to the post of A.A.O. after preparing separate seniority list of Agriculture Supervisors, who are B.Sc. & M.Sc.(Ag.) etc. (vi) by a further appropriate or direction the respondents may kindly be directed to make the promotions on regular basis by holding the DPC and the action of the respondents in making the ad-hoc promotions should be declared to be illegal and the same may be quashed and set-aside."
(2.) It is submitted that the petitioners with graduate degree in Agriculture, who had joined as Agriculture Supervisors, have been discriminated, in failing to provide a separate channel to them for promotion to the post of Assistant Agriculture Officer. They have been wrongly clubbed with Supervisors, who have only Secondary(Agriculture), as qualifications.
(3.) Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners has made a vain effort to submit that amendment in the Rajasthan Agriculture Subordinate Service Rules, 1978 (for short 'the Rules'), with effect from 01.04.1991, amending the Schedule, providing for qualifications for promotion from the Agriculture Supervisors and the Village Level Workers (VLW) of Community Development & Panchayat Department with 10 years experience. He has also relied upon the averments of paragraph 4 of the additional affidavit of Shri Pramod Narain Katiyar, Deputy Director (Administration), Agriculture Department, Jaipur, dated 27.01.2007, in which he has stated as follows:- "4- That the qualification prescribed for the promotion on the post of Assistant Agriculture Officer from the post of Agriculture Supervisors are mentioned in Schedule appended with Rules, 1978. There was a provision for 50% by direct recruitment, 45% from promotion from the post of Agriculture Supervisors and 5% by promotion from VLW and the qualification prescribed under the rules for the promotion on the post of Assistant Agriculture Officer is Agriculture Supervisors must be B.Sc. e.g. with 5 years experience on the post mentioned in Column No.5 or from the post of VLW are secondary with agriculture and 10 years experience on the post mentioned in Column No.5.";