M.C.JAIN, J. - (1.) THESE two writ petition involve a common question as to the constitutionality of the explanation appended to Sub -sections (4) and (5) of Section 11 of the Rajasthan Universities' Teachers and Officers (Selection for Appointment) Act, 1984 (for short 'the Act').
(2.) I may state a few relevant facts of both cases. In S.B.Civil Writ petition No. 482/85 the petitioner was appointed Lecturer in Chemistry as a result of direct recruitment after direct selection. He was called for interview on August 24, 1968, and his name was recommended by the Selection Committee which was accepted by the Syndicate vide resolution No. 6 dated September 14, 1968. In the order of merit he was at No. 1. Annexure 2 is the report of the Selection Committee which shows that 11 names were recommended in the order of merit. Non -petitioners Nos. 3 to 8 were below the rank of the petitioner. Non -petitioner No. 3 Dr. A.M. Bhandari was at No. 7, non -petitioner No. 4 Dr. B.S. Sankhla was at No. 2, non -petitioner No. 5 Dr. R.K. Chauhan was at No. 4, non -petitioner No. 6 Dr. B.K. Tak was at No. 5, non -petitioner No. 7 Dr. O.P. Kachhawaha was at No. 6 and non -petitioner No. 8. Dr. K.C.K. Mathur was at No. 9. The Syndicate of the University also adopted the rule of seniority vide its resolution dated January 7, 1984 according to which seniority of persons appointed as a result of one and the same selection by open recruitment shall be in accordance with the merit determined by the Selection Committee irrespective of the date of joining. It is an admitted case of both the parties that in order to provide promotional opportunities to deserving teachers, the University introduced personal promotion scheme by creating ex -cadre posts. That Scheme was introduced in the year 1978. The scheme was not statutory in character and was challenged before this Court but the same was upheld though the challenge was on some other grounds different from the ground on which the statutory scheme is now under challenge in these writ petitions. The statutory character was given to the scheme by embodying it in Section 11 of the Act. In connection with the implementation of the scheme under Section 11, eligibility lists were notified from time to time. In the case of Dr. Anil Kumar Mathur, the eligibility list Ann. 8 was notified on February 11, 1985 in which the petitioner was shown at No. 28 on the basis of his date of joining on October 28, 1968. Non -petitioners Nos. 3 to 8 were shown above the petitioner and their names appear from No. 22 to 27 in the list Ann. 8. The eligibility list has been published on the basis of date of joining of respondents Nos. 3 to 8. They joined earlier to the petitioner. Except Dr. A.M. Bhandari, who joined on September 3, 1966 after first regular selection the non -petitioners joined on one and the same date, i.e. on September 26, 1968. According to the letter of appointment the petitioner was required to join before 1st November, 1968 and he joined on 28 -10 -1968. The eligibility list has been prepared on the basis of continuous service whether before selection or after regular selection. The petitioner has also produced another notification dated February 14, 1985 Ann. 9 but that notification is not very material so far as the present case is concerned.
(3.) IN the Writ Petition No. 362/1985 the petitioner Kailash Chandra Arora was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Structural Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering as a result of Selection Committee. In all, the Selection Committee recommended five names. The petitioner was shown at No. 2 whereas non -petitioner No. 3 was shown at No. 3 in order of merit. All along the petitioner was shown as senior to non -petitioner No. 3 as would be evident from Ex. 5. In connection with personal promotion from Lecturers to Readers, the petitioner's name was shown in the eligibility list Ex. 7 at No. 6 whereas the name of non -petitioner No. 3 was shown at No. 5, above the petitioner on the basis of date of joining. The petitioner joined on December 16, 1966 whereas non -petitioner No. 3. joined on 8 -12 -1965 before regular selection. In the final notification dated 11 -2 -1985 Ex. 10 after hearing the petitioner the same position was maintained and the non -petitioner No. 3 was shown above the petitioner.;