Narendra Nath Tiwari, J. - (1.) In this writ application the petitioner has prayed for quashing of the order dated 27.6.1996, issued by the Civil Surgeon-cum-Chief Medical Officer, Lohardaga, whereby he has been reverted to the post of Vaccinator from the post of Computator (Sanganak). The grievance of the petitioner is wholly illegal, without jurisdiction and is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the said order has been passed in utter violation of the principles of natural justice, inasmuch as, the impugned order is non-speaking and cryptic and is not supported by any valid reason.
(2.) The petitioner's case is that he was appointed on the post of Vaccinator on 3.3.1973 and was posted at Ranchi. Annexure-1 to the writ application is the letter of appointment. It was stated that the said appointment was in accordance with law and all the prescribed procedures had been followed including holding of interview and preparation of selection list. According to the petitioner Lohardaga district separated from the district of Ranchi district in the year 1981-82 and the petitioner's services were placed in Lohardaga district as at the relevant time the petitioner was working within the territorial jurisdiction of Lohardaga district. According to him, after continuous working for more than 15 years, the proposal of his promotion was placed before the District Establishment Committee along with several other candidates and in view of their eligibility and long service, the Establishment Committee approved the petitioner's promotion along with others to the post of Computator which carried the pay scale of Rs. 580-860. The promotion order dated 30.10.1989 was issued under the signature of the respondent No. 2 which has been annexed as Annexure-2 to the writ application. The petitioner since thereafter had been working on the said post of Computator (Sanganak) in the promoted scale. According to him all of a sudden the said promotion was cancelled for the reasons unknown to the petitioner as no reason whatsoever was assigned in the said order of cancellation dated 10.6.1994 issued by the respondent No. 2, which is annexure-3 to the writ application. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the said order was passed without giving him any notice and without any hearing. The petitioner challenged the said order before the Patna High Court (Ranchi Bench), as then was, in C.W.J.C. No. 1888/1994(R). In the said writ application a counter affidavit was filed by the respondents. After considering the cases of the parties and after hearing them the said writ application was allowed and the matter was remitted back to the respondents to pass a fresh order in accordance with law. The impugned order (Annexure-5), has been passed thereafter which is under challenge in this writ application. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has submitted that on bare perusal of the said order as contained in Annexure-5 it is evident that again a cryptic and non-speaking order has been passed by the respondent No. 2 and no reason whatsoever has been assigned in support of the said order of reversion of the petitioner. Further, the said order has been issued passed by the Civil Surgeon-cum-Chief Medical Officer, Lohardaga without any approval of the District Establishment Committee. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the said impugned order is thus wholly illegal and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and liable to be quashed by this Court.
(3.) Mr. Singh, learned Standing Counsel No. 1 appearing on behalf of the respondents, has supported Annexure-5 submitting that the said Annexure-5 has been passed after due consideration of the petitioner's claim and the sane is in due compliance of the order dated 12.4.94 passed in C.W.J.C. No. 1888/94(R). According to the learned counsel for the respondents the order of promotion itself was not in accordance with law and as such no notice was required to be served. neither any hearing was required before passing the said order. According to the learned counsel neither there is violation of principles of natural justice nor there is any other illegality in the said order as contained in Annexure-5. He further submitted that the writ application is not maintainable and the same is liable to be dismissed. A counter affidavit has also been filed on behalf of the respondent No. 2 wherein it has been stated that the promotion of the petitioner to the post of Computator was illegal and against the guidelines issued by the Health Department according to which the petitioner was only entitled for the post of Superior/Field Worker/Surveillance Worker. It was further stated in the counter affidavit that the petitioner was illegally adjusted to the post of Computator and as such the said order was rightly cancelled. It was contended that the impugned order does not suffer from any infirmity and there is no violation of principles of natural justice as the petitioner was given notice and he had also filed show cause reply and the order of reversion was passed thereafter.;