- (1.) Petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha in W.P.S. No. 5589 of 2013 was an applicant under the 2nd / 3rd /4th Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013. He has sought direction upon the respondents to recommend his name for appointment as Deputy Collector on the vacant post on which the respondent no. 5 Navin Kumar Sharma was subsequently recommended but not appointed. The present petitioner was initially recommended against the vacancy for 4th Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013, which was withdrawn by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (J.P.S.C) in order to recommend the name of private respondent no.5, Navin Kumar Sharma. The said Navin Kumar Sharma is the writ petitioner in W.P.S. No. 729 of 2014, who seeks a writ of mandamus to appoint him on the post of Deputy Collector under the advertisement no. 9/2010 issued by the J.P.S.C in the General Category in relation to the 4th Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013. He also sought quashing of the letter no.3321 dated 7.4.2014 issued by the Joint Secretary, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha Department, Government of Jharkhand where under his representation for consideration of his claim for appointment on the post of Deputy Collector has been rejected on the ground of his resignation on 15.2.2011 as he had lost his lien.
(2.) It transpires upon hearing learned counsel for the parties in both the writ petitions that petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha was initially recommended on the basis of his experience and marks secured against the vacancy existing under the 4th Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013. The respondent- Department however made a reference to the J.P.S.C relating to his recommendation and also for consideration of the claim of the petitioner, Navin Kumar Sharma. It was found that petitioner, Navin Kumar Sharma was eligible only in the 4th Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013 and had higher marks than the petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha but had wrongly been recommended in the 2nd Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013, though he was not fulfilling the requisite experience of 5 years in terms of the advertisement issued for the 2nd Limited Deputy Collector Recruitment Examination, 2013. On withdrawal of the recommendation made in favour of petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha, the name of petitioner, Navin Kumar Sharma was recommended. The respondentDepartment however during the course of scrutiny did not find the petitioner, Navin Kumar Sharma eligible as he had already left the service by tendering his resignation on 15.2.2011 from the post of Clerk in the District Collectoriate, Garhwa. His representation made to the Personnel Department was rejected by the order dated 7.4.2014, sought to be impugned by way of I.A. No. 4073 of 2014 during the pendency of the writ petition.
(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha submits that the advertisement and the Bihar Administrative Service (Recruitment through Limited Competitive Examination) Rules, 1991 do stipulate that an employee serving under the State Government could only be eligible for being appointed as a Deputy Collector pursuant to the recruitment exercise held under the 1991 Rules in any advertisement notified there under. Reference has been made to Rule 1, 2(ga)(cha)(anga) and Rule 4 for the said purpose. It is submitted that once the petitioner, Navin Kumar Sharma submitted his resignation unconditionally and proceeded to join a new service under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi on the post of Section Officer, the said person cannot be eligible for any appointment under the said recruitment exercise as he was no longer a Government Servant under the State of Jharkhand. Simply because the said person might have been eligible on the cut of date for making such application, that would not make him entitled for employment as he has lost the status of a serving employee on his own resignation and also because of his withdrawal of pensionary benefits such as Group Insurance, Leave Encashment and G.P.F. Once the candidature of Navin Kumar Sharma is found to be ineligible, petitioner, Anant Kumar Jha, who is the next person in the merit list and whose name was earlier recommended, automatically gets a chance for being recommended and appointed as Deputy Collector under the said recruitment exercise. The respondent- department and J.P.S.C are therefore obliged in law to make such recommendation and appointment of the petitioner.;