Pramath Patnaik, J. - (1.) All these aforesaid writ applications have been heard together since the facts delineated and disclosed therein and the relief sought for are more or less similar, with the consent of the respective counsels, the matters have been heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment.
(2.) The captioned writ application has been filed, praying, inter alia, for issuance of writ of mandamus commanding upon the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 to implement and give effect to the final gradation list published by the Deputy Secretary, Environment and Forest Department, Govt. of Bihar as contained in letter No. 1684 dated 02.07.2010 and for issuance of a direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the impugned gradation list as contained in Memo No. 5533 dated 04.10.2007 published by the Deputy Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Govt. of Jharkhand so far as it relates to placement of the names of the petitioners below the private respondent Nos. 6 to 8 in the said gradation list and for issuance of a writ of certiorari for quashing the order as contained in Memo No. 3088, dated 12.08.2011, issued under the signature of the Joint Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Govt. of Jharkhand, wherein, a decision has been taken that earlier final gradation list published by the Govt. of Jharkhand, as contained in Memo No. 5533 dated 04.10.2007 shall remain valid subject to passing of any adverse order by any competent court and further prayer has been made for issuance of an appropriate direction in the nature of mandamus commanding upon the respondents for consequential relief by rectifying the inter se seniority of the petitioners in connection with the inter se seniority as published in the gradation list vide letter No. 1684, dated 02.07.2010 of the State of Bihar and for granting parity in posting and pay scale with the counterparts and batch -mates of the petitioners, who are posted in Bihar.
(3.) Sans details, the facts, as disclosed and delineated in the writ petition in brief are that in pursuance to the advertisement dated 19.12.1987 by the Bihar Public Service Commission for appointment to the post of the Assistant Conservator of Forest (hereinafter called as 'ACF', selection to the said post was made and the B.P.S.C. vide letter dated 03.11.1989 recommended the names of 39 finally selected candidates against 40 advertised posts including these petitioners and the Government of Bihar vide Notification dated 30.03.1990 appointed the successful candidates from the aforesaid recommendation made by the B.P.S.C. as per Annexure -3. The appointment to the post of ACFs either by direct appointment or by promotion is governed by the Bihar Forest Service Rules, 1953, as amended from time to time issued vide Notification No. 1635 -R dated 30.04.1955. Provision to amended Rule 3 (b) (ii) clearly provides that 50 per cent of the substantive vacancies are to be filled up by way of direct recruitment on the recommendation of Public Service Commission and rest 50 per cent of the vacancies are to be filled by way of promotion from the post of the Range Officers. The copy of the Bihar Forest Service Rule, 1953 notified vide notification dated 30.04.1955 has been annexed as Annexure -4 to the writ petition. It has been stated in the writ petition that there was some dispute with regard to inter se seniority of direct recruits and the promotees of 1987 batch and since promotees were made senior to the direct recruits, a writ petition being C.W.J.C. No. 8305 of 1989 was filed in the Patna High Court by the direct recruits, which was dismissed vide judgment dated 13.07.1998. Against the judgment of the Hon'ble Patna High Court, Civil Appeal Nos. 6565 of 1999 (Sanjay Kumar Sinha II & others v/s. State of Bihar & others) was filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the Hon'ble Supreme Court decided the aforesaid case on 31.05.2004, which has been reported in : (2004) 10 SCC 734. Consequent upon the re -organization of the States of Bihar and Jharkhand, the petitioners were allocated finally the State of Jharkhand and the Government of Jharkhand vide letter No. 5533, dated 04.10.2007 published the final gradation list of officers within the State of Jharkhand. However, vide Note No. 3 of the State of Jharkhand of the final Gradation list, a condition was stipulated that this final gradation list will be subject to decision taken by the Dept. of Environment & Forest, State of Bihar in compliance of the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 6565 of 1999. The State of Bihar published the final gradation list vide letter No. 1684, dated 02.07.2010 in which the petitioners have been shown above the private respondents and the position of the petitioners in the gradation list vis   -vis the private respondents is published in both the final gradation list of the Govt. of Jharkhand and the Government of Bihar respectively. JUDGEMENT_3_LAWS(JHAR)4_2016.jpg From the aforesaid tabular form, it is quite evident that the position of the petitioners in the gradation list published by the State of Bihar is above that of the private respondents, whereas in the State of Jharkhand, their position is just the reverse. Subsequently vide order dated 12.08.2011, issued under the signature of the Joint Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Govt. of Jharkhand, which clearly declares that the final gradation list published by the State of Jharkhand, as contained in Memo No. 5533 dated 04.10.2007 would remain final subject to any adverse order by any competent court of law vide Annexure -10 to the writ application. The final gradation list has been published in the State of Bihar vide Notification dated 02.07.2010 published by the Deputy Secretary, Environment and Forest Department, Government of Bihar, vide Annexure -11 to the writ application. It has been submitted that so far as private respondent Nos. 6 and 7 are concerned, who are not promoted, were regularized with effect from 03.10.2005 by the order of the Government of Bihar vide para 5 of the Three men committee report (Annexure -6). Since, they were regularized on 03.10.2005, they could get seniority only with effect from the date of regularization and they have been placed lower to the petitioners in the gradation list, published by the State of Bihar and so far as respondent No. 8 (promotee) is concerned, since no substantive vacancy was available at the time of the so -called appointment, the respondent No. 8 could get right to post or right to appointment in substantive capacity only after 1998, whereas the petitioners were directly appointed in the year 1990 itself and the promotion of the respondent No. 8 was against non -existent post as per the ratio and the principles of the Hon'ble Apex Court referred to in the case of Sanjay Kumar Sinha II & others v/s. State of Bihar & others reported in : (2004) 10 SCC 734 (supra), therefore, the inter se seniority of the petitioners below the private respondents as fixed by the Forest & Environment Dept., Govt. of Jharkhand vide letter No. 5533 dated 04.10.2007 issued by the Deputy Secretary has to be modified and rectified in view of Note No. 3, as contained in the aforesaid letter, which clearly stipulates that the aforesaid gradation list will be subject to the final gradation list published by the State of Bihar (annexed as Annexure -12 to the writ petition). It has been finally contended that the final gradation list of the Government of Jharkhand, as contained in letter No. 5533 dated 04.10.2007 is in flagrant violation of the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 6565 of 1999 and also the order No. 3088 dated 12.08.2011 of the Forest and Environment Department, Government of Jharkhand has been issued on irrelevant considerations and ignoring the conditions as stipulated in Note No. 3 dated. 04.10.2007 of the State of Jharkhand.;