PRAMATH PATNAIK, J. - (1.) In the instant writ application, the petitioner has inter alia prayed for direction to the respondents particularly respondent No. 3 to appoint the petitioner to the post of Headmaster in the light of merit list prepared/submitted and recommended by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission, Ranchi.
(2.) The brief facts, as depicted in the writ application, is that the petitioner possessing the requisite qualification applied for post of Headmaster in taken over High Schools for direct recruitment which were advertised vide Advertisement No. 15 of 2006 and after going through the selection process he was finally selected for the said post. The case of the petitioner is that after due examination and scrutiny a panel containing the names of candidates had been prepared wherein the name of the petitioner figured in 1st list as well as in the revised list. But to the utter surprise, the petitioner was not appointed to the post of Headmaster, whereas it is alleged that 75 persons were appointed which from the said panel. Out of which, some persons below the petitioner in the panel have also been appointed, ignoring the claim of the petitioner.
(3.) The respondent-State has filed counter-affidavit in this case, in which, it is stated that appointment to the post of Headmaster in the taken over secondary schools was guided earlier by Bihar Nationalised Secondary School (Service Condition) Rules, 1983, in which there was provision for filling up 20% of vacant posts of Headmaster by direct recruitment and rest 80% were to be filled up by promotion, but after creation of the State of Jharkhand, another Rule has been framed, viz. Jharkhand Nationalised Secondary School (Service Condition) Rules, 2004, in which, it is provided that 50% posts of Headmaster shall be filled up by direct recruitment and remaining 50% by promotion. It has been submitted that it was in accordance with the Rules of 2004, that the advertisement was published, in which, the petitioner was finally selected. According to the counter-affidavit, filed by the respondent-State, it is an admitted position that 75 persons, from the panel, have already been appointed and the future of 46 candidates still hangs in balance.;