Sohan Lal vs State and Others

R. Balia, J.—The only point raised in the petition is that while one Vijay Singh was promoted from the post of Mechanic to the post of Supervisor by order dated 23-3-80 (Annexure 2), the petitioner who was senior to the said Vijay Singh on the post of Mechanic Gr. I in the Irrigation Department Sub Division II, Jodhpur, was not considered for promotion and he has been superseded for no reason.

It has been stated in the petition that the petitioner was appointed as Mechanic Gr. I on 7-4-71 on work charge establishment at a salary of Rs. 240/-, on that date Shri Vijay Singh was working as Mechanic Grade II as work charged employee. The said Vijay Singh was promoted as Gr. I Mechanic in the year 1972 only. The salary of Shri Vijay Singh in the year 1978 was Rs. 470/- in the Grade applicable to Mechanic Grade I whereas the petitioner''s salary in the same year was Rs. 590/- in the same grade. A seniority list of the work charge employee dated 3-10-80 under the Executive Engineer, Irrigation, Jodhpur Division, has also been placed on record in which amongst mechanics the name of said Vijay Singh is not at all mentioned, only petitioner''s name finds place therein as Mechanic Gr. I.

No return has been filed and aforesaid allegations remain uncontroverted.

While the said Vijay Singh was initially made a party and a prayer had been made for setting aside the promotion of said Vijay Singh, on 19-11-91 an oral request was made by learned Counsel for the petitioner to delete the name of said Vijay Singh who could not be served with the writ petition and the petitioner confined his prayer to the extent of considering his case for his promotion with effect from the date any person junior to him was promoted with all consequential reliefs. The said prayer was granted on 19-11 -91.

Having heard the learned Counsel for the parties and perused the record, I am of the opinion that the petitioner was senior to said Vijay Singh in the cadre of Mechanic Gr. under the Irrigation Division, Jodhpur where the promotion from the post of Mechanic Gr. to the post of Supervisor was considered in the year 1980. No ground whatever has been put forward as to why when a senior Mechanic Gr. I was available under the same unit, a person junior to him was preferred for promotion to the post of Supervisor. The writ petition deserves to be allowed on this ground alone.

I, therefore, allow this writ petition, direct the respondents to consider the case of the petitioner for recording his promotion on the post of Supervisor from the post of Mechanic Gr. I with effect from the date any person junior to him was promoted and accord him promotion with effect from that date provided he is otherwise eligible and suitable with all consequential benefits flowing therefrom. The respondents are further directed to implement this order within a period of four months as far as possible.