Hari Singh Chitora @APPELLANT@Hash State Of Rajasthan

Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the issue involved in present writ petition is squarely covered by the judgment rendered by Jaipur

Bench of this Court in case of Surja Ram & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. â€" S.B.C.W. No. 3082/2018, decided on 09.02.2018. The

judgment reads as under:-

“The controversy raised in the instant writ application is no more res-integra in view of the adjudication made in the case of Suman Bai & Anr.

Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors.: 2009 (1) WLC (Raj.) 381, wherein the Coordinate Bench of this Court observed thus:

“5. Upon consideration of the arguments aforesaid and the judgment of the Divisionm Bench in Hari Ram and the subsequent order dated

21.7.2001 whereby clarification mapplication of the State Government was dismissed, I find that the entitlement of the petitioner for appointment

on the basis of originally prepared merit list cannot be denied. If admittedly the candidates, who are lower in merit, have been granted appointment,

those who are above them in the merit cannot be denied such right of appointment. Seniority as per the rules in the case of direct recruitment on the

post in question is required to be assigned on the basis of placement of candidates in the select list and when the selection is common and the merit

list on the basis of which appointments were made is also common, right to secure appointment to both the set of employees thus flows from their

selection which in turn is based on merit.

Regard being had to all these facts, merely because one batch of employee approached this Court later and another earlier, and both of them

having been appointed, the candidates who appeared 6 lower in merit cannot certainly be placed at a higher place in seniority. It was on this legal

analogy that Division Bench of this Court in Niyaz Mohd.Khan (supra) held that the petitioner therein entitled to be placed in seniority in order of

merit of common selection amongst persons appointed in pursuance of the same selection with effect from the date person lower in order of merit

than the petitioner was appointed with consequential benefits.

I am not inclined to accept the argument of the learned counsel for the respondents No.4 to 8 that the judgment of the learned Single Judge

should be so read so as to infer therefrom that though the petitioners would be entitled to claim appointment but not seniority above the candidates

who are already appointed even though they admittedly are above them in the merit list. Infact, the judgment of the learned Single Judge merely

reiterated the direction of the Division Bench in Hari Ram (supra) in favour of the petitioners. But construction of that judgment in the manner in

which the respondents want this Court to do, would negat the mandate of the Rules 20 and 21 of the Rajasthan Education Subordinate Service

Rules, 1971, which requires seniority to be assigned as per the inter-se merit of 7 the candidates in the merit list based on common selection.

Even otherwise, no such intention of the Court is discernible from reading of that judgment. Mere appointment of the petitioner was a sufficient

compliance of the judgment and not total compliance was the view taken by this Court also when contempt petition filed by the petitioners was

dismissed. Question with regard to correct and wrong assignment of seniority having arisen subsequent to appointment of the petitioners would

obviously give rise to a afresh cause of action. The writ petition filed by the petitioners, therefore, cannot be thrown either barred by resjudicata or

otherwise improperly constituted.

In the result, this writ petition is allowed and the respondents are directed to treat the petitioners senior to respondents No.4 to 8 as per their

placement in the merit list.â€​

Applying the principle, as extracted hereinabove, to the facts of the case at hand the factual position emerges is that the petitioners participated in

the recruitment process in response to advertisement issued by Zila Parishad in the year 2012, inviting the applications from the eligible candidates

for appointment on the post of Teacher Grade III. It is also not in dispute that the petitioners earlier instituted writ applications and as a

consequence of directions issued by this Court, the result was revised in the month of November, 2016; resulting into appointment of the

petitioners on the post of Teacher Grade III (Level I/Level-II).

Undeniably, the petitioners have already been accorded appointment. However, State-respondents have declined seniority and other benefits to

the petitioners from the date the petitioners became entitled on account of revision of the result while candidates lower in merit to the petitioners

have been accorded those benefits. Thus, the petitioners have claimed benefit of pay fixation and seniority on notional basis from the date juniors to

the petitioners, have been accorded in the same recruitment process of the year 2012.

Accordingly, the State-respondents are directed to extend the benefit of pay fixation and seniority on notional basis to the petitioners from the date

junior(s) to the petitioner(s) has/have been accorded with reference to the same recruitment process of the year of 2012. In view of above, the writ

petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to decide the issue of petitioners in terms of the judgment of Surja Ram (Supra) by a

speaking order within a period of 30 days from today.