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Jasbir Singh, Actg.C.J.—The petitioner has filed this writ petition to quash Rule 9(i) of Punjab Prison Services (Class-II) Rules, 1963. It is stated by the petitioners that they are commerce graduate and in view of above rule, they are not being considered for the post of Deputy Superintendent (Jails). Notice of motion.
On asking of the Court, Mr. Kulvir Narwal, Additional Advocate General, Haryana accepts notice on behalf of the respondents. A copy of the writ petition has been furnished to him.
At the time of arguments, it came to our notice that a similar controversy was brought before this Court in Bijender Singh v. State of Haryana and Another (Civil Writ Petition No. 25870 of 2012, decided on 21.12.2012). That writ petition was disposed of by observing as under:-
The petitioner is working as Warden in Faridabad Jail. To become Deputy Superintendent of Police (Jail), the eligibility conditions including qualifications are stipulated in Rule 9 of the Punjab Prison Services (Class-II) Rules, 1963 which means the Graduation in certain subjects. However, Commerce subject is not stated therein. The petitioner is Graduate from Commerce stream. He also holds degree of Master in Management. As per the Rules, he is not eligible to be considered for the said post. For this reason, he has challenged the vires of the aforesaid Rules and states that Commerce subject should also be included.
The petitioner had earlier filed a Writ Petition No. 19815 of 2012 for quashing the orders dated 04.09.2012 vide which his candidature was rejected on the ground that he does not possess the requisite qualification as per the said rules. This writ petition was dismissed by the learned Single Judge of this Court on 10.10.2012. The petitioner has not filed any appeal against that order and therefore, the said judgment has attained finality. It was open for the petitioner to challenge the validity of rules at that time which he failed to do so. Therefore, it may not be possible to entertain this petition which may be barred by the principle of constructive res judicata. However, the petitioner has drawn our attention to the orders passed in Civil Writ Petition No. 18702 of 2012 on 18.12.2012. In that case, the vires of the same very Rule were challenged on the ground that it could not exclude the degree of Mass Communication. In that case, the counsel for the State of Haryana had given a statement that the degree of Mass Communication is treated as B.A. (Mass Communication) and therefore, the petitioner in the said realm would be eligible for the post.
In these circumstances, the order which we propose to pass is that the respondents may consider as to whether the degree of Commerce should be included as the qualification eligible for the post or not. Such an exercise be completed within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. More so, the person having Commerce qualification is eligible for appointment as Assistant Superintendent and 75% posts of the Deputy Superintendent(s) of Police of Jail are to be filled from amongst the Assistant Superintendent(s) in promotion quota.
After hearing counsel for the parties, we dispose of this writ petition in the same terms as in Bijender Singh''s case (supra). The authorities are directed to take necessary action within ten days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.