Srinagar– The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has upheld fixing seniority of Patwaris on the basis of the Departmental Examination by the authorities.
Dismissing a petition against an order by Central Administrative Tribunal Srinagar on 27 September this year, a division bench of Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi said that the course of action adopted by the Department in fixing seniority based on the merit position obtained in the Departmental Examination cannot be said to be “impermissible and illegal”.
Rather, the court said, it stands to logic and is in conformity to the intent and purpose behind Rule 24 of the CCA Rules 1956 which gives premium and primacy to merit for determining seniority.
“Accordingly, we agree with the conclusion arrived at by the learned Tribunal which does not warrant interference from us,” the court said and dismissed the plea.
The CAT had rejected the prayer of the petitioners for determining their seniority in the post of Patwari on the basis of the select list dated 13.08.2012 prepared as per results of the initial entrance examination conducted by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) for the purpose of selecting Patwar Trainees pursuant to the advertisement No.20-BOPEE of 2012 dated 09.05.2012 and in terms of Rule 24 of the J&K Classification, Control and Appeal Rules, 1956, (CCA Rules) which provides for determining the seniority on the basis of the merit obtained in the competitive examination.
The petitioners had demanded that the seniority should not be based on the Departmental Examination conducted before they were appointed as Patwaris.
The counsel representing the government submitted that the true merit of the candidates can only be ascertained through the examination conducted by the Department.
“This Departmental Examination truly reflects the inter se merit of the candidates,” the counsel said, adding, “While in the screening test conducted by the BOPEE in 2012, the merit was prepared based on the knowledge of various subjects such as general studies, current affairs, functional Urdu, mathematics topics such as mensuration, geometry of Class 10th standard, which do not have a direct bearing with the skills required for the role of Patwaris, whereas the syllabus prescribed for the Departmental Examination conducted by the Department have a direct relevance to the job and responsibilities discharged by the Patwaris.”
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