Allahabad High Court
Ram Jeet And 4 Others vs State Of U.P. And 2 Others on 13 February, 2024
Author: Ashwani Kumar Mishra
Bench: Ashwani Kumar Mishra
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC:25146-DB Court No. - 40 Case :- SPECIAL APPEAL No. - 563 of 2019 Appellant :- Ram Jeet And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Appellant :- Santosh Kumar,Phool Chandra Yadav,Sa,Saurabh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,M.N. Singh With Case :- SPECIAL APPEAL No. - 565 of 2019 Appellant :- Ram Jeet And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Appellant :- Santosh Kumar,Lalit Kumar Pandey,Sa,Saurabh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,M.N. Singh Hon'ble Ashwani Kumar Mishra,J.
Hon'ble Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi,J.
1. Appellants were petitioners in Writ Petition No. 8011 of 2017, which has been dismissed on 4.4.2019. Learned Single Judge has relied upon the government order in order to state that the applicable service rules do not contemplate any provision for maintaining waiting list and, therefore, appellants contention that such a waiting list ought to have been maintained, but has not been maintained, has been rejected.
2. From the materials placed on record, it transpires that the vacancies were notified by the Public Service Commission for the Food Safety Officer Examination to be conducted in 2014. The petitioners participated in the examination and have ultimately not been selected. Petitioners came to this Court in the year 2017, challenging an order dated 7.12.2016, which contained a recital that the post of Food Safety Officer is not a single cadre post and, therefore, there is no occasion to maintain any waiting list. The claim of similarly placed persons for consideration from the waiting list is rejected by the State Government. It was this order of the State Government, dated 7th December, 2016, which came to be challenged in the writ petition. Learned Single Judge has held that the post of Food Safety Officer is not a single cadre post and since there is no provision of maintaining waiting list in the applicable service rules, therefore, there is no requirement of directing the respondents to prepare a waiting list.
3. It is not in issue that the appointment to the post of Food Safety Officer is regulated by the provisions of The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety Cadre) (Group 'A', 'B' and 'C') Service Rules, 2012. These rules contemplate for appointment on the post of Food Safety Officer by direct recruitment through the Commission.
4. Appendix to the Rules of 2012, specify 662 permanent post of Food Safety Officer. Rule 4 defines Cadre of Service to consist of the post as are specified in the schedule appended to Rule 4(2). Rule 4 of the Rules of 2012 is reproduced hereinafter:
"4. Cadre of Service- (1) The strength of the service and of each category of posts therein shall be such as may be determined by the Government from time to time.
(2) The strength of the service and of each category of posts therein shall, until order varying the same are passed under sub-rule (1), to be as given in Appendix:
Provided that:
(i) the Appointing Authority may leave unfilled or the Governor may hold in abeyance any vacant post, without thereby entitling any person to compensation; or
(ii) the Governor may create such additional permanent or temporary posts as he may consider proper."
5. The appendix to Rule 4(2) clearly shows existence of cadre of 662 posts of Food Safety Officer. It is, therefore, clearly discernible that the cadre of Food Safety Officer consists of 662 posts and the appellants contention that this is a single cadre post is clearly not supported from the provisions contained in the Rules.
6. Counsel for the appellants strenuously urged that in case of a single cadre post waiting list is required to be maintained.
7. We are not impressed by the argument that the post of Food Safety Officer is a single cadre post. The State Authorities have clearly observed in their order that the post itself is not a single cadre post. No provision in the rules or the applicable government order is shown which may demonstrate that the post of Food Safety Officer is a single cadre post.Moreover, we find that the recruitment was undertaken in the year 2014. Subsequently in the year 2018, the post of Food Safety Officer was brought within the purview of the Public Service Commission and recruitment in the year 2018 was made through PCS Examination. After expiry of more than 10 years, in such circumstances, we are not inclined to hold any further factual investigation, as is being suggested on behalf of the appellants, or to direct the respondents to create a waiting list, when the post itself is found not to be a single cadre post. The appellants otherwise do not dispute that in a cadre having more than one post there is no provision of drawing a waiting list. We find no error in the order of the learned Single Judge.
8. The appeals, therefore, lack merit and are, consequently, dismissed.
Order Date :- 13.2.2024 Ranjeet Sahu