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"2. Senior Technical Sectioned posts--Nil Assistants The above employees may be Equivalent Post- merged in the posts of Junior Engineer Junior Engineers and an (Rs. 360-650) equivalent number of posts may be deemed to have been 27 posts-Civil created in the dying cadre Posts-Electrical of Junior Engineers. (Mechanical) posts-Geologists post-Geophysist

3. Junior Technical Sanction--30 posts (reserved). Assistants Equivalent These may be merged against post: (Sub-Engineer the posts of Sub-Engineers (Rs.280-480) which have been obtained by conversion of the posts of 62 Posts-Civil Junior Engineer. The posts reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes may be made unreserved and appointments may be made against them also."

We have considered the submissions of the parties in the light of the above rules and amendments and come to the conclusion that there is force in the contention of the appellants that they are eligible for promotion as AEs. in the same manner as the erstwhile JEs. of the Irrigation Department. The assumption of the respondents that the cadre of JEs. had ceased to exist long before the absorption of the present appellants into the Department is incorrect. As pointed out earlier, though the decision to abolish the cadre was taken in 1979 and the existing posts were convert- ed into those of AEs./SEs. on 27.5. 1980, the cadre did not die, for the JEs. of the Department who were then function- ing continued to function as before until they were promoted in due course as AEs. It is also not correct to say that this crucial "fact" had been overlooked at the time of passing the merger order of 8.10.1982. On the contrary, the State was fully conscious of its earlier decision and the order of 8.10.1982 specifically mentions that the posts of STAs. will be merged in the posts of JEs. "and an equivalent number of posts may be deemed to have been created in the dying cadre of Junior Engineers". These words make it per- fectly ,clear that the cadre of YEs. was "dying" (but not dead) and the strength of the dying cadre was further enliv- ened by taking in the STAs. of the Corporation as JEs. Thus, the position is that, as on 8.10.82, the cadre of JEs. continued to subsist and comprised of the old JEs. of the Irrigation department and the STAs. engrafted from the Corporation. This conclusion is reinforced by the interest- ing circumstance that the refe-