1. SHAFIUR RAHMAN, J.--These ten petitions for leave to appeal have been filed by the Secretary, Government of the Punjab, Irrigation and Power Department and the Chief Engineer, Irrigation, under Article 212 of the Constitution,. They are all directed against the judgment of the Punjab Service Tribunal, dated 29th of March, 1984 whereby some relief was granted to the respondents.
2. The respondents in all these petitions joined the Irrigation Department of the Government of the Punjab as Overseer (Sub-Engineer) before 1967. They were from the to the allowed to hold the charge of the Sub-Divisional Officer by the respective Chief Engineers. This appointment was expressed to be provisional, in addition to duties as Sub-Engineer, without any claim of seniority, pay and allowances of Sub-Divisional Officer with the liability of termination of the acting charge without any notice. Such a posting, it appears, was as a stop-gap arrangement. On 15-6-1982 the Secretary, Government of the Punjab, Irrigation and Power Department, Lahore issued a direction, to all the Chief Engineers, Irrigation in the Punjab, to revert those Sub-Divisional Officers who had been posted as such as a stop-gap arrangement in order to accommodate the qualified graduate Engineers who had become available. Consequently, the Chief Engineers passed the order terminating the acting charge of the respondents on the post of Sub-Divisional Officers. After filing representation to the Government and not succeeding, they again approached the Punjab Service Tribunal. Their case was that after determining the cadre strength and the vacancies that occurred in the grade of Sub-Divisional Officers, they were entitled to be considered against the 20$ quota reserved for them and if the Department acted in accordance with the law, i.e. Punjab Civil Service Recruitment Rules read with Punjab Irrigation Engineering Service Class II Rules, 1967 they were not likely to revert. The Service Tribunal undertook an exercise in consultation with the parties the result whereof was re-produced by it as hereunder- "We have taken into account the figures so formulated by the parties after assembling in the Chamber of Member-1 of this Tribunal and find that according to the appellants, there are 260 vacancies which become available after 30-3-1967 and according to 20% share to their class, the number of vacancies in their favour will figure at 52 whereas out of these 52, ten have been duly promoted but the remaining 42 vacancies remain available for promotion from among the appellants class. We have positively ignored the number of vacancies and figures given by the respondents because the same are based on pre-1967 vacancies promotions which we have not accepted as valid in the earlier part of our judgment".
3. The Tribunal granted the relief in the following -words:- "We proceed to accept the appeals of these to appellants and settle the issue so indicated above in the earlier part of our judgment and direct that the appellants alongwith other Sub---Engineers of their class be considered for promotion on merits, under the Rules so laid down in this behalf from 20$ quota which is so available to them. The impugned orders of respondent No. 1, dated 15- 6-1982, as well as of respondent No. 2, are set aside. Resultantly the appeals succeed in the light of the above observation".
4. In assailing the judgment of the Tribunal a number of technical and substantial points were raised.
5. Among the technical points raised were that there was non-compliance with the provisions of section 21 (2) of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974, that the petition was barred by the principle of constructive res judicata and on merits it was contended that the retrospective operation of the Service Rules, 1967 did not infringe any vested rights of the respondents.
6. The effect of the Tribunal's judgment is that after filling up the vacancies which existed since before the enforcement of 1967 Service Rules in the manner laid down in Rule 7 (pre-integration vacancies), Rule 8 (pre-1963 vacancies ) Rule 9 had to be given effect to (post-1963 vacancies) until the officers holding posts in the temporary addition to the cadre are absorbed in the cadre.
7. 20$ were required to be filled with particular reference to fitness for higher responsibilities from among the cadre of West Pakistan Irrigation Department Subordinate Engineering Service in the region where the vacancies occurred subject to certain other conditions and qualifications. The Tribunal has enunciated the effect of such a rule and it is for the Department to identify the vacancies period wise i.e. Pre-integration, post-integration and post-1963, and then consider the eligible departmental candidates in proportion to the strength prescribed. The Tribunal worked out the vacancies in consultation with the parties. The Government does not accept the calculation but in spite of our insistence has not come out with what it considers the correct calculation of vacancies though it holds all the data in its hands. Apart from the technical objections, therefore, the petitions raises no question of law of public importance as may justify leave to appeal in these cases. The technical objections raised by them--selves do not impress us for a detailed examination in these petitions. If it is only a question of calculation and percentage, the department can work it out and place it before the Tribunal while implementing the order of the Tribunal so as to follow the principle on facts established and proved. In all these petitions, therefore, leave to appeal is refused. revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.