' This judgment will dispose of the following writ petitions as common questions of law and fact are involved in all these writ petitions.
' (1) W.P. No,17736 of 2002, (2) W.P. No,19768 of 2002, (3) W.P. No,20756 of 2002, (4) W.P. No,20901 of 2002, (5) W.P. No,19769 of 2202, (6) W.P. No,19770 of 2002, (7) W.P. No,20757 of 2002, (8) W.P.
No,20968 of 2002, (9) W.P. No,21063 of 2002, (10) W.P. No,21135 of 2002, (11) W.P. No,21136 of 2002, (12)
W.P. No,40487 of 2002, (13) W.P. No,20989 of 2002 and (14) W.P. No,20938 of 2002.
2. On the requisition of he Home Department, Government of the Punjab, the Punjab Public Service Commission (P.P.S.C.), through public notice in the Press, invited applications for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Sub-Inspector (A.S.-I.) of police. The requisite qualification was F.A./F.Sc. And the prescribed age limit was 18 to 25 years. The petitioners in all these cases submitted applications to the P.P.S.C. Which were rejected on the ground that all of them were beyond the maximum upper age limit of 25 years.
3. The petitioners in the first 13 writ petitions are serving in the Police Department as Constable.
Their case is that in accordance with the rule 3(V) of the Punjab Civil Servants Recruitment (Relaxation of Upper Age Limit) Rules, 1976, continuous Government Service is to be excluded from the upper age limit. They are also relying or the Notification SOR-I(S&GAD) 9-36/81 dated 21-6-1999 which permits relaxation of upper age limit.
4. Apart from the 1976 Rules and the notification dated 21-6-1999, the learned counsel for the petitioner also invited my attention to the Memo. Nos.2269-2350/E-V, dated 6-2-1983 of the I.-G. Of Police Punjab, according to which case of relaxation of upper age limit of in-service candidate for recruitment, inter alia, to the post of A.S.-I. Was to be dealt with in accordance with rule 3(V) of the Punjab Civil Servants Recruitment (Relaxation of Upper Age Limit) Rules and copy of Circular Letter No, SOR-I (S&GAD)-9-36/81 dated 2-2-2000 of the S&GAD in which applicability of rule 3(V) aforesaid was reiterated. Adnan Ahmed petitioner in Writ Petition No,20938 of 2002 is overage by 6 days. His case for relaxation of upper age limit is based on the notification dated 21-6-1999. He is not in Government Service.
5. Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed Mohal, Advocate who appears for the P.P.S.C., submits that they have to determine the eligibility in accordance with the requisition made by the Department. It is being further contended that Punjab Civil Servants Recruitment (Relaxation of Upper Age Limit) Rules, are not applicable for recruitment, to the post of A.S.-I. And the eligibility criteria as to age as given in Police Rules, 1934 applies which does not provide for any relaxation of upper age limit for recruitment to the post of A.S.-I.
6. The learned Additional Advocate-General, however relied on rule 12.6 of the Police Rules as amended on 15-5-2000 according to which the maximum upper age limit for the post of A.S.-I. Is 25 years and for the post of Inspector or Sub-Inspector it is 21 to 26 years and for in-service candidates from Police Department (Executive) it is 21 to 30 years for the posts of Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors. He submits that the aforesaid Police Rules does not provide for extension of upper age limit for the in-service candidate for the post of A.S.-I. Although it is so provided in case of S.-I.
7. The submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties have been considered. In accordance with rule. 1(b) the 1976 Rules apply to recruitment to all posts. Rule 3(V) as amended vide notifications dated 14-6-1982, 24-9-1992 and 8-3-1993 is reproduced for facility of reference:-- "(v) In the case of a candidate already working as a Government Servant, the period of his continuous service as such shall for the purpose of upper age limit prescribed under any service rules of the post for which he is a candidate, be excluded from his age: ' Provided the upper age limit shall not exceed 35 years for recruitment to any post to be filled in on the recommendations of the Punjab Public Service Commission on the basis of the combined competitive examination".
8. In the memorandum dated 6-2-1983 of the I.G. Police Punjab Lahore, the applicability of the aforesaid rule 3(V) for recruitment, inter alia, to the post of A.S.-I. Was reiterated. The S&GAD of the Government of Punjab, in the circular letter dated 2-2-2000 also reiterated the aforesaid rule.
Therefore, the petitioners in the first 13 writ petitions were entitled to the concession available under rule 3(V) of 1976 Rules which applied to all the posts under the Punjab Government. Even if rule 12.6 of the Police Rules, does not specifically provide for extended age bracket for the post of A.S.-I., the aforesaid rule 3(V) was clearly applicable. It is beneficial dispensation and has to be interpreted in a manner so as to advance the remedy rather than to suppress it.Even the Police Chief has rightly so affirmed applicability of rule 3(V) in the Memo. Dated 6-2-1983 for recruitment to the post of A.S.-I. Rule 12.6, as amended on 15-5-2000 has also been examined by me. Apparently while extending age bracket has been provided for recruitment to the posts of Inspectors and S.Is, the said concession has not been provided for recruitment to the post of A.S.-I. I could not see any rational behind the aforesaid classification. Apparently it is discriminatory. However, the aforesaid 1976 rules shall be deemed to be part of all the recruitment rules and, therefore, the candidature of the petitioner in first 13 writ petitions was required to be examined in the light of the aforesaid Rules.
9. The petitioner in writ petition at Serial No,14 is relying on the notification dated 21-6-1999 whereby the schedule appended to the Punjab Delegation of Powers (Relaxation of Age) Rules, 1961 was substituted. Item (i) is reproduced hereunder for facility of reference:- "(i) Cases where no recruitment was made for any reason during last five years, the relaxation equivalent to the period during which no recruitment took place shall be given across the board and appear as a part of the advertisement for recruitment obviating the necessity of an individual approaching the Government authorities for relaxation."
10. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the ban on fresh recruitment was imposed by the Government of the Punjab in 1997 and has remained operative till the public notice, inviting applications for the post of A.S.-I. Therefore, during 5 years preceding the date of notice, no recruitment was made and, therefore, the petitioner in writ petition at Serial No,14 and even the petitioners in first 13 writ petitions were entitled to relaxtion of the upper age limit equivalent to the period during which no recruitment was made and according to item (i) of the Schedule as amended, this should have appeared as part of advertisement for recruitment obviating the necessity of an individual approaching the Government authorities for relaxation. Therefore, the rejection of the candidature of all the petitioners on the ground that they were over age was against the aforesaid Rules of 1976, the notification dated 21-6-1999 and letter dated 2-2-2000 and is, accordingly declared as without lawful authority.##TE# It may be clarified that in case of petitioners in first 13 writ petitions no relaxation would be involved, their candidature will have to be considered according to the extended age bracket under rule 3(v) of the 1976 Rules. As far as the petitioner in writ petition at Sr. No,14 is concerned, the competent authority will examine his case in the light of the notification dated 21-6-1999 if he has qualified the examination and but for the age limit, would have been selected. It may be observed that in all these cases the petitioners were allowed to provisionally appear in the written test and interview but it was directed that their result will not be announced. It is directed that the results of the petitioners will now be announced. These writ petitions are allowed in the above terms.##TE#