2025:CGHC:46681-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WA No. 645 of 2025 1 - Rakesh Jagat S/o Tribhuwan Singh Jagat Aged About 32 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Sidar Para Adbhar (N.P.) Janjgir Champa, District Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 2 - Avinash Kumar Singh S/o Bidya Nand Singh Aged About 31 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Bhilai Sector-7, Civic Center Bhilai, Durg, District Durg, Chhattisgarh 3 - Vivek Kumar Singh S/o Ram Dinesh Singh Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Bartunga, Chirmiri Khadgawa, Korea, District Korea, Chhattisgarh 4 - Shantnu Bardhan S/o Gaur Gopal Bardhan Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Shivrajpuri Colony, Purani Itarashi, Hosangabaad, District Hosangabaad, Madhya Pradesh 5 - Shravan Kumar S/o Pannalal Aged About 33 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Woodland Amleshwar, Near Mahadev Ghat, Durg, District Durg, Chhattisgarh ... Appellant(s) versus 1 - Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited Through Its General Manager, Danganiya, Raipur, District - Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Deputy General Manager Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company Ltd., Danganiya, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh 3 - Chief Engineer Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company Ltd., Division Danganiya, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Additional Chief Engineer (H.R.) Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company Ltd., Division Danganiya, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh 5 - Sourabh Singh S/o Brishket Singh Aged About 32 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Bhaismundi, Janjgir-Champa, District Janjgir- Champa, Chhattisgarh Digitally signed by V PADMAVATHI Date: 2025.09.15 18:09:48 +0530 Wa 645 of 2025 2 6 - Dharmendra Kumar Sahu S/o Santosh Sahu Aged About 32 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Bareth Kholi No. 1, Selar, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 7 - Brajesh Kumar Dhurwey S/o Dewan Singh Dhurwey Aged About 29 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Bhanakhodra, Chilphi Kabirdham, District Kabirdham, Chhattisgarh 8 - Choleshwar Singh Usendi S/o Kumar Singh Usendi Aged About 35 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Narallguda, Balod, District Balod, Chhattisgarh 9 - Alish Mary Kerketta S/o Nestor Kerketta Aged About 29 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Circuit House Road, Bade Rampur, Raigarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 10 - Abhishek Rathi S/o Suresh Kumar Rathi Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Kisaan Ward, Kumi Para Bemetara, District Bemetara, Chhattisgarh 11 - Alwin Toppo S/o Vikram Toppo Aged About 31 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Near Shiv Ganga Talkies, Kunkuri, Jashpur, District Jashpur, Chhattisgarh 12 - Ashwin Toppo S/o Agustine Toppo Aged About 31 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Saluja Vihar Road, Bharti Nagar, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 13 - Viraaj Maan Ekka S/o Manohar Sai Ekka, Aged About 29 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Godhanpur Near Mission Talab, Ambikapur, District Sarguja, Chhattisgarh 14 - Alin Kujur S/o Kaleshwar Kujur Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Shakti Nagar, Gevra Project, Devra Deepika, Korba, District Korba, Chhattisgarh 15 - Sunil Ram S/o Dharmpaal Ram Aged About 34 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Lechopara, Lhajuri Kusmi, Balrampur, District Balrampur, Chhattisgarh 16 - Prasant Netam S/o Heera Singh Netam Aged About 33 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Ramlal Pradhan Para, Shiv Temple Kodabhat, Kanker, District Kanker, Chhattisgarh 17 - Lochan Singh Dhruw S/o Govind Prasad Dhruw Aged About 32 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Near Apna Kirana Store, Jayanti Nagar Durg, District Durg, Chhattisgarh Wa 645 of 2025 3 18 - Kishor Kumar Kindo S/o Bhari Ram Kindo Aged About 31 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Gawatiya Para, Ulkiya, Sarguja, District Sarguja, Chhattisgarh 19 - Dileep Singh Raj S/o Garib Singh Aged About 39 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Sarotiya Niwas Sirki Khurd, Korba, District Korba, Chhattisgarh 20 - Roshan Kumar Patel S/o Mayaram Patel Aged About 31 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Kanhaiya Marg, Krishna Vatika Colony, Boridadar Raigarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 21 - Avinash Xess S/o Alexander Xess Aged About 33 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Beck Guruji Toli Kansabel, District Jashpur, Chhattisgarh 22 - Shivani Hidko S/o Nirmala Hidko Aged About 29 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Saketnagar Govindpur Kanker, District Kanker, Chhattisgarh 23 - Dev Prasad S/o Vijay Singh Aged About 30 Years R/o Bhainsbod Balod, District Balod, Chhattisgarh 24 - Amit Kumar Netam S/o Anirudh Singh Netam Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o New Railway Colony, Korba, District Korba, Chhattisgarh 25 - Kundan Lal Dhruw S/o Manharan Lal Dhruw Aged About 35 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Pallari, Baloda Bazar, District - Balodabazar Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh 26 - Rashmi Singh D/o Kundan Lal Dhruw Aged About 35 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Sindhi Colony, Jagdalpur, District Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh 27 - Sunil Kumar Nag S/o Jayram Nag Aged About 30 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Nakapara Chakipara, Dantewada, District Dantewada, Chhattisgarh 28 - Vivek Kumar Thakur S/o U.S. Thakur, Aged About 32 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Kharkhara Nahar, Amapara, Balod, District Balod, Chhattisgarh 29 - Abhishek Kumar Lakra S/o George Clear Lakra Aged About 39 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Shivram Vihar, Raigarh, District Raigah, Chhattisgarh 30 - Anita Dhale D/o Lailu Ram Dhale Aged About 30 Years Working As Wa 645 of 2025 4 Junior Engineer, R/o Daybdi Lohara, Balod, District Balod, Chhattisgarh 31 - Fakir Mohan Choudhary S/o Bansheedhar Choudhary Aged About 33 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Koltapara, Birnipali, 32 - Girdhar Kumar S/o Santosh Sai Paikra Aged About 33 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Sukhuwasu Basti, Jashpur, District Jashpur, Chhattisgarh 33 - Ashutosh Ram S/o Umashankar Ram Aged About 36 Years Working As Junior Engineer, R/o Kamari Shankagarh, Surguja, District Surguja, Chhattisgarh ...Respondent(s) (Cause-title taken from Case Information System) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Appellant : Shri Ishan Verma, Advocate For Respondents : Shri Amrito Das, Advocate --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 12.09.2025 1. Heard Shri Ishan Verma, learned counsel for the appellants and Shri Amrito Das, learned counsel for the respondents. 2. The present intra Court appeal has been filed by the appellants against the order dated 25.04.2025, passed by the learned Single Judge in WPS-5470 of 2024 ( Sourabh Singh and others Vs CSPDCL and others), whereby the learned Single Judge has disposed of the writ petition filed by the appellant/writ petitioners therein. 3. It has been pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the parties that in some of the identical matters, this Bench has partly allowed the Writ Appeal No. 504/2025 (Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Wa 645 of 2025 5 Company Limited & Ors. Vs. Mukund Madhav Singh Kanwar ), and other batch of writ appeals vide order dated 23.07.2025 observing the following terms:- “17. Having considered the rival submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and upon careful perusal of the record, this Court is of the considered opinion that the learned Single Judge erred in issuing directions for relaxation of the essential eligibility criteria prescribed in the advertisement dated 22/082024, which was framed strictly in accordance with the applicable recruitment Rules and policy decisions reflected in the resolutions of the years 2018 and 2023. 18. The condition requiring a minimum of five years of regular service as Junior Engineer (T&D), excluding the period spent as Junior Engineer (Trainee), is neither arbitrary nor in conflict with any statutory or constitutional provision. On the contrary, it reflects a consistent and rational standard that has been applied in previous recruitments as well. The training period, during which the writ petitioners were paid a fixed stipend and were not holding a substantive or probationary appointment, cannot be counted toward regular service experience in the cadre of Junior Engineer (T&D). 19. Furthermore, once the learned Single Judge held, in para 8 of the impugned order, that the advertisement was issued strictly within the four corners of the applicable Rules, it was not open to the Court to thereafter direct a relaxation of the same rules selectively for a particular group of 47 candidates. Such a direction is not only beyond the permissible scope of judicial review in service Wa 645 of 2025 6 jurisprudence, but also causes unjustified discrimination against other similarly situated candidates (approximately 85 in number), who had abided by the advertisement terms and chose not to apply due to ineligibility. The principle of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution mandates uniform treatment and not selective indulgence. 20. It is a settled principle that framing of eligibility criteria and prescription of cut-off dates are matters within the domain of the employer, and unless it is shown that such conditions are manifestly arbitrary, discriminatory, or violative of any constitutional mandate, the Court ought not to interfere. In the present cases, no such illegality, mala fide, or procedural Irregularity has been demonstrated by the writ petitioners. As such, the directions issued by the learned Single Judge for extending the benefit of eligibility relaxation to the writ petitioners are unsustainable in law. 21. However, in the interest of fairness, it is directed that in case any of the writ petitioners, as per the original advertisement dated 22/08/2024 and the governing Rules, now come within the zone of consideration, either by way of completing five years' of regular service or otherwise fulfilling all eligibility criteria as on the prescribed cut-off date, their candidatures shall be considered by the competent authority in accordance with law, without being prejudiced by the pendency of litigation or dismissal of the writ petitions. 22. In light of the foregoing discussion, it is held that the learned Single Judge erred in granting relaxation to the writ petitioners (private respondents herein) contrary to the express provisions of the applicable recruitment Rules and the terms and conditions stipulated in the advertisement Wa 645 of 2025 7 dated 22/08/2024. The observation made in paragraph 21 of the impugned order dated 25.04.2025 passed in WPS No.5228/2024 and analogous cases, which confers such relaxation, is thus unsustainable in law and is accordingly set aside. 23. Consequently, the writ appeals are partly allowed to the extent Indicated hereinabove. However, the remaining part of the impugned order shall remain intact. The appellants/authorities are directed to proceed with the selection process strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the advertisement dated 22/08/2024 and in compliance with the applicable recruitment Rules.” They submitted that since the facts and issue involved in the present case are identical to that of Writ Appeal No. 504/2025 and other batch of writ appeals, this appeal may also be disposed of in the same terms. 4. Having considered the rival submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and having gone through the material on record, it is evident that the facts and issue involved in this appeal are identical to Writ Appeal No. 504/2025 and other batch of writ appeals decided on 23.07.2025, hence, this Court deems it appropriate, not to take a view other than what has been taken in Writ Appeal No. 504/2025 and other batch of writ appeals. 5. Since, this Court has already taken a view in Para 21 & 22 of the order dated 23.07.2025 passed in WA No. 504/2025 and other batch of appeals that the learned Single Judge erred in granting relaxation to the writ petitioners contrary to the express provisions of the applicable Wa 645 of 2025 8 recruitment Rules and the terms and conditions stipulated in the advertisement dated 22.08.2024, the present appeal is dismissed. Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice padma