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2026 DAILYLAW 16516 (HP)

Priyanka Sharma v. State of Himachal Pradesh

2026-04-08

Ajay Mohan Goel

body2026
JUDGMENT : Ajay Mohan Goel, J. By way of this writ petition, the petitioners have, inter alia, prayed for the following relief:- “It is therefore, respectfully prayed that an appropriate writ, order or direction may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioners by quashing the impugned order Annexure P-2 in favour of the petitioner in the interest of justice and fair play.” 2. The petitioners, who are registered with the Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicine, Himachal Pradesh, have approached this Court, feeling aggrieved by Advertisement dated 29.02.2024 (Annexure P-2), in terms whereof, applications were invited from desirous and eligible candidates for recruitment to 22 posts of Homeopathic Medical Officer, Class-I (Gazetted) on contract basis in Ayush Vibhag, Himachal Pradesh, through ORA, on the ground that in terms of this Advertisement, all the 22 advertised posts are to be filled in by way of direct recruitment, whereas, according to the petitioners, in terms of the Recruitment and Promotion Rules, copy whereof is appended with the petition as Annexure P-4, the post is to be filled in 50% by way of direct recruitment and 50% on batch-wise basis. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioners argued that in light of the fact that as per Annexure P-4, the post has to be filled in 50% by way of direct recruitment and 50% by way of batch-wise basis, the act of the respondents of not following the same religiously and filling up all the posts by way of direct recruitment, is bad in law. 4. On the other hand, learned Deputy Advocate General argued that the petition is completely misconceived and the rules being highlighted by the petitioners are not the Recruitment Rules relating to the appointment of Homeopathic Medical Officer. By referring to Annexure R-2/I, appended with the reply, learned Deputy Advocate General submitted that there are separate Recruitment and Promotion Rules to fill up the posts of Homeopathic Medical Officer and in terms of these rules, the posts are to be filled up 100% by way of direct recruitment. Learned Deputy Advocate General thus submitted that as the Advertisement is strictly in consonance with the Recruitment and Promotion Rules, the present petition being misconceived, is liable to be dismissed. 5. Learned Deputy Advocate General thus submitted that as the Advertisement is strictly in consonance with the Recruitment and Promotion Rules, the present petition being misconceived, is liable to be dismissed. 5. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioners as well learned Deputy Advocate General and having carefully gone through the pleadings as well as the documents appended therewith, this Court concurs with the submission made by the learned Deputy Advocate General. 6. The Advertisement in issue relates to recruitment of Homeopathic Medical Officer. The Recruitment and Promotion Rules, appended with the petition as Annexure P-4, relate to Ayurvedic Medical Officer. The Recruitment and Promotion Rules, which are appended with the reply as Annexure R-2/I, issued in terms of Notification dated 15.09.2010, demonstrate that the post of Homeopathic Medical Officer is a Class-I, Gazetted post. Column 10 of the Recruitment and Promotion Rules states that the post is to be filled in 100% by direct recruitment on regular basis or by recruitment on contract basis, as the case may be. This means that as far as the post of Homeopathic Medical Officer is concerned, which was advertised vide Annexure P-2, the same is to be filled in 100% by way of direct recruitment and as these rules have been framed under the Proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, obviously, the advertisement had to be in consonance with these rules and not the rules governing recruitment against the post of Ayurvedic Medical Officer. 7. In fact, the petitioners should have been fair enough with the court by appending the Recruitment and Promotion Rules relating to recruitment to the post of Homeopathic Medical Officer. By concealing these rules and trying to create an impression that Advertisement (Annexure P-2) ought to have been issued as per Annexure P-4, which rules were not the Recruitment Rules for promotion qua the post which was advertised, endeavour apparently was to mislead the Court. 8. Be that as it may, in light of the fact that the Advertisement issued by the Department is strictly in consonance with the Recruitment and Promotion Rules of the post in issue, which stands appended with the Reply as Annexure R-2/I, as this Court finds no merit in the petition, same is dismissed. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stand disposed of accordingly.