Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: High Court today dismissed petition filed by the guards of the Forest Protection Force seeking directions for treating them as civil employees instead of members of the belt force and imposed Rs one lakh cost upon them.
After hearing Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocate Veenu Gupta appearing for Rajesh Chib and others, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur observed, “no mention has been made in the instant writ petition that the petitioners had also filed a writ petition bearing SWP No. 2192/2001, which was dismissed in the year 2002, instead reference has been made in the writ petition to annexure ‘C’ which pertains to SWP Nos. 896/2005 and 415/2005 which were only interim orders staying the transfer of the petitioners from one district to another”.
“A statement has been made in the petition that the said petitions were subsequently withdrawn by the petitioners. However, no mention at all has been made to the petition bearing SWP No. 2192/2001 dismissed vide judgment and order dated 01.03.2002”, Justice Thakur said, adding “even after the filing of the objections by the respondents and the specific averments made in the objections that a similar relief was denied to the petitioners, no rejoinder was filed by the petitioners”.
“The petitioners, therefore, clearly concealed material facts and took a chance once again before this court to have their status determined with a view to establish that they were civil employees and not members of the belt force. This was clearly impermissible in law”, High Court said.
With these observations, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur dismissed the petition with costs of Rs one lakh which shall be deposited in the Advocate’s Welfare Fund.
In another petition filed by Balram Singh and others clubbed with petition filed by Rajesh Chib and others, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, directed the respondents to re-draw the seniority list of the petitioners strictly in accordance with rules applicable and consider all the eligible for promotion to the post of Inspector Forest Protection Force.
Advocate Rahul Pant appeared in the petition filed by Balram Singh and others.
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