Case Background
This case concerns 79 constables serving in various battalions of the Bihar State Armed Police (earlier Bihar Military Police) and related units. They approached the Patna High Court after their claim for absorption as “Literate Constable (Operator)” in the Bihar Police Radio Organization was rejected.
The story begins with a Wireless Message dated 23.09.2014, issued by the Director General of Police, Bihar, Patna. This message, issued under Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual, invited willingness from newly recruited sepoys of different districts and units for absorption as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization, subject to prescribed qualifications.
After this exercise, 370 constables were recommended for absorption – 181 from the Bihar Military Police and 189 from the District Police Force. The 189 constables from the District Police Force were absorbed as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization. However, despite similar recommendations, the constables belonging to the Bihar Military Police, including the present petitioners, were not absorbed.
Feeling discriminated and aggrieved, the petitioners along with others first approached the Patna High Court in CWJC No. 9565 of 2017. By order dated 07.01.2019, the Court did not directly grant them relief but directed the Director General of Police to constitute a committee. This committee was to comprise the Director General of Bihar Military Police, the Additional Director General of Police of Bihar Police Radio Organization and other officers responsible for maintenance of the Radio Organization and Bihar Military Police units. The committee was to take a decision on the desirability of absorbing the recommended constables into the Bihar Police Radio Organization.
In compliance with this earlier direction, the Director General of Police, Military Police, Bihar, Patna, passed the impugned order dated 18.03.2019, rejecting the petitioners’ claim for absorption as Literate Constables (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization. It is this order dated 18.03.2019 that has been challenged in the present writ petition, CWJC No. 6903 of 2022.
What the Court Examined and Decided
The matter came up before Hon’ble Mr. Justice Nani Tagia of the Patna High Court. The petitioners were represented by a senior counsel, and the State was represented by a State Counsel (SC-8). Both sides filed their pleadings, including counter affidavits from the respondents.
The Court focused on three main aspects: the basis of the 2014 Wireless Message, the applicable recruitment rule for Literate Constable (Operator) at the relevant time, and whether the petitioners’ case was considered in light of that rule.
On 28.02.2025, while hearing the writ petition, the Court noted that the 23.09.2014 Wireless Message had been issued by the Director General of Police, Bihar, in terms of Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual. The Court also noticed an important gap: Rule 1235 itself did not clearly spell out the manner and method of filling up the posts of Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization—whether by direct recruitment or by absorption from volunteers of other police units and Home Guards.
In this situation, the Court asked the State Counsel to place on record any rule that specifically provided for the method of filling up these operator posts, if such a rule existed.
In response, respondent Nos. 4, 7 and 12 filed a counter affidavit on 02.04.2025. In that affidavit, they made two crucial statements:
First, they stated that there was no separate rule for filling up the post of Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization at the relevant time. The only rule operating then was Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual.
Second, they pointed out that subsequently the Bihar Police Telecommunications (Wireless) and Technical Non-Gazetted Cadre Rules, 2021 had been framed and notified by the Home Department on 07.04.2021. Under these 2021 Rules, the post of operator constable is now to be filled up through direct recruitment on the recommendation of the Commission. The Rules also allow, in case of delay in regular appointments, deputation of constables from other police units who have the required educational qualifications, with the approval of the Director General of Police, Bihar. However, such deputationists would not be permanently absorbed and must return to their parent units once regular appointees join.
The Court carefully considered this affidavit. It concluded that before the notification of the 2021 Rules on 07.04.2021, the only recruitment provision governing Literate Constable (Operator) posts in the Bihar Police Radio Organization was radio of the Bihar Police Manual.
From this, the Court drew a key conclusion: the Wireless Message dated 23.09.2014, under which the petitioners and the district constables had been recommended for absorption, was admittedly issued under Rule 1235. Therefore, the petitioners’ right to be absorbed, or not, had to be judged only under Rule 1235 as it stood at that time.
The Court then examined the impugned order dated 18.03.2019. It found that the petitioners’ case for absorption as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization had not been considered in the light of Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual. In simple terms, the decision-making authority did not apply the very rule under which the initial process was started.
The Court also observed that even in the earlier writ petition, CWJC No. 9565 of 2017, the Court’s judgment and order dated 07.01.2019 had not adjudicated the matter with reference to Rule 1235. Instead, it had only directed the formation of a committee to “take a call” on the desirability of absorption, without focusing on the specific recruitment rule.
Given this background, the Court decided that justice would best be served by ensuring that the correct rule—Rule 1235—was now properly applied. The Court did not itself decide whether the petitioners must be absorbed. Instead, it directed the authorities to re-examine their case in accordance with Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual, which was the rule in force at the time the recommendations were made.
Thus, the writ petition was disposed of with a specific direction: the respondents must consider the petitioners’ case for absorption as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization in the light of Rule 1235, within three months from the date of receipt or production of a copy of the Court’s order.
Importantly, the Court’s order maintains a balance. It recognizes that procedural fairness and correct application of rules are essential, especially where one set of similarly placed constables (from District Police) has already been absorbed and another set (from Bihar Military Police) has not. But at the same time, the Court does not overstep into the domain of the administrative authorities by directly ordering absorption. Instead, it mandates a lawful, rule-based reconsideration within a fixed time frame.
Why This Judgment Matters
This judgment is significant for constables and other government employees who feel left out when others in similar positions receive benefits or postings. The Patna High Court has emphasized that when a recruitment or absorption process is started under a particular rule, the authorities must decide claims under that same rule.
For the petitioners, this order gives a second, legally proper chance. Their case must now be freshly examined strictly under Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual, the only rule then in force. The authorities cannot ignore that framework or rely solely on later rules framed in 2021.
For the administration, the ruling is a reminder that decisions affecting service conditions cannot be arbitrary or based on vague notions of “desirability.” They must be tied to the applicable rules in force at the relevant time, especially where a formal process like the 2014 Wireless Message has been initiated.
More broadly, the judgment reinforces that High Courts can and will step in when procedural safeguards and proper application of service rules are overlooked, without necessarily dictating the final outcome on merits.
Legal Issues and Answers
- Issue: Whether the petitioners’ claim for absorption as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization could be rejected without applying Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual, under which the 2014 Wireless Message was issued.
Answer: The Court held that the petitioners’ right to be absorbed or otherwise must be determined in terms of Rule 1235. Since their case had not been considered in the light of Rule 1235, the matter had to be reconsidered afresh under that Rule. - Issue: What relief should be granted when the earlier decision and prior writ order did not proceed on the correct recruitment rule.
Answer: The Court disposed of the writ petition with a direction to the respondents to reconsider the petitioners’ cases for absorption as Literate Constable (Operator) in light of Rule 1235 of the Bihar Police Manual, within three months of receiving the order.
Cases Cited by the Court
- No previous judicial decisions are cited or relied upon in the judgment text provided.
Case Details
Case Number: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 6903 of 2022
Case Title: Rejesh Kumar Chandra & Ors. v. The State of Bihar & Ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Nani Tagia
Citation: 2025 (2) PLJR 845
Date of Judgment: 05.05.2025
Advocates for Petitioners: Mr. Y.V. Giri, Sr. Advocate; Mr. Ram Hriday Prasad, Advocate; Mr. Pranav Kumar, Advocate
Advocate for Respondents: Mr. Sheo Shankar Prasad, SC-8
Respondent Authorities (summary): State of Bihar through Chief Secretary; Director General of Police, Bihar; Director General of Police, Military Police/Bihar State Armed Police; Additional Director General of Police (Wireless and Technical Services); Additional Director General of Police, CID; Inspector Generals; Deputy Inspectors General; A.I.G.s; Superintendent of Police, Bihar Police Radio Organization, and various Commandants of BSAP battalions and Mahila Shastra Vahini; and Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department.
Nature of the Case: Writ petition under civil writ jurisdiction challenging rejection of claim for absorption/appointment as Literate Constable (Operator) in the Bihar Police Radio Organization and seeking reconsideration under the applicable recruitment rule.
Link to Judgment:https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjNjkwMyMyMDIyIzEjTg==-9lvIBsglUyc=
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