Judgment Rai, J. 1. The facts necessary for the decision of this case may shortly be stated as follows. Sheojee Lal, the petitioner, was appointed as an assistant in the lower division on permanent basis in the office of the Director of Public Health, Bihar, Patna on 1-1-1949. On 31-10-1952, a circular letter was issued from the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bihar, to the Heads of various departments including the Director of public Health, Bihar. This circular letter was in connection with the appointment of upper division assistants in the Forest Department. The relevant portion of the circular letter (annexure A) ran as follows:- - "I have to state that two assistants in class III Upper Division in the scale of Rs. 120-8-200.00 are needed for the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle. The pasts are permanent. I shall be obliged if you kindly recommend names of 2 suitable assistants of your office who have passed the Upper Division Examination and may be spared, if appointed, The character rolls of the assistants recommended may also kindly be sent. The seniority in this office of the assistants who may be appointed, will be regulated by the rules on the subject and such orders as Government in the Finance Department may pass on the reference that will be made to them by me to regulate the seniorities". 2. On the 7-11-1952, the Director of Public Health, Bihar, wrote a letter to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bihar, (Annexure B) recommending the candidature of the petitioner Sheojee Lal. On the 1-12-1952, the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bihar, wrote a letter (annexure C) to the Director of Public Health, Bihar, Patna, to the following effect: "With reference to your letter No V3-02/52-1121 dated the 7th November, 1952, on the above subject, I have to state that Shri Sheoji Lal an assistant of your office has been selected for appointment as an officiating Upper Division assistant on Rs. 120.00 in the scale of Rs. 120-8-200.00 in the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle, Ranchi, against a permanent post. His continuance in the upper division post in the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle, is subject to his passing the upper division examination completely. He will be on probation for 1 year after passing the said examination. 120-8-200.00 in the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle, Ranchi, against a permanent post. His continuance in the upper division post in the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle, is subject to his passing the upper division examination completely. He will be on probation for 1 year after passing the said examination. If he is willing to accept the appointment, he should be relieved immediately so as to enable him to join his duty at Ranchi on or before 15-12-1952". On 25-5-1953, the Chief Conservator of Forest, Bihar issued an order of appointment (annexure D) the relevant portion of which runs as follows: 2. Babu Sheoji Lal an assistant of the office of the Director of Public Health, Bihar, Patna, is appointed with effect from 13-12-1952, as an officiating Upper Division assitant on Rs. 120.00 per month in the scale of pay of Rs. 120-8-200 plus the costs of living allowance admissible under rules, against an existing permanent vacancy in the office of the Conservator of Forests, Southern Circle". A copy of this order was forwarded to the petitioner on 31-5-1953. On 1-6-1953 the petitioner submitted a representation to the Minister Incharge, Revenue and Forests, Bihar (annexure H) wherein he submitted that he had consented to join the post in the Forest Department on a distinct understanding that he would be taken in as a permanent hand, and that his period of probationership would come to an end after a year, but he was surprised to find that his probationary appointment had been converted into an officiating appointment. He, therefore, prayed that the order whereby he was said to have been appointed as an officiating upper division assistant may be withdrawn and the status as originally offered may be restored. This representation of the petitioner was ultimately rejected. By an order dated 23-6-1954 passed by the Chief Conservator of Forests (annexure G) the petitioner was reverted to his original post in the office of the Director of Public Health, Bihar, Patna, with effect from 1-7-1954. The petitioner thereafter moved this Court for Issue of an appropriate writ for quashing the order dated 25-5-1953, by which he had been appointed as an officiating upper division assistant and the order dated 23-6-1954, by which he was ordered to revert to his original post in the Public Health Department. The petitioner thereafter moved this Court for Issue of an appropriate writ for quashing the order dated 25-5-1953, by which he had been appointed as an officiating upper division assistant and the order dated 23-6-1954, by which he was ordered to revert to his original post in the Public Health Department. It was further prayed that the order of reversion amounted to the reduction of the petitioner in rank and was ultra vires and void under Article 311, Constitution of India. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that from the circular letter dated 31-10-1952, issued from the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests, it was clear that suitable assistants were required for appointment as permanent incumbents and not as officiating ones. He submitted that it was on this assurance made by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bihar, that his client had agreed to join the Forest Department. He urged that when the petitioner joined his post as an assistant in the Forest Department on 13-12-1952, he would be deemed to have joined as a permanent hand though the first year of his service in the new post was that of a probationer. He submitted that the reversion of the petitioner to his old post in the Public Health Department which carried lesser pay amounted to a reduction in rank within the meaning of the Article 311(2) of the Constitution, and as the order of reversion had been passed without giving him any reasonable opportunity to show cause against the action proposed to be taken against him, such order is void, and the petitioner would be deemed to have continued in service in the Forest Department. In my opinion, there is no force in the contention of learned counsel for the petitioner. It is admitted that when the petitioner joined the Forest Department on 13-12-1952, he had not passed in all the papers of the departmental upper division examination. In fact, the announcement of his having passed the remaining papers of such an examination was published in the month of May 1953. Though by the circular letter (annexure A) the post for which suitable assistants were required was held out to be a permanent one, yet by annexure C it had been made clear that the present petitioner had been selected for appointment as an officiating upper division assistant. Though by the circular letter (annexure A) the post for which suitable assistants were required was held out to be a permanent one, yet by annexure C it had been made clear that the present petitioner had been selected for appointment as an officiating upper division assistant. The mention in that letter that he would be on probation for one year after passing the said examination did not, in my opinion, nullify the clear mention made in the earlier part of the letter that he had been selected for appointment as an officiating upper division assistant. I agree with the Government Pleader that the mention of probationership in that letter could not have carried an impression that the petitioner was to remain a probationer in the permanent post.Learned counsel for the opposite party has rightly argued with reference to the meaning of the term "probationer" as given in Sec. 41, Bihar Service Code that the present petitioner who already held a substantive post in the Department of Public Health could not have been called a probationer within the strict meaning of that term. The petitioner accepted this offer and joined his post on 13-12-1952. It may be true that when the circular letter (annexure A) was issued, it was contemplated to make a direct appointment to the post of upper division assistants, but for some reason or other when the offer of appointment was made by annexure C, it has been definitely stated that the petitioner had been selected for the post of an officiating upper division assistant. It was open to the petitioner to have got the position clarified before he joined the post on 13-12-1952 if there was any ambiguity in this offer.In my opinion, on the strength of the letter annexure C and the order of appointment annexure D, it is to be taken that the petitioner was appointed as an officiating upper division assistant with effect from 13-12-1952. In that view of the matter the order of the reversion of the petitioner to his original post in the Public Health Department did not in my option, amount to a reduction in rank, and hence that order did not contravene the provisions of Article 311 (2) of the Constitution. In my view, there is no justification for quashing the orders concerned. 4. In my view, there is no justification for quashing the orders concerned. 4. The result is that the application fails and is hereby dismissed but, in the circumstances of this case, there will be no order for costs. Sinha, J. 5 I agree.