Dr. M. K. Sharma, J. ( 1 ) PETITIONERS, five in numbers, have preferred TO this writ petition praying for a writ of mandamus praying for issuance of a direction to the respondents to promote the petitioners as Senior Pharmacists against reserved quota vacancies for Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes in accordance with the 40 points roster system from a retrospective date, that is, from the date when a vacancy reserved for Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe had arisen. ( 2 ) PETITIONERS No. 1 and 2 joined the services of the respondents as Junior Pharmacist somewhere in the year 1978 whereas petitioners No. 3 and 4 joined as Junior Pharmacist in 1979 and the petitioner No. 5 joined the service as Junior Pharmacist in the year 1980. According to the Recruitment Regulations for promotion to the post of Senior Pharmacist, a Junior Pharmacist is eligible to be promoted with at least five years service rendered in the grade after appointment thereto on regular basis. The said post of Senior Pharmacist is admittedly a selection post under the Recruitment Regulations. According to the petitioners, the petitioners No. 1 and 2 became eligible for promotion to the post of Senior Pharmacist on completion of five years of service as Junior Pharmacist in the year 1983 whereas the petitioners No. 3 and 4 became eligible for such promotion in the year 1984 and the petitioner No. 5 became eligible as such in the year 1985. ( 3 ) THE petitioners have also placed on record an agreement entered into between the Delhi Vidyut Board and the DESU Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Workers Association whereunder it was agreed in pursuance of discussion that backlog would be worked out in all categories of posts including the promotion posts and that separate seniority lists of Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe employees shall be prepared for all categories of posts and that where eligible Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidates are not likely to be eligible for a period of one year or more, efforts would be made as per existing Rules so that minimum prescribed experience period might be relaxed for general as well as Scheduled Caste candidates, that is, from five years to three years or from three years to two years. The said agreement entered into between the Delhi Vidyut Board and the DESU Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes Workers Association is annexed as Annexure `2 to the writ petition. The said agreement entered into between the Delhi Vidyut Board and the DESU Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes Workers Association is annexed as Annexure `2 to the writ petition. Relying on the said Memo of Understanding, counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that although the agreement envisaged maintenance of a separate seniority list of Schedules Caste/scheduled Tribe employees, no such separate seniority list as envisaged under the agreement was prepared by the Delhi Vidyut Board, nor relaxation was given in the case of the petitioners to the criteria of five years of service in the post from which promotion is sought for, although petitioners were entitled to such benefit. ( 4 ) COUNSEL appearing for the petitioners also submitted that there are altogether 20 persons in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist out of which none belonged to SC/st categories at the time of filing of the writ petition although according to the 40 points roster system, the post at points No. 1,8, 14,22 and 28 were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and vacancies at points No. 4 and 17 were reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates. The counsel further submitted that although through the years several posts were created and vacancies arose in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist, none of the said posts was filled up by any reserved category candidate and, therefore, there is apparent violation of the 40 points roster system and also the provisions of various circulars issued by the Government in respect of reservation of vacancies for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates. The petitioners specifically relied upon circular issued by the Central Government wherein it has been provided that if in case any Scheduled Tribe candidate is not available for filling up the vacancy at the point where it is reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidate, the same could be filled up by a Scheduled Caste candidate and vice-versa. ( 5 ) THE learned counsel appearing for the respondents, however, refuted the allegations of the counsel appearing for the petitioners and relied upon the provisions of Recruitment Rules contending, inter alia, that the post of Senior Pharmacist is a selection post to be filled up by candidates having at least five years service in the grade rendered after appointment thereto on a regular basis. It was also submitted that the selection for promotion to the said post is to be made by duly constituted Departmental Promotion Committee on the basis of a assessment which is made after considering the service record of the Officials who are within the zone of consideration. The respondents have also placed on record an affidavit showing year wise vacancy positions in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist. Counsel also drew my attention to the various circulars issued by the Central Government providing the criteria of promotion. In terms of the same, promotion to a selection post is to be made from amongst the candidates who are within the zone of consideration which could be five times of the vacancy/vacancies even on the extended basis and if a Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidate is not available within the zone of consideration, the vacancy although reserved cannot be filled up by such a candidate and the said reserved post is to be dereserved. She further submitted that according to the instructions given in the Brochure, in case of reservation in promotions by selection fro Group `c to Group `b , within Group `b and from Group `b to the lowest rung of Group `a , no carry forward of the reserved post is envisaged and, therefore, no carry forward of reservations in the post of Senior Pharmacist could be made. She further submitted that a vacancy could be interchanged between Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes only after three years carry forward in favour of Scheduled Tribe candidates and vice-versa. ( 6 ) DURING the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioners No. 1,2 and 3 were promoted to the post of Senior Pharmacist with effect from 17. 6. 1994, 29. 8. 1994 and 29. 8. 1995 respectively. The question, therefore, that arises for my consideration is whether the said petitioners as also the petitioners No. 4 and 5 could be directed to be promoted to the post of Senior Pharmacist immediately on completion of requisite five years period of service against vacancies which had arisen thereafter. ( 7 ) ON perusal of the records I find that initially in the year 1966 there was only one post of Senior Pharmacist which was an unreserved post and, therefore, the same was filled up by a candidate from the general category. ( 7 ) ON perusal of the records I find that initially in the year 1966 there was only one post of Senior Pharmacist which was an unreserved post and, therefore, the same was filled up by a candidate from the general category. In the year 1974 two more posts were sanctioned to make a total of three posts in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist. Out of the aforesaid two posts, one was reserved for Scheduled Caste and the other for general candidates. The reserved post was filled up by one Shri Tota Ram and the vacancy meant for general category was filled up by promoting Shri Ram Prakash. On 31. 7. 1978, a general category candidate namely, Shri Ram Prakash retired and in his place a general category candidate was promoted as Senior Pharmacist. Therefore, as on that date all the three posts came to be filled up, two from the general category and one by a Scheduled Caste candidate. ( 8 ) ACCORDING to the Recruitment Rules, the post of Senior Pharmacist is to be filled up by promotion on the basis of selection from amongst the Junior Pharmacists with at least five years service in the grade. The zone of consideration to be followed is as per Government of India s instructions issued on 24. 12. 1988 modified on 10. 4. 1989 which was further modified on 16. 8. 1990 and 22. 4. 1992 along with the revised zone of consideration instructions dated 12. 10. 1990 and 1. 11. 1990. As per the said instructions, if eligible Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidate is not available within the zone of consideration which is three times of the number of vacancies, the said zone of consideration is to be extended up to five times only and not beyond that. The respondents have placed on record a seniority list of Junior Pharmacists in which thepetitioner No. 1 is shown/ placed at Serial No. 57, petitioner No. 2 at Serial No. 58, petitioner No. 3 at Serial No. 59, petitioner No. 4 at Serial No. 63 and petitioner No. 5 at Serial No. 72. ( 9 ) SUBSEQUENTLY on 7. 1. 1982, 14 posts of Junior Pharmacists were upgraded to Senior Pharmacists. Since at that stage reservation was vacancy based, as per roster 10 posts were to go to the general category, 2 to Scheduled Casts and 2 to Scheduled Tribes. ( 9 ) SUBSEQUENTLY on 7. 1. 1982, 14 posts of Junior Pharmacists were upgraded to Senior Pharmacists. Since at that stage reservation was vacancy based, as per roster 10 posts were to go to the general category, 2 to Scheduled Casts and 2 to Scheduled Tribes. On 29. 4. 1982, on consideration of the suitability of eligible candidates for filling up 14 vacancies, 13 posts were filled up by general category, that is, 10 on regular basis and 3 on ad hoc basis and one by Scheduled Caste against a Scheduled Caste vacancy. The petitioners at that relevant time did not fulfil the eligibility criteria as they did not complete five years of service in the post of Junior Pharmacist. Since no Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidate was eligible for promotion, the concept of extended zone of consideration was not given effect to. Accordingly, therefore, in that relevant year 17 posts of Senior Pharmacists stood filled up wherein there were 2 Scheduled Caste candidates and 15 general category candidates. However, Shri Tota Ram who was a Scheduled Caste candidate and promoted in the year 1974 was reverted on 13. 10. 1982 on account of punishment imposed on him in certain disciplinary proceedings. ( 10 ) OUT of the selected candidates, on 29. 4. 1982 four candidates refused promotion and another person who was promoted to the post of Senior Pharmacist retired and, therefore, six vacancies again became available for promotion. Steps were taken for filling up those six posts and a Departmental Promotion Committee was constituted for the purpose and 18 candidates were eligible in terms of the Recruitment Rules who were called for selection. The petitioners at that stage could not even come within the extended zone of consideration for the said six posts inasmuch as the extended zone of consideration could have been extended only to candidates upto Serial No. 48 in terms of the seniority list which is REFERRED TO to earlier whereas, the petitioner was placed at Serial No. 58 of the said seniority list. The Departmental Promotion Committee prepared a panel of 7 persons in pursuance of which six persons were promoted to the post of Senior Pharmacist on 19. 1. 1984. On 31. 1. 1984, again one post fell vacant on the retirement of Shri Hari Chand which was given on ad hoc basis to the 7th man on the panel. The Departmental Promotion Committee prepared a panel of 7 persons in pursuance of which six persons were promoted to the post of Senior Pharmacist on 19. 1. 1984. On 31. 1. 1984, again one post fell vacant on the retirement of Shri Hari Chand which was given on ad hoc basis to the 7th man on the panel. On the resignation of one person, another post fell vacant and the said post was filled up by a general candidate on 25. 4. 1986. The only person in the category of Scheduled Caste eligible for consideration was Shri Tota Ram who was considered, but, was not found fit. On 31. 3. 1986 another vacancy occured which was given to Shri Tota Ram as against which Shri Tota Ram having been found eligible was promoted by order dated 15. 10. 1986. Shri Tota Ram, however, requested for deferment of promotion and the said vacancy was given to Shri O. P. Gupta on 4. 12. 1986. ( 11 ) THE petitioners were not within the zone of consideration even during that period as they were placed much below in the said seniority list and the zone of consideration could not have been extended beyond five times the vacancy. In 1988 because of death of one Senior Pharmacist, another post fell vacant for which five persons up to the extended zone of consideration were considered and one Shri Desh Raj, a general category candidate was selected and appointed. No Scheduled Caste candidates including the petitioners came within the consideration zone for the reason that the people available for consideration were from Serial No. 28 and five persons who were considered for promotion were up to Serial No. 32 whereas, the names of the petitioner were at Serial No. 57 onwards. ( 12 ) ON 28. 10. 1988, one new post of Senior Pharmacist was sanctioned for which a Departmental Promotion Committee met and at that stage person at Serial No. 32 was selected as per the grade. During the aforesaid selection, persons from Serial No. 29 to 33 were considered and the panel of two candidates were prepared. I find from the records that till that time the total posts in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist were 18. On 22. 5. During the aforesaid selection, persons from Serial No. 29 to 33 were considered and the panel of two candidates were prepared. I find from the records that till that time the total posts in the cadre of Senior Pharmacist were 18. On 22. 5. 1989, two more posts were upgraded from Junior Pharmacist to Senior Pharmacist out of which against one post, the person from the earlier panel was appointed on 7,. 7. 1989 and the other post of Scheduled Caste was given to Shri Tota Ram after the Departmental Promotion Committee duly considered him. Shri Tota Ram vide his letter dated 6. 2. 1991 again refused his promotion. Subsequently in pursuance of a circular issued by the Central Government for clearing backlog vacancies with immediate effect, the petitioners No. 1,2 and 3 were given promotion to the post of Senior Pharmacist with effect from 17. 6. 1994, 29. 8. 1994 and 29. 8. 1995 respectively, although they did not come within the zone of consideration, but, in order to clear the backlog, benefits were given to them although strictly speaking they might not have been within the zone of consideration. Thus, at present as against 20 posts in the cadre of Senior Pharmacists, there are 3 Scheduled Caste candidates working as Senior Pharmacists. Petitioners No. 4 and 5 are placed much below in the seniority list and even if the principle of extended zone of consideration is applied, in spite of that, they cannot be brought in within the zone of consideration and accordingly they have to wait their turn for promotion to the post of Senior Pharmacist. ( 13 ) THE scheme of reservation for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in promotions by selection have been laid down in the circular issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms dated 20th July, 1974. In the said circular certain instructions have been laid down which were made applicable to the filling up of vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The said instructions provide that selection against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be made only from among those Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes candidates who are within the normal zone of consideration. The said instructions provide that selection against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be made only from among those Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes candidates who are within the normal zone of consideration. It was also provided that for determining the number of vacancies to be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in a Select List, a separate roster on the lines of the roster providing points 1,8,14,22,28 and 36 reserved for Scheduled Caste and points 4,17 and 31 for Scheduled Tribes should be followed. It was also laid down that if owing to non-availability of suitable candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, it would be necessary to dereserve a reserved vacancy and a reference for dereservation should be made to the Department where claims of Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidates eligible for promotion in reserve vacancies have been considered in the manner indicated in the Office Memorandum. The instruction further lays down that there would, however, be no carry forward of reservations from year to year in the event of an adequate number of Scheduled Caste/scheduled Tribe candidates not being available in any particular year. ( 14 ) THE aforesaid instructions came to be modified to a certain extent by subsequent circulars, but the condition that the selection against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be made only from among those Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes officers who are within the normal zone of consideration, has not undergone any change. ( 15 ) REFERENCE may also be made to the circular issued in the form of office memorandum dated 8. 2. 1991 laying down the policy of recommending general candidates against reserved vacancies in promotion case where eligible SC/st officers are not available within the zone of consideration including extended zone. The said circular also enables a department to fill up such a vacancy by a general candidate after getting it deserved. The ratio and principles laid down in R. K. Sabharwal and others Vs. State of Punjab and others reported in (1995) 2 SCC 745 as observed in the said decision are prospective and, therefore, are not applicable to the facts of the present case. The ratio and principles laid down in R. K. Sabharwal and others Vs. State of Punjab and others reported in (1995) 2 SCC 745 as observed in the said decision are prospective and, therefore, are not applicable to the facts of the present case. ( 16 ) AS seen from the records as stated above, the petitioners were placed at Serial No. 57 onwards and, therefore, they were not within the normal zone of consideration when the matter for filling up the posts of Senior Pharmacists was taken up by the Departmental Promotion Committee from amongst the eligible candidates. In my considered opinion, therefore, there is no error committed by the respondents in not promoting the petitioners earlier to 1994 when the petitioners No. 1,2 and 3 were promoted. Petitioners No. 1 and 2 were promoted in the year 1994 whereas, petitioner No. 3 was promoted in the year 1995. Petitioners No. 4 and 5 are placed much below in the seniority list and, I have no hesitation in my mind that their case would also be considered in accordance with the prevailing policy and law applicable in view of the decision in R. K. Sabharwal (supra ). Accordingly, I do not find any merit in this writ petition and the same stands dismissed. .