impugned letter dated 07.09.2022, issued by the respondent– authorities in connection with the recruitment process for the post of Lower Division Clerk (hereinafter referred to as ‘LDC’), 2013. It is alleged that by virtue of the aforesaid letter, the respondents restricted appointments to merely 4000 posts, notwithstanding the availability of approximately 19,000 vacancies under the said recruitment exercise. Inasmuch as the issues raised in all these writ petitions rest substantially upon common questions of law and fact, this Court, with the consent of the learned counsel appearing for the parties, has considered it appropriate to take up S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18145/2024 titled Ramesh Chand Saini and Another v. State of Rajasthan and Others , as the lead matter for adjudication and factual reference. It is, however, deemed apposite to clarify that any divergence in the factual averments or narrative details contained in the respective petitions forming part of this batch shall not affect or dilute the adjudication of the legal issues which fall for determination. The present judgment shall, therefore, govern and apply to all connected writ petitions on a mutatis mutandis basis, save and except to the extent of such factual distinctions as may bear no material relevance to the core questions of law addressed herein. 2. For the sake of clarity and completeness, the reliefs/prayers as sought by the petitioners in the lead petition are reproduced hereinbelow in extenso:
