Andhra HC (Pre-Telangana)
1.P.Venkata Ramana, S/O Narasaiah, ... vs 1.The State Of A.P., Rep. By Its Prl. ... on 23 November, 2017
Author: M.Ganga Rao
Bench: M.Ganga Rao
HONBLE SRI JUSTICE V.RAMASUBRAMANIAN AND HONBLE SRI JUSTICE M.GANGA RAO
Writ Petition No.39040 of 2017
23-11-2017
1.P.Venkata Ramana, S/o Narasaiah, Aged 24 years, Occ: Student, Peddaorampadu Village, Obulavaripalli Mandal, Kadapa Distric
3. Battula Prathap Kumar 4. P.Rajesh Babu 5. K.Penchalaiah Petitioners
1.The State of A.P., Rep. by its Prl. Secretary, General Admn., Secretariat, Velagapudi, Guntur Dist. 2. The APPSC, Prathib
Respondents
Counsel for Petitioners:Mr. U.D. Jai Bhima Rao
Counsel for Respondent No.1:Government Pleader for
Services-I (Andhra Pradesh)
Counsel for Respondent No.2:Mr. C.Srinivasa Baba,
Standing Counsel
<Gist:
>Head Note:
? Cases referred:
Nil.
HONBLE SRI JUSTICE V.RAMASUBRAMANIAN
AND
HONBLE SRI JUSTICE M.GANGA RAO
Writ Petition No.39040 of 2017
Order: (per V.Ramasubramanian, J.)
Aggrieved by the dismissal of the original application by
the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, the
petitioners who applied for selection to Group-II Services in the
State, have come up with the above writ petition.
2. Heard Mr. U.D. Jai Bhima Rao, learned counsel for the
petitioners and Mr. C.Srinivasa Baba, learned Standing Counsel
for the A.P. Public Service Commission.
3. By a Notification bearing No.18/2016, dated
08-11-2016, the Service Commission invited applications for
appointment to Group-II Services, both on the executive side
and on the non-executive side. Paragraph-12 of the Notification
which contained the procedure of selection, indicated that in
the screening test, candidates will be picked up in the ratio of
50 per one notified post for the main examination in the order of
General Merit. However, the Notification did not prescribe the
minimum pass mark in the screening test.
4. The petitioners who belong to the Scheduled Castes,
filed an application before the A.P. Administrative Tribunal
contending that mere prescription of the ratio of 1:50 without
applying the scheme of reservation at the stage of screening
test, may eventually result in the reserved categories being
edged out of selection in total. This would not happen if in the
screening test, a minimum qualifying mark alone is prescribed.
Since the screening test is made a competitive examination, and
also since 1:50 ratio is prescribed for all candidates put
together, the petitioners apprehended that the benefit of
reservation, will not be available to candidates. However, the
Tribunal dismissed the application, on the basis of a judgment
of this Court in S.Jaffar Saheb v. State of Andhra Pradesh
[1985(2) APLJ 380]. The said judgment was also confirmed by
the Supreme Court in the decision in A.P. Public Service
Commission v. Baloji Badhavath [(2009) 5 SCC 1].
5. Aggrieved by the said order of the Tribunal, the
petitioners have come up with the above writ petition.
6. We have no quarrel with the primary contention of the
petitioners that if 1:50 ratio is applied at the stage of screening,
there is a possibility that one reserved category, may get
completely edged out. The ratio in A.P. Public Service
Commission v. Baloji Badhavath, would apply to cases where
a minimum qualifying marks are prescribed. Wherever
minimum qualifying marks are prescribed, even the reserved
category candidates are obliged to secure such a minimum
qualifying mark.
7. But where the short-listing of the candidates on the
basis of screening test is purely on the basis of competition
which is restricted to a ratio of 1:50, the same may at times
result in injustice to the reserved categories. Therefore,
on principle, the contention of the petitioners may be right.
8. But what has happened in this case in practical terms
is that in the screening test, candidates belonging to the
Scheduled Castes in the ratio of more than 1:50 have been
short-listed. The learned Standing Counsel appearing for the
Public Service Commission today produced a tabular column
containing the statistics with regard to selection of candidates
community wise. Out of the total number of 982 vacancies for
filling up of which the Notification was issued by the Public
Service Commission, 85 posts were reserved for Scheduled
Castes, and a total of 1,16,180 candidates belonging to the
Scheduled Castes took the examinations. Out of these
candidates, a total of 8,262 candidates have been short-listed
for the main examination from among the Scheduled Castes.
In other words, the number of candidates short-listed in the
screening test from among the Scheduled Castes candidates is
1:97. Therefore, the apprehension with which the petitioners
went before the Tribunal, has not come true. In such
circumstances, we do not think that the dismissal of the
original application has caused any harm or prejudice to the
petitioners. Hence, the writ petition is dismissed.
The miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this writ petition
shall stand closed. No costs.
___________________________
V.RAMASUBRAMANIAN, J.
__________________ M.GANGA RAO, J.
23rd November, 2017.