S.Ramakrishna, And 4 Others v. The Government Of Ap., Panchayat Raj Dept And 16 Others

HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR AND HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. LAKSHMAN WRIT PETITION (TR) No.1820 OF 2017 ORDER: (Per Honourable Sri Justice Sanjay Kumar) O.A. No.1873 of 2014 [O.A. (SR) No.3709 of 2014] was filed before the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad. Upon abolition of the said Tribunal insofar as the State of Telangana is concerned, the said O.A. was transferred to the file of this Court and renumbered as W.P. (TR) No.1820 of 2017.

2. The prayer of the petitioners in this case was in relation to the seniority list in the category of Assistant Executive Engineers, Panchayat Raj Department, Zone - VI. Their grievance was that the said seniority list was prepared on the strength of roster points instead of merit ranking. A consequential direction was sought to the authorities to prepare the seniority list on the basis of merit obtained by the candidates in the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (for short 'APPSC') examination and to give placement appropriately.

3. As there was no clarity as to the procedure followed by the erstwhile APPSC, while communicating the merit list of candidates pursuant to the selection undertaken consequent to Notification No.3/1987, this Court directed Sri C. Srinivasa Baba, learned counsel for the APPSC, to get instructions. While so, Sri P.V. Suryanarayana, learned counsel representing Sri C. Srinivasa Baba, learned counsel,

would inform this Court that a fresh merit list of candidates vis-à-vis the Notification No.3/1987 has been drawn up by the Assistant Secretary, APPSC, Vijayawada, on 27.09.2019. A copy of the said merit list is placed on record. He would further inform this Court that the said merit list would be communicated to the State of Telangana, inasmuch as the same pertains to Zone - VI.

4. Dr. K. Lakshmi Narasimha, learned counsel for the petitioners, would state in the light of this development that the writ petition may be disposed of directing the authorities to take appropriate action in accordance with law upon the aforesaid merit list signed on 27.09.2019.

4. Learned Government Pleader for Services - II appearing for the State of Telangana states that he has no objection to the disposal of the writ petition on the aforestated lines.

5. The Writ Petition (TR) is accordingly disposed of permitting the APPSC to communicate the merit list signed on 27.09.2019 in relation to the selection undertaken pursuant to Notification No.3/1987. The State of Telangana shall take appropriate action, as warranted, in accordance with law on the strength of the aforesaid merit list and redraw the seniority of the persons appointed pursuant thereto strictly in accordance with law and due procedure. In the light of this exercise, which will have to be undertaken, the earlier final seniority list dated 04.11.2013, impugned presently, is set aside.

The State of Telangana shall undertake the exercise afresh by first coming out with a provisional seniority list and thereafter finalize it as per due procedure. The State of Telangana shall endeavour to complete the exercise expeditiously and in any event, not later than three (3) months from the date of receipt of the merit list from the APPSC.

Pending miscellaneous petitions, if any, shall also stand dismissed. No order as to costs.

___________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J ___________________ K. LAKSHMAN, J September 30, 2019.

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