Allowed

Saluvadi Sumalatha v. The Telengana Residential Educational Institutions Recruitment Boardd(Trei-Rb) and Another

Telangana HC4 Sept 2020WP/947/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court allowed a writ petition challenging the appointment of a non-local candidate against a zone-specific quota. The court held that exhaustion of merit-based unreserved vacancies invalidates further use of a candidate's option to another zone, violating the Presidential Order.

What did the court decide?

Appointment of 2nd respondent set aside. 1st respondent directed to redraw merit list for local Zone VI candidates. Petitioner to be appointed if next meritorious.

Saluvadi Sumalatha Vs The Telengana… — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Telangana HC (2020)

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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA

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(Special Original J urisdiction)

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FRIDAY ,THE FOURTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P NAVEEN RAO

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WRIT PETITION NO: 947 OF 2020

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Between:

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Saluvadi Sumalatha, D/o Pentaiah, Aged. 36 years, Occ. Contract Residential Teacher ln Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educatioal High School and Junior College, Tadwai Village and l,4andal, Kamareddy District.

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...PETITIONER

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AND

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1 The Telengana Residential Educational lnstitutions Recruitment Boardd(TREIRB) and Another, Rep.by its Executive Officer (Convenor), D.S.S.Bhavan, lVlasab Tank, Hyderabad.

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2 Dodda lVlamata, D/o and age not known, Occ. Junior Lecturer Zoology, Telangana Minority Residential Educational lnstitution Junior College, Nagaram Village, Nizamabbad lt/andal, Nizamabad District 503 002

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ, order or direction more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1st respondent to replace the 2nd respondent and consider the case of the Petitioner for appointment as Junior Lecturer in Zoology with all consequential benefits

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lA NO: 1 OF 2020

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Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the^petition, the High Court may be^pleased to direct the 1st respondent to replace the 2nd respondent and consider the case of the^petitioner for appointment as Junior Lecturer in Zoology.

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Counsel for the Petitioner:SRl. J. R. MANOHAR RAO

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Counsel for the Respondent No. 1: GP FOR EDUCATION/GP FOR SERVICES-l

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Counsel for the Respondent No. 2: SMT. K. PALLAVI

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The Court at the stage of admission made the following:

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-J

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HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO

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WRIT PETITION NO.947 OF 2O2O

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ORDER:

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The Telangana Residential trdr,rcational lnstitutions Recruitment Board (TREI-RB) issued Notification No.3 of 2018 calling for applications to make recruitment to various disciplines in Junior Lecturer cadre. Petitioner responded to thc said notification by applying to the post of .Junior Lecturcr in Zoolog5,. ln Zooe Vl, there u'ere six vacancies in Junior Lccturer (Zoologl ) discipline. Petitioner claiming to be iocal candrdat<: oi Zone VI. ln thc selections conducted by the 1.t responden t- Board pctitioncr secured rank No.49 in Zone VI. Petitioner is claiming appointment against vacancy reserved for SC (Women) in Zone VI. According to petitioner Dodda Mamata-2nd respondent belongs to Zone V and she secured rank No.35 in Zone V, whereas she is selected and appointed to the post of Junior Lecturer in Zoologr in Zone VI against SC (W) roster point. Challenging the selection and appointment of the 2nd respondent, this writ petition is liled.

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Heard Sri J.R.Manohar Rao, Iearned counsel for thc petitioner, learned Government Pleader for Education appearing^[or the first respondcnt and Smt K.Pallar i^{;rppearingfor lhe 2rr(t} respondent.

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According to learncd cor-tnsel Sri J.ll.Mar-rohar^{Rao, lhe post} o[ Junior Lecturer is organized as Zonal^{cadre posl in aLccordance} u'ith the A.P. Public trmployment^{(Organizationol LocalCadres} and Regulation of Direct^{Recruitment)Order,1975 (for short 'the} Presidential Order'). Accqr4ilg^{to learned counsel, the postof}

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Junior Lecturer has to be lilled up in the ratio of 40:60 i.e., 4O 7o vacancies are thro\'n open to all based on thc merit secured and irrespective of the local candidate status and 60% of the vacancies are exclusively to be filled up by the local candidates of particular zone. As per 40:60 ratio, only three posts of Junior Lecturer in Zoology were available for filling up in this manner in Zone Vl. The 2nd respondent was the last candidate shown in the merit list in Zone VI, whereas in Zone V merit list, she secured 1 1th position in the over all merit. As she was not coming within the first three me rit ranking positions in Zone VI, she cannot be appointed against unreserved vacancy in accordance with thc Prcsidential Order and that vacanc)' has to be given to the local candidate o[ Zone YL He u,ould subrnit that though 2n,t rcspondcnt also bclongs to Scheduled Castc category', but the vacancv is requrrcd to be lilled up b1, the locai candidate of Zone VI only. Petitioner being thc next meritorious candidate rn Zone YI, she r.r'as entitled to be appointed. He would therefore, submit that appolntment of 2nd respondent was wholly illegal and on account of illegal action of the 1.t respondent, the right of petitioner to be appointed as per the merit secured by her is illegally denied.

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4 . Smt K. Pallavi learned counsel appearing for the 2"d respondent submitted that though the 2nd respondent belongs to Zone Y; she u,as validly appointed against one of the vacancies reserved for Scheduled Caste (women) in Zone VI. She has contcnded that 2"d respondent secured more merit compared to petitioner and therefore, petitloner cannot complain against appointment of 2"d respondent. She would submit that out of 35 vacancies of Juntor Lecturers rn Zoologr,9 posts were reserved for

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PA'R,J WP 947 o1 202() ^'o

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Scheduled Caste open and Women in three residential societies. ln Zone VI one was meant lor Scheduled Caste (General) and six for Scheduled Caste (Women). As per the Presidential Order, ratio of 30:70 would apply between open to all and local candidates, and in the said manner the reservation principle was appliecl for locals and others. As per the Presidential Ordcr, there was one unreserved vacancy meant to be filled up b)' SC (Women) candidate. She would submit that Para Vlll ol the recruitmenl notification deals u,ith procedure of selcction, As pcr subparagraph 4 of this paragraph, selection and appointmcnt ol' candidates is based on the option exercised by the candidates. The first option of second respondent w'as Zone V and second option was Zone Yl. As the 2nd respondent was the next meritorious SC (Women) candidate to be accommodated against one of the vacancies reserved for Scheduled Caste^(Wome n) tn Zone VI, as her second option was Zone Yl, she rvas appointed to that vacancv. As this procedure is prescribcd in the recruitmcnt notification and u,hen the same is not challenged, the petitioner is not entitled to challenge the selection ol' the second respondcnl. She placcd reiiance on merit list incorporatcd iu Paragraph No.9 of the coLlnter alflclavit in the form of tabulzrted statement and the reiative merit secured bl r,arious cancliclatc's appointed against Scheduled caste vacancies in Zones V and Vl in^{paragraphNo.1O.} She submits that the 2,'d respondent was^{selected against} Scheduled Caste (women) unreserved vacancy in Zorre Vl^{as per} 30:70 ratio.

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The learned Government Pleader supplementing^the submissions made by t.r..ld-lor.,"el^{Smt K.Pallaviwould submit}

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that thc 2,'d rcspondent sccured more mcriL than the petitioncr altd therclorc, hcr appointmcnt cannot bc faulted. Petitioncr has rro manner of right to scek appointment over and above a more meritorious canciidate. At an]'rate, petitioner cannot be appointed as she does not have appropriate merit and therefore, she has no locus standi to challenge the appointment o[ 2nd respondent.

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The undisputed facts, to the extent relevant, are noted hereunder:

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The first respondent resorted to make selections to the posts of Junior Lecturers in the Residential colleges. For this recruitment, the provisions of the Presidential order are applicable. As per the provisions of Presidential Order, three vacancies in the cadre of Junior Lecturers (Zoolog,J in Zone VI are meant to be filled up based on over all merit irrespectivc of the local status of the candidates. The 2nd respondent is local candidate of Zone V. She $,as not figuring ri'ithin the top three list of meritorious candidates. Petitior-rer is local candidate of Zone VI. Petitioner secured rank No.49 in Zonc VI and 2nd respondent secured rank No.35 ir-r Zone V. The vacancy against u,hich both ol them are claiming employment is reserved to be filled up by SC (Women) candidate.

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7 . The only question requires, consideration is whether, appointment of 2"d respondent against vacancy reserved for Scheduled Caste (Women) in Zone VI is valid?

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The recruitment to Government service and service in the State Government undertakings/ societies/ corporations is governcd b1' two krr-rds of rcservation. Rcscrvation for the social

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groups and reservation to the local candidates of a unit Reservation under the second category is across the board.

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The Presidential Order created thrce tier hicrarchical structure of posts to govern its provisions. Up to Junior Assistant, thc posts are organized :rs District cadre posts. The Posts abovc .Junior Assistant are organized as Zonal Cadre posts. Somc ol these posts are also organized as Multi Zonal Cadre Posts. At the top of hierarchy, the posts are organized as State Cadre posts. For the post organized at the District level, 80% are reserved for local candidates of the district. For lhe Zonal Cadre posts, 7 0o/o are reserved for local candidates. Some of these posts are also organized in the ratio ol 60:40 i.e., 60 for the locals. For the posts ol Junior Lecturers 60:40 ratio is applied. Four years of study up to 1Oth class or seven years of residence n'ould determine the status of a person as belonging to a particular district or zone as the case may be. 2O"/c' I 3Oo/o I 4O7o posts, as the case may, are meant to be filled up based on over all merit secured in the selection process, irrespective ol the local status of a candidate. The Presidential Order requires filling up the posts u,hich are not reserved for local candidates, first bl, drau ing up ove r all merit and after tilling up the vacancies in this manner, thc vacancies reserwed for local candidates should be filled up.

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The Presidential order ixclusively reserves 8O%o I 7O%o I 600/o ol vacancies as the case may be, in favour of local candidates of the unit of appointment. There can be local candidates over and above this percentage. Whereas, to fill up vacancies agarnst 2Oo/o I 3O'y. I 40o , as thc case may be, u,ithout regard to local candidate

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s[atus, outer limit is prescribed. In other words, ln no circumstance appointment of persons against unreserved vacancies, as per the Presidential Order shall exceed the outer limit.

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1 1. In the vacancies t'hich are lilled up for the unrescrved categorv post, as per thc Presidential Order, there can be iocal candidates appointed in the respectivc local cadres based on over all merit secured by them and in the final merit list the number of local candidates can be more than the percentage reserved for them. In other words, in any given recruitment, the recruiting authorify has to ensure minimum representation of local candidates and in no circumstance representation of non locals can exceed the maximum prescribed limit.

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Thus, the scheme of Presidential Order, envisages appointment ol a candidatc against unreserved vacancv irrcspectir,,e of locerl canclidate status but for the vacancies reservcd lor the local candidates, onh'a local candidatc can be considercd,. In other words, the rccruiting authority/ appointing authorit]- rs required to prepare tu,o merit lists. First is the over all merit list, irrcspcctive of the local status of the candidates, and adjust the mcritorious candidates to the unreserved vacancies as per the Presidential Order. After this process is completed, he is required to drau'another merit list only with the candidates answering the status of local candidates against vacancies ear marked to be filled up by local candidates of that particular cadre i.e., District/Zone.

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In the post of Junior Lecturer (Zoolog) in Zone VI, seven vacancies were notified, out of^q,hich, three were meant to be filled

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up based on over all merit. The first rcspondcnt admits that the 2nd respondent is the local candidate of Zone V and has not secured merit to be accommodated against three vacancies ear marked to be filled up based on the over ali merit without regard to the local category status of the candidate. That being so, first respondent sought to justify appointment of second respondent in Zone VI in Paragraph Nos.10 and 11 of the counter affidavit filed by the 1.t respondent. They read as under:

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"Para 10 : .....The candidates at Sl.Nos.26, 28, 29, 30 and 31, who are SC (W) from Zone VI have been selected against the SC {W)^{local reserved posts in ZoneVl rvith ranks 39 (Marks114.50),} 42 (Marks 111.00) in TSWRDI Societr,, 45 (Marks 100.75) in TMREIS, 46 (Marks 97.00) & 47(Marks 94.00) in'l"l'WREI Societ,v respectively.

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Para 11. .....The cut off marks of SC female candidate in Zone V rras 124.75 rvith rank 27 and there rvas no vacanc1' available in Zone-V for the ncxt belorv rank SC Woman local canciidate to get selcction in Zone-V. Hence, thc next alailablc SC Woman candidate u,ith Rank 35 and marks 12 I rvho cxercised hcr second option to Zone Vl at the time of submission of hcr application on online rlas taken into account ar'rd shc has bccrr sclccted aLgainst the available SC (W) unreservecl var:anc1- in Zonc-Vl un(lc-r SC(W) Unreserved vacancy arose in TMREi Society."

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Ms Pallavi, learned counsel for second respondent emphasized on two aspects to support'the appointment ol second respondent. Firstly, she secured more merit compared to petitioner, therefore she was appointed against one of the unreserved vacancies earmarked for SC (W) candidates in Zone Vl; and Secondly, as per paragraph Vll sub paragraph 4 of recruitment notification, based on merit a candidate is entitlecl to be considered as per the option exercised, As second respondcnt secured more merit compared to petitioner and exercised Zonc Yl

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PIR,J WP No.gJ7 of2020

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as second option, she was validly appointed against available vacancy of SC category (Women) in Zone VI.

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At page No. 36 of the counter affidavit of first respondent, final selection Iist is liled. At serial No. 24, name of second respondent is shou'n, Her appointment is reflected against Zone Yl. In lhe ncxt column it is shorvn as UR i,e, Unreserved and hcr iocal zone is shou'n as Zone Y and she is stated to have been adjusted against roster point No.2 u'hich is reserved for SC (Women).

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At page 37, lirst respondent included the list oi 9 candidates belonging to SC category and their rank in the linal selection list. Out ol the nine included in this list, two are shown as appointed in Zone Y and seven rn Zone VL At page 39 final selection list of Zone VI is filed containing the names of candidates belonging to SC category. Second respondent is placed at serial no.2. Column number 11 deals $.ith roster point. Against this column all persons exccpt lhe first name are shou'n against roster point no.2, u,hich is earmarkcd for SC (',vome n).

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Along rvith rhe n,rit petition, petitioner enclosed the recruitment notilicatlon no. 3 of 2018 as Ex.P-1. The break up ol vacancies is shown at page 2 1 . It shou's as: OC General-2; OC Women-1; SC General-1; SC Women-1; BC-A-1; PH-VH-1. Total thrce are for open to all and four are reserved for women. Out of this four, three are meant to be filled up without regard to the local candidate status and based on over all merit. In annexure Ex-P3 at page 28, petitioner enclosed tabulated statements of merit list of Zone Y and Zone Vl. In this tabulated statement, second

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respondent is shos,n .lgainst serial no.23 in Zone VI. At pi,rgc 23 ol thc u rit petition paper book, he has filed Iist of candidatcs selected to respective zones. From this list, it is seen that in Zone VI, name of second respondent is shown at serial no.6 treating her as adjusted against roster point no.2 in Zone Yl. It contains five names, first and second person secured merit numbers 2 and 4; fourth and fifth persons secured merit numbers 23 and 24 and all of them belong to Zone Yl. This list does not disclose the final merit list ol Zone VI arranged in the order of roster and local candidate and non-local candidate status. Paragraph 9 of the counter affidavit explains hol,"' the merit list u,as drau'n for Zone YL

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According to first respondent, in the 35 vacancies ol Junior Lecturer in Zoolog, notified, nine are reserved lor Scheduled Casre. In Zone VI one was meant for SC General and six meant for SC (Women). Though, it is not explained hou' such resen,ation is made, it is stated that out of those seven, one of them is unreserved for SC (Women), meant to be filled up without reference to local candidate status, in accordance with Presidential Order. Table appended to this paragraph shows 32 names, the societies, allotted zones, local status, hall ticket number, rank secured and social status. In this list serial numbers 1,2, 4,6,8,9, 11 to 13, 16 to 18, 20 , 25 to 3 1 are shown as allotted to Zone VI. From this list, it is seen that first lour persons are the lour rank holders u,ho are allotted to Zone VI. First person is OC; Second person is SC; third person is BC-C; and fourth person is BC-B. Out of the total vacancies notified in Zone VI, thrce are meant to bc filled up based on overall merit u.'ithouL rc'gtrrcl to thc local c.rndidatc starllrs. ldcntilication of persons rvho can be appointed in this manner

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shall be based on the over all merit securcd. From the tabulated statement in paragraph-9 of the counter affidavit, it is apparent that the first three names shown are the most meritorious candidates allotted lo Zone Yl. Thus, they filled the three slots available for bcing filled based on the over all merit and in this manner the vacancies meant to be filted up r,",ithout regard to the iocal candidate status stands exhausted. Admittedly, second respondent is not fitting into the higher merir slot and her overall rank is rank numbe r 24.

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In paragraph 10 of the counter alfidavit^{justification} shorvn is there \'as one unreserved SC vacancl, in terms of Presidential Order and second rcspondent is adjusted againsl the said vacanc'. To appreciate this contention, the recruitment notilication is scanned through. Nowhere in the recruitment notification, it is shown that there is one vacancy which is unreserved meant to be filled up without regard to the local candidate status. At any rate, three vacancies meant to be filled up in this manner were already filled up and none of them were replaced. Strange reason is assigned in paragraph-11, which apparently is a post decisional justifrcation made to support lheir decision by stating that the second respondent's second option is Zone Vl.

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Exercrsc ol option to a particular zonc is relevant onll' u'hen candidate secures mcrit for inclusion in the merit lisL against unreserved vacancy in accordance u'ith Presidential Order. For example, the top meritorious candidate lhough actually belongs lo Zone Vl but gives first option for appointment in Zone V that person is entitled to be appointed to unreserved vacancy of Zone Y

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evcn though that person does not belong to Zone Y. Vice versa can also happen. Once unreserved vacancy in accordance rvith Presidential Order is exhausted, the option exercised by other candidates has no relevance. The vacancies reserved to be filled up by local candidates of a particular zone have to be filled up only by persons belonging to that local unit.

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2l . Thus, admittedly, the second respondent $ras not fitting into first three ranks in the merit list to be adjusted against unresen,ed vacancies as per the Presidential Order meant to be filled up in Zone Vl in the cadre of .Junior Lecturer {Zoologl) and three top meritorious candidates r.r'cre shorln against thosc three vacancies. There rvas no other vacancv available to accommodatc seconcl rcspondent in Zone Vl. Further, as seconcl rcspondcnt did not secure top merit position to be adjusted against three vacancies meant to be filled up without regard to the local candidate status, giving second option for appointment in Zone VI has no relevance. Thus, either way, inclusion of second respondent against SC (Women) vacancy in Zone VI meant to be filled up by local candidate in Zone VI, by treating her second option as valid option and treating the vacancy as unreserved, without supporting material, is ex facie lllegal. It is in clear violation of the Presidential Order. Petitioner is entitled to the relief ol direction sought in the u,rit petition.

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2'2. At this stagc, Iearned counsel for respondent no.2 cc-rntencled that there are unfilled vacancies and she can be continlled in service even after accommodating the petitioncr. No opinion can be expressed on this plea. As per the scttled principle ol larv on

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recruitment and operation of merit list, it is clcar that mertt list has to be drawn to the extent of vacancies notified, keeping in mind principle of reservation as per social reservation and as per the Presidential Order. Once merit list is exhausted and all the candidates included in the merit Iist are appointed, the recruitment process comes to end. lf a person on appointment does not^join the post or joins, but relinquishes the post, they become resultant vacancies and required to be notified u,henever next rccruilment takes place. A next meritorious candidate can stake clzrim agzrinst notified vacancies, if no appointment order u,as issued/ provrsional sclection and appoint.rnent is cancclle d/ candidate appointcd lound to be ineligible to fill a particular slot (as in this case). It is for the 1st respondent to verifl and take appropriatc action,

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However, liberty is granted to 2nd respondent to file an application before the 1"t respondent to consider her appointment as Junior Lecturer (Zoologrl in any existing vacancy and it is for the lst respondent to consider such request. It is made clear that the decision in this case is confined to validify of appointment of 2nd respondent against vacancy reserved for SC (Women) in ZoneVI though she is not a local candidate of Zone-Yl.

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The Writ Petition is accordingly allou,ed. The selection and appointment of the 2"d respondent as Junior Lecturer in Zoologl in Zone-Yl is set aside. The 1"1 Respondent is directed to redraw the ment list lor the post of Junior Lecturer [Zooiogv] in Zone-VI comprrsing local candidates of Zonc VI onlr', to the vacancies earmarked to be filled up by local candidates of Zone-VI and if thc

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