IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD THURSDAY, THE THIRTIETH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE and HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT APPEAL No.1038 of 2008 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 28/08/2008 in W.P.No.7116 OF 2008 on the ﬁle of the High Court) Between: 1. D.Jagadishwar Rao Lineman S.S Prakki Lanka 33/11 K.V Sub Station APEPDCL,Prakkilanka Tallapudi Section W.G District. 2 A.V.Rama Murty Lineman S.S Koligagudem 33/11 K.V Sub Station APEPDCL, Koyyalagudem W.G District. 3 M.D Dowala Sadiq Lineman 33/11 KV Sub Station APEPDCL Tallapudi Section, West Godavari District. 4 BSRN Swamy Lineman SS Purushothapalli Addl. Asst Engineer APEPDCL Town Section Nidadavolu W.G District 5 The Distance Education Council, Represented by its Registrar, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068. 6 Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE)Represented by its Registrar, deemed University, Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardar Shahar, Rajasthan 331401. 7 A.P. Transco, represented by its Chairman and Managing Director, Vidyuthsoudha, Hyderabad. 8 Eastern Power Distribution Company of A.P., Ltd., (APEPDCL) represented by its Chairman and Managing Director, Visakhapatnam District. 9 The Superintending Engineer, (Operation) APEPDCL, Eluru Circle, West Godavari District. 10 The Superintending Engineer, (Operation) APEPDCL, Rajamundry Circle, E.G. District. 11 A.P. State Council for Higher Education, Represented by its Secretary, Hyderabad. 12 D. Jagadiswar Rao, Lineman, S.S. Prakki Lanka, O/o. 33/11KV Sub Station, APEPDCL Prakkilanka, Tallappudi Section, W.G. District. 13 A.V. Ramamana Murthy, Lineman S.S. Koilagudem, O/o. 3311KV Sub Station, APEPDCL, Koyyalagudem, W.G. District. 14 M.D. Dowala Sadiq, Lineman, O/o. 33/11KV Sub Station, APEPDCL Palakollu, W.G. District. 15 BSRN Swamy, Lineman, SS Purushotha Palli O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, APEPDCL Town Section, Nidavalolu, W.G. District. ... APPELLANTS AND 1 Redlam Vivekananda Appa Rao, S/o. Subba Rao, Hindu, O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, (Operation) D.2 Section,APEPDCL, Bhimavaram, West Godavari District. 2 Tanikonda Parasuramudu, S/o. Appa Rao, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, Jaggampet, East Godavari District. 3 M.S.S.T. Babuji, S/o. Tukaram, Hindu, O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, (Operation) APEPDCL, Akiveedu, West Godavari District. 4 Dusanaudi Srinivasa Rao, S/o. Venkateswara Rao, Hindu, O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, (Operation) APEPDCL, Akiveedu, West Godavari District. 5 K.V.V. Satyanarayana, S/o. Subba Rao, Hindu, O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, (Operation) D.2 Section, APEPDCL, D.2. Section, Kovvuru, West Godavari District. 6 Garapati Srinivasa Rao, S/o. Satyanarayana, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, D.1 Section, Kovvuru, West Godavari District. 7 P.K.D. Parameswara Rao, S/o. Satyanarayana, Hindu, O/o. Addl. Asst. Engineer, (Operation)South Section,APEPDCL, Tadepalligudem, West Godavari District. 8 Akula Srinivas, S/o. Venkateswara Rao, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, Chagallu, West Godavari District. 9 Irlapati Prsada Rao, S/o. Subba Rao, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, Gandepalli, East Godavari District. 10 Maganti Srinivasa Rao, S/o. Kamaraju, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, Jaggampet, East Godavari District. 11 Gandugollu Nageswara Rao, S/o. Satyanarayana, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, Prakkilanka, West Godavari District. 12 P.V.V. Satyanarayana, S/o. Subba Rao, Hindu, O/o. 33/11KV Sub-Station, APEPDCL, LND Peta, Polavaram Mandal, West Godavari District. 13 The Union of India rep.by its Ministry of Human,Human Resource Development Department Secondary and Higher Education (J&HE) Breau Sastry Bhavan New Delhi 14 The State of A.P Rep. its Principal Secondary Higher Education Secretariat Buildings Hyderabad 15 The University Grants Commission Rep.by its Secretary Bahandurshah, Jaffar Marg New Delhi. 16 All India Council for Technical Education rep. by its Vice Chairman Indragandhi Indoor Stadium, I.P Estate, New Delhi 17 The Distance Educational Council rep. by its Registrar Deemed University Gandhi Vidya, Mandir Sardar Shahar Rajasthan 18 Institute of Advanced Studies In Education (IASE) rep.by its Registrar Deemed University Gandhi Vidya Mandir Sardar Shahar Rajasthan 19 A.P Transco Rep.by its Chairman& Managing Director Vidyuth Soudha, Hyderabad 20 Eastern Power Distribution Company of A.P Ltd (APEPDCL) Rep.by its Chairman & Managing Director, Visakhapatnam District 21 The Superintending Engineer(Operation) APEPDCL Eluru Circle West Godavari District 22 The Superintnding Engineer(Operation) APEPDCL Rajahmundry Circle E.G District 23 A.P. State Council for Higher Education rep. by its Secretary Hyderabad ...RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellants: MR.B.SESIBUSHAN RAO Counsel for Respondents 14 and 23: GP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Counsel for Respondent No.18: Mrs. A. Chaya Devi Counsel for Respondents 19 to 22: Mr. P.R. Balarami Reddy Counsel for Respondents 13 to 15 and 17: Mr. A. Rajasekhara Reddy Counsel for Respondents 1 to 12: Mr. M. Subba Reddy The Court made the following: Judgment: (Per RSR, J) Respondents 12 to 15 in W.P.M.P.No.9337 of 2008 in W.P.No.7116 of 2008 have ﬁled this writ appeal aggrieved by the order dated 11-04-2008 passed by the learned single Judge. Respondents 1 to 12 herein have ﬁled the writ petition alleging that though they were seniors in the category of Lineman, their claims for promotion to the post of Sub-Engineer were being ignored referring to certain orders issued by the authorities of the Government-owned electricity company. It was their case that even Electrical Engineering Diploma qualiﬁcation obtained by them from Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, which is a deemed university in Rajasthan, is also a valid degree and there is no reason to ignore such qualiﬁcation and their candidature while eﬀecting promotion to the post of Sub-Engineer. The learned single Judge, by the impugned order directed that no further promotions shall be eﬀected on the basis of clariﬁcations issued, as regards recognition of qualiﬁcations till the Board itself takes a comprehensive decision Though the instant appeal is ﬁled aggrieved by the order passed by the learned single Judge, but, however, when the matter is taken up, the learned Standing Counsel has placed before this court proceedings dated 27-10-2008, issued in T.O.O. (Addl. Secy-Per) Ms.No.186. A perusal of the said proceedings would indicate that, now, the Board of the respondent-Company has taken a decision on recognition of certain Diplomas/Degrees awarded by Deemed Universities/Institutions recognized by the UGC & AICTE for the purpose of recruitment, promotions, incentive increments etc. As much as the learned single Judge has issued directions not to eﬀect promotions till the Board itself takes a decision and, now, in view of the fact that the Board has taken a decision and issued proceedings referred above, we dispose of the writ appeal keeping open to the respondent-Company to effect promotions to the post of Sub-Engineer, etc., by following the clariﬁcatory orders issued with regard to recognition of qualifications of degrees and diplomas. Subject to the above clariﬁcations and observations, the writ appeal is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. _________________ ANIL R. DAVE, CJ. _____________________ R. SUBHASH REDDY, J. October 30, 2008 MRR