THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.10054 of 2010 April 28, 2010 Between: Manepally Siva Subba Lakshmi … Petitioner And The Revenue Divisional Officer & another ... Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.10054 of 2010 ORDER: The petitioner assails notification being R.C.No.B.1951/2010 dated 17.04.2010 issued by the first respondent. By the said notification, applications were invited from eligible candidates for appointment as Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers in Chagal, Devarapalli, Undrajavaram and other Mandals of Kovvuru Revenue Division in West Godavari District. The grievance of the petitioner is that in the said notification FPS No.32 in Mortha Village of Undrajavaram Mandal has been reserved to the candidate belonging to ‘B.C.(all)’ category ignoring the fact that earlier it was earmarked for the candidate belonging to ‘O.C.’ category. The petitioner contends that the action of the respondent in changing the allocation of FPS No.32 is illegal and arbitrary. This Court heard the counsel for the petitioner and the Assistant Government Pleader for Civil Supplies. The Government of Andhra Pradesh issued guidelines for selection and appointment etc. of FPS dealers in The Andhra Pradesh State Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2008. These guidelines were issued in G.O.Ms.No.52 of 2008, dated 18.12.2008. Guideline 7 deals with reservation, which reads as under. 7. RESERVATIONS:- 7.1 The following reservation shall be observed while making appointments: Scheduled Castes : 15% Scheduled Tribes : 6% Physically Handicapped : 3% Backward Classes : 25% 7.2 (i) Reservation to women in allotment of F.P.shops shall be fixed at 30%. Out of the said 30% reservation to women, 1% shall be reserved to the widows of Ex-Servicemen; and (ii) The F.P.Shop dealers selected from women quota shall be adjusted both in the reserved category and also in open category. 7.3 The appointing authority shall maintain the percentage of reservation prescribed by the Government at divisional/circle level on overall basis of the strength of the reservations provided shall be followed treating the entire Revenue Division/circle as a unit. As per guideline 7.3 the entire revenue division is a unit and the appointing authority namely Revenue Divisional Officer shall maintain percentage of reservation prescribed by the Government as enumerated in guideline 7.1. The petitioner can only succeed by placing material to prove that there is already sufficient reservation to the extent of 25% in favour of B.C. candidates. In the absence of any such material, petitioner cannot have any grievance. Merely because earlier FPS No.32 was earmarked for the candidates belonging to ‘O.C.’ category, it does not mean that the present notification reserving FPS No.32 for the candidates belonging to ‘B.C.(all)’ category is arbitrary and illegal. The writ petition is devoid of merits and accordingly the writ petition is dismissed. ______________ (V.V.S. RAO, J) April 28, 2010 SUR