IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 23384 of 1999 Between: Farooki saleem (Alias) Saleemahmed Farooki S/o.Ghouse Mohiddin Trunk Road (Nellore) T.S.O.Resident of Nellore. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Union of India Rep by its Secretary to Govt of Posts Ministry of Communications Central Secretariat , New Delhi. 2 The Sub-Divisional Inspector Postal , SDI (P)- for Short Nellore Division Nellore. 3 The Sr.Superintendent of Post Offices (SSP-for - Short) Nellore Division . Nellore. 4 The Postmaster General (PMG for Short) Vijayawada Region , Vijayawada. 5 M.Suresh Babu S/o.M.Gerataiah R/o. Narayana Reddy Pet Village & Post Nellore dist Pin code:-524 314. ..RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to May be pleased to issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ , order or direction more particularly in then nature of writ declaring the judgment and order Dt: 11-10-1999 passed by the Hon'ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench in O.A.No.1335/99 as illegal and arbitrary and set aside the same by holding that the petitioner herein entitled to continue as E.D.Packer at Trunk Road (Nellore) T.s.O with all consequential benefits such as arrears of pay and allowances seniority etc , and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.VEMURI VENKATESWARA RAO Counsel for the Respondents: The Court made the following : O R D E R (Per the Hon’ble Sri Justice Ghulam Mohammed) : This writ petition is filed for a writ of Mandamus to declare order dated 11-10-1999 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A.No.1335 of 1999 as illegal, arbitrary and to set aside the same by holding that the petitioner is entitled to continue as Extra Departmental Packer at Trunk Road (Nellore) T.S.O with all consequential benefits. The post of Extra Departmetnal Packer at Trunk Road (Nellore) T.S.O fell vacant due to retirement of the incumbent. Therefore, notification dated 06-04-1999 was issued by respondent No.2 calling for applications for selection to the said post. The petitioner has applied for the same and he, along with respondent No.5, who has also applied for that post, were called for verification of certificates by respondent No.2, on 15-06-1999. After verification of the certificates, the petitioner was found selected and, accordingly, he was appointed to the said post on 26-07-1999 and it is averred by the petitioner that he is continuing as such. Aggrieved by his appointment, respondent No.5 filed O.A. No.1335 of 1999 before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench (for short “the Tribunal”). The Tribunal, by the order impugned in this writ petition, holding that rejection of respondent No.5’s candidature for selection to the post on the ground of non- availability of residence certificate is irregular, directed that all the applications received in response to notification dated 06-04-1999 should be considered afresh and the most meritorious candidate should be selected, and observed that non-availability of community certificates and residence certificates of some applicants should not stand in the way of the respondents to consider the applications of those candidates. Questioning the said order, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition. The learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention to notification dated 06-04-1999, which clearly specifies that the post is not reserved for any community. With regard to residential status, Serial No.(iv) of the notification stipulates that the person to be appointed to the post must before appointment take up his/her residence in the BO village, where the Post Office is locate; that the certificate to that effect should be enclosed and the notification further specifies that all the required documents/certificates should be submitted along with the application. No documents will be accepted later on in piecemeal. Application not accompanied with all the necessary certificates or with incomplete information will not be taken up for consideration and no further correspondence will be entertained. The learned counsel further contended that the Tribunal has not given the petitioner an opportunity to contest the matter, though he was served, and that it committed serious jurisdictional error in directing the respondents to consider all the applications afresh. It is submitted that the application of respondent No.5 was an incomplete one as he has not enclosed the residence certificate, but the Tribunal has committed an error in holding that the residence certificate is not necessary, which is contrary to the notification itself. On the other hand, the learned counsel for respondent No.5 has contended that respondent No.5 has secured more marks than the petitioner in the SSC examination and that the authority ought not to have appointed the petitioner ignoring a meritorious candidate. It is needless to mention that the appointing authority has rejected the application of respondent No.5 as he has not produced the residence certificate and issued appointment order to the petitioner, and he has been continuing from that day onwards and discharging his duties. Since the application was incomplete, respondent No.5 does not come within the zone of eligible applicants. When the appointing authority itself has rejected the application of respondent No.5, the Tribunal has committed an error in directing the respondents to consider all the applications afresh, irrespective of production of residence certificate, which is contrary to the notification itself. Therefore, the order passed by the Tribunal in O.A.No.1335 of 1999 dated 11-10-1999 is set aside and, consequently, the said O.A. stands dismissed. The writ petition is, accordingly, allowed. No order as to costs. ____________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED,J Dated 6th April, 2009 _____________________ B.SESHASAYANA REDDY,J vrn