IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE FIFTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.3085 of 2004 Between: Jilani, S/o. Gousal Azam, r/o. Plot No.400, Vasantha Nagar, Kukatpally, Hyderabad-072. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The State of Andhra Pradesh, rep., by its Secretary, Education Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The Commissioner & Directorate of Intermediate Education, Nampally, A.P., Hyderabad. .....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 issue a Writ, Order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondents in not selecting the petitioner for the "Prathibha Scholarship" during the Academic Year 1999-2000 of Ranga Reddy District in the Minority Quota in the faculty of Humanities, as arbitrary and illegal and consequently direct the respondents to produce the application of the petitioner along with inward register for the relevant period. Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI SUBHANI.S.M. Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR EDUCATION The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.3085 of 2004 ORDER: The petitioner ﬁled the instant writ petition seeking a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents, namely, Government of Andhra Pradesh, represented by Secretary to Government, Education Department, and Commissioner & Director of Intermediate Education, Hyderabad, in not selecting the petitioner for “Prathibha Scholarship” for the academic year 1999 – 2000 for Ranga Reddy District in minority quota in the faculty of Humanities as illegal and arbitrary. The petitioner completed intermediate in MNR Junior College in Humanities in April 1999. He passed the exam in ﬁrst class. He statedly got an aggregate of 83.2%. The Government of Andhra Pradesh vide G.O.Ms.No.207, dated 28.06.1999, introduced Prathibha awards to promote quality in excellent education. All the students who passed in ﬁrst class with 60% in ﬁrst attempt in the annual public examinations of IPE/CBSE/ICSE-X and XII held in the month of April/May 1999 are eligible for applying to the same. The petitioner, however, was not selected for Prathibha awards. Therefore, petitioner’s father gave a complaint to Hon’ble Lok Ayuktha on 25.06.2003. In the enquiry conducted by the Hon’ble Lok Ayuktha the respondents denied receipt of petitioner’s application. It, however, transpired that candidate who got lesser marks was selected in minority quota. Therefore, the petitioner filed the instant writ petition. The Director of Intermediate Education ﬁled a counter aﬃdavit. While opposing the writ petition it is stated that the petitioner’s application was not received and the students whose applications were received were considered for award under minority category. All the applications received within the time were scrutinized and a merit list was prepared. The application said to have been sent by the petitioner was not received. Therefore, when the Principal, MNR College, requested the Director to conduct enquiry a communication was sent on 09.04.2003 to the petitioner informing that he was not selected. Though the awards pertain to 1999 the petitioner waited for three years and approached the respondents through the Principal on 29.01.2003. Learned Counsel for the petitioner and learned Assistant Government Pleader for Higher Education are heard. Both of them reiterated their position as disclosed in their pleadings. There is a dispute as to whether the petitioner’s application was received by the respondents. The second respondent categorically stated that the petitioner’s application was not received in the Oﬃce of the second respondent and all the applications were scrutinized and merit list was prepared. Though the petitioner annexed the Xerox copy of the application for scholarship under Prathibha Scheme (which is not signed by the Head of the Department or the Commissioner), no proof is placed before this Court that it has been sent by the petitioner to the second respondent or the petitioner’s college. In the absence of any such proof it is not possible to accept the submission of the learned Counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner has sent the application. Unless the petitioner, prima facie, demonstrates before this Court either by producing acknowledgment of receipt of the application or a postal acknowledgment, it is not possible for this Court to accede to his request to summon the records and verify the same. The Writ Petition is misconceived, and the same is accordingly dismissed. No costs. _____________ (V.V.S.RAO, J) 05.09.2008 vs To 1 The Secretary, State of Andhra Pradesh, Education Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 2 The Commissioner & Directorate of Intermediate Education, Nampally, A.P., Hyderabad. 3 2CCs to G.P for Education, High Court of A.P, Hyderabad. 4 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{AP}