IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 290 of 2004 Between: C. Pratap Reddy. ..... APPELLANT AND 1. The Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Non Conventional Energy Development Corporation of A.P. Ltd and others. .....RESPONDENTS The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO :290 of 2004 JUDGMENT: (per Hon’ble Sri Justice Sanjay Kumar) The unsuccessful petitioner in W.P.No.24958 of 2003 is in appeal, aggrieved by the order dated 8.1.2004 passed by the learned single Judge dismissing his writ petition. In the writ petition, the appellant had questioned the validity of the order in reference No.NEDCAP/PERS/DGM/CPR/2003 dated 19.11.2003 passed by the Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Non- Conventional Energy Development Corporation of A.P Limited (NEDCAP), reverting him from the post of Deputy General Manager (Technical) to the post of Manager. The learned single Judge dismissed the writ petition holding that the two posts of Deputy General Managers in the NEDCAP were to be filled from the Managers belonging to the technical cadre and as the appellant admittedly did not belong to the said cadre, he had no entitlement to hold the said post. However, the appellant had specifically raised a ground in the affidavit filed in support of his writ petition, that under the NEDCAP service regulations, the appointing authority for the post of Deputy General Manager was the Board of Directors and that the competent authority for imposition of the penalty of reduction to a lower rank or to a lower stage in the time scale of pay or to a lower grade or post, insofar as the post of Deputy General Manager (Technical) is concerned, was the Board of Directors. Therefore, the appellant questioned the jurisdiction of the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the NEDCAP to pass the impugned proceedings dated 19.11.2003 reverting him to the post of Manager. However, the learned single Judge did not enter into this issue and decided the matter on other aspects. In view of the substantial and fundamental ground raised with regard to the very jurisdiction of the Vice Chairman and the Managing Director of the NEDCAP to pass the impugned proceedings, which is borne out by the service regulations, a copy of which is produced before us, we are of the opinion that the said order cannot be sustained. Whatever be the merits of the decision taken by the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the NEDCAP under the said proceedings, as per the service regulations, he had no authority or jurisdiction to revert the appellant from the post of Deputy General Manager to that of Manager. On this short ground the proceedings dated 19.11.2003 impugned in the writ petition are liable to be set aside and are therefore set aside. The writ appeal is accordingly allowed. In the circumstances, there shall be no order as to costs. _________________________ Justice T. Meena Kumari ______________________ Justice Sanjay Kumar Date: 25th November, 2009 Nn. THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 290 of 2004 (Judgment delivered by the Hon’ble Sri Justice Sanjay Kumar) 25th November, 2009