THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No.13845 of 2001 DATED: 16.11.2009 Between: Smt Ghousiya Begum ..... PETITIONER AND The APSRTC, rep. by its Managing Director, Musheerabad, Hyderabad and another. .....RESPONDENTS ORDER: This writ petition has been moved by the wife of a deceased employee of the A.P. State Road Transport Corporation (henceforth referred to, for brevity, as Corporation) seeking consideration of the case of any one of her two sons for any suitable employment in the Corporation, under the Breadwinner Scheme. The case of the writ petitioner is that her husband Sri Mirza Mahaboob Baig was appointed in the service of the Corporation, to begin with, as a driver. After he has rendered long years of service, having been found medically unfit for performing the duties of a driver, he was re-categorized and reappointed as a cleaner. While he was working as such, he met with an untimely death on 03.07.1997, leaving behind his widow, the writ petitioner, three sons and five daughters. Since all her daughters are married, the writ petitioner sought for employment in favour of her second son Mirza Inayathulla Baig. A detailed application form, seeking consideration for appointment as a conductor, by the said Mirza Inayathulla Baig, has been filed before the competent authority. Through a call letter bearing No.04 dated 01.03.1998, the Regional Manager, Mahabubnagar Region, directed the said individual to attend for an interview on 09.03.1998 for the post of Conductor. He was directed to submit his S.S.C. Memorandum as well as the Employment Registration Card. The selection committee interviewed him on 09.03.1998 and found him suitable and fit for appointment as a conductor. Prior to appointing him, he was required to undergo a medical examination and, accordingly, he has been subjected to a medical test. He was found unfit for A2 category, in which category the post of Conductor falls. The individual, therefore, solicited for a re-medical examination before the Medical Board. The Medical Board has re-examined him and filed its report on 14.05.1998, once again declaring him unfit for employment in A2 category. Therefore, the Corporation did not appoint the second son of the writ petitioner on compassionate grounds, and, through communication dated 27.12.2000, the Regional Manager, Mahabubnagar Region, requested the writ petitioner to solicit ‘additional monetary benefit’ in lieu of employment on compassionate grounds. Wherever the Corporation was not in a position to offer employment on compassionate grounds to the dependants of the deceased employees, as a policy measure, they are providing additional monetary benefits to enable the family of the deceased employee to ward-off the immediate hardships, which they will be facing due to the death of the breadwinner. It is this order which has been put in issue in this writ petition, inasmuch as the writ petitioner, on 26.02.2001, solicited consideration of the case of any of the other two surviving sons. The case of the writ petitioner is that, instead of considering the case of any of the other two surviving sons for employment on compassionate basis, the Corporation has directed her to seek additional monetary benefit. Learned Standing Counsel has drawn my attention to the contents of the counter-affidavit, wherein it has been asserted that after the Regional Manager has communicated, on 27.12.2000, to the writ petitioner pointing out that Sri Mirza Inayathulla Baig could not be appointed as a conductor in view of the findings in medical examination that he is unfit for A2 category and directing the writ petitioner to make a claim for additional monetary benefits, no representation has been submitted by the writ petitioner seeking employment to be provided to any other son of hers. Therefore, the writ petitioner is not entitled to maintain this writ petition. In reply, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri S.A.K.Mynoddin submits that the representation dated 26.02.2001 has been submitted by the writ petitioner in response to the communication dated 27.12.2000 of the Regional Manager, Mahabubnagar, and the same was, in fact, received by the said Regional Manager also. He further submits that the writ petitioner specifically solicited for consideration of the case of her first son Mirza Niyamathulla Baig or another son Mirza Abdulla Baig, who is aged about 16 years, on compassionate grounds. Therefore, he disputes the correctness of the contents of the counter-affidavit to this extent. It is not in dispute that the husband of the writ petitioner died in harness, leaving behind a large dependant family on 03.07.1997. He has also rendered considerable length of service to the Corporation, both as a driver and also as a cleaner upon re-categorization. It is also not in dispute that a legal heir certificate dated 20.08.1999 was produced by the writ petitioner containing the particulars of the dependants of the deceased husband of the writ petitioner. It is also not in dispute that the case of her second son namely Mirza Inayathulla Baig was considered by constituting a selection committee on 09.03.1998. It is also further not in dispute that the selection committee selected him for such an appointment, but however, as ill- luck would have it, he was declared not fit for employment in A2 category, in which category the post of Conductor in the service of the Corporation falls. That fact was also intimated by the Regional Manager, Mahabubnagar, on 27.12.2000 to the writ petitioner. In view of the inability of the Corporation to provide employment to the writ petitioner’s family members, he solicited the writ petitioner to make claim for additional monetary benefits. But, as is clearly available from the record, the first son of the writ petitioner namely Mirza Niyamathulla Baig is entitled to be considered for appointment as a conductor. It would be a different matter that the Corporation would not have considered the case of Mirza Abdulla Baig, the other son of the writ petitioner, inasmuch as his date of birth being 30.06.1985, he was aged only 12 years at the time of death of his father and he was hardly of 16 years of age in the year 2001. Therefore, the Corporation could not have considered his case for employment, as the minimum required age for employment in the Corporation is 18 years of age. Therefore, the respondent-Corporation ought to have considered the case of Mirza Niyamathulla Baig, the first son of the writ petitioner, when they found that her second son was medically unfit. They ought not to have delayed this process. Therefore, I consider it appropriate to direct the respondent Corporation to immediately take up the case of Sri Mirza Niyamathulla Baig and consider his case for appointment as a conductor, provided he possesses the necessary qualifications and standards of medical fitness. This exercise may be completed within a maximum period of three months from the date of receipt of this order. If, for any reason, Sri Mirza Niyamathulla Baig, whose case is now directed to be taken up for consideration for appointment, also could not be appointed, the writ petitioner herein may be called upon to exercise her option to receive the additional monetary benefit and, if she makes any such request, the same may be settled within a maximum period of three months from the date of receipt of such request. With this, the writ petition stands disposed of. No costs. __________________________ (Nooty Ramamohana Rao, J) 16th November, 2009. IBL