THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI and THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATY WRIT PETITION No :11943 of 2001 ORAL JUDGMENT: (Per Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari) The petitioners filed the present writ petition challenging the order passed by the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad in O.A. Nos. 26528 to 26531 of 1991 and to quash the same. The petitioners are the unsuccessful applicants. They filed the aforementioned O.As. before the Tribunal challenging the proceedings dated 15.3.1991 and 12.4.1991, through which, the unofficial respondents 3 to 5 were promoted as Archivists. A consequential direction was also sought to promote them as Archivists. According to the petitioners, they were appointed as Assistant Archivists in the year 1973 and their services were also regularised in the said category. However, they were not considered for promotion to the post of Archivists on the ground that they have not passed the Third Class Language Test, which was conducted by the A.P. Public Service Commission. Petitioners contended before the Tribunal stating that since they have studied Telugu as second language at Degree level and their mother tongue also being Telugu, they need not pass third class language test as prescribed by the department. They further stated that the third class language test has to be passed by only such of the candidates whose mother tongue is not one of the three languages viz., Urdu or Marathi or Telugu. Therefore, they are fully eligible to be promoted as Archivists and the department without taking this aspect into consideration has promoted the unofficial respondents as Archivists. Hence, they filed the aforesaid O.As. before the Tribunal. The Tribunal, through the impugned order, dismissed the O.As. Hence, the present writ petition. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that since all the petitioners have studied Telugu as second language at degree level, they need not pass the third language test conducted by the A.P.P.S.C. and the Tribunal without appreciating this fact has dismissed the O.A. He, therefore, prayed that the writ petition be allowed and the impugned order be set aside. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and perused the impugned order. It is necessary to extract the rules framed under G.O. Ms. No. 1064, dated 11/5/1967, governing promotion to the post of Archivists, which read thus: (i) one must be a graduate of a University in India established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, Provincial Act, or State Act, or an institution recognised by the U.G.C., and (ii) must have proficiency in Persian or Urdu or Marathi or Telugu. However, it is stated that the said rules were amended by the Government vide G.O. Ms. No.385, dated 12.4.1982 and as per the amended rules, one must pass Urdu or Telugu or Marathi, which is neither his/her mother tongue nor his/her subject of study under part-I (languages) at the degree level. However, the said rules were modified and the Government issued G.O. Ms. No. 385, dated 12.4.1982, which read thus: “(i) Must be Graduate of University in India established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, Provincial Act or State Act or an Institution recognised by the University Grants Commission. (ii) Must have passed the third class language test conducted by the A.P. Public Service Commission in Urdu or Marathi or Telugu, which is neither his/her mother tongue nor his/her subject of study under Part-I (Languages) at the degree level.” A perusal of the aforesaid amended rules make it clear that if any one of the languages mentioned in the aforesaid amended rules is the mother tongue or subject of study at degree level of a person, he need not pass the language test conducted by the A.P. Public Service Commission. In the instant case, since the mother tongue or subject of study under Part–I at degree level is Telugu and since they have passed the Telugu language test, which is one of the languages mentioned in the amended orders, the petitioners need not pass the language test conducted by the A.P.P.S.C. Similarly, Rule 14 of the A.P. State and Subordinate Service Rules provides for exemption from passing the language test, which is extracted as hereunder. “a) Where a test in only one of certain specified languages is prescribed in these rules, or in the special rules, a person whose mother tongue is one of the languages so specified or who has passed in one of such languages taken for his University degree shall not be required to pass the test. Since the petitioners passed the specified language tests, the Tribunal erred in holding that the petitioners are not qualified for promotion to the posts of Archivists and the same is liable to be set aside. Under the circumstances, we allow the writ petition and set aside the impugned order of the Tribunal. In view of the fact that the petitioners have already retired from service, we do not want to disturb the promotions given to the unofficial respondents. However, the respondent-authorities shall consider the case of the petitioners for notional promotion, if they are eligible otherwise. The writ petition is accordingly allowed. No costs. ___________________ T.MEENA KUMARI,J Date: 7th September, 2010 ____________________ G.V. SEETHAPATHY,J pnb