IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No : 33455 of 1998 Between: 1 N. Venkateshwarlu S/o. Posham RK-3 Incl., Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 2 Ramashankar Yadav, S/o. Musafir Yadav, RK-3 Incl., Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 3 Manda Sammaiah s/o. Lingaiah RK-3 Incl., Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 4 P. Damodar S/o. Kummaraiah RK-1A, Incline, Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 5 Bellam Ramulu S/o. Rajaiah RK-1A, Incline, Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Rep. by its-General Manager, Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 2 The Superintendent of Mines, RK-3 Incl., Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. 3 Colleiry Manager, Singareni Colleiries Co. Ltd., RK-1A Incline, Ramakrishnapur, Adilabad District. .....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 or order or direction, especially one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus-- (i) declaring the action of the respondents in not absorbing the petitioners as General Mazdoors as illegal, arbitrary and biased in nature' (ii) direct the respondents to absorb the petitioners as General Mazdoors; & (iii) pass any such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri K. Ramakanth Reddy Counsel for the Respondents : Ms. V. Uma Devi The Court made the following O R D E R: Learned counsel for the petitioners makes a request to dismiss the writ petition insofar as petitioner No.4 is concerned as he does not wish to prosecute it any further. Hence, acceding to his request, the writ petition, insofar as petitioner No.4 is concerned, is dismissed. The petitioners herein are said to be working as Coal Fillers with respondent No.1 - Singareni Collieries, a public sector undertaking. They made a claim for absorption as General Mazdoors and placed reliance upon a circular dated 16th July 1992 to seek such absorption. Learned counsel for the writ petitioners has also pointed out that in somewhat similar circumstances, while dealing with Writ Petition No. 26027 of 1996, the said issue is concluded in the following manner: “ Be that as it may, if there are vacancies of general mazdoor category-I available, the Singareni Collieries Company Limited cannot fill up such vacancies in any manner without complying with the procedure spelt out in paragraph 5.4 of the circular issued by them on 16.07.1992. Obviously, the circular instructions have been issued as a policy guideline to prevent any departures or exercise of discretion in the matter of filing up of vacancies of general mazdoors. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of directing the respondents to fill up the posts and vacancies of general mazdoors category-I strictly in accordance with the stipulations and conditions laid down in paragraph 5.4 of the circular dated 16.07.1992. If the writ petitioners, during the pendency of this writ petition, have already been regularized as general mazdoors the same will not be disturbed. If, on the other hand, they have not been regularized as general mazdoor so far, as and when vacancies of general mazdoor category-I become available their cases be considered and they be regularized by way of conversion by strictly following the procedure contained in paragraph 5.4 of their circular dated 16.07.1992.” Therefore, the petitioners seek similar directions even in this case. Ms. V. Uma Devi, learned counsel representing Sri K. Srinivasa Murthy, learned Standing Counsel for Singareni Collieries has pointed out that Singareni Collieries Company is bound to comply with the circular dated 16th July 1992 so long as it is in operation, but would submit that the petitioners in this case being regular Coal Fillers, in contrast to the status of the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 26027 of 1996 who are all Badli Coal Fillers, cannot dispute or deny their obligation to work in the mines underground. I am afraid that this contention does not deserve any further consideration. While it is the prerogative of any employer to utilize its manpower for achieving the best productivity and to improve its standards of efficiency, but nonetheless, if any circular instructions have been framed by such an employer to regulate the inflow of employment to fill up certain vacancies or posts, such an employer shall not be permitted to act contrary to the instructions. The discretion, if any, available to an employer to utilize the manpower effectively, gets curtailed by the instructions set-forth by itself as a policy document. The exercise of discretion, therefore, has got to be confined and carried out within the four corners of the policy decision taken. Departure therefrom becomes impermissible thereafter. In Writ Petition No. 26027 of 1996, this Court has merely ordained the respondents to strictly adhere and follow their own circular instructions while filling the posts of General Mazdoor Category - I. I do not find any distinguishing features available on the face of the record of this case. For this reason, I dispose of the present writ petition also in the same terms as was ordered in Writ Petition No. 26027 of 1996. There shall be no order as to costs. Registry, to append copy of order in Writ Petition No. 26027 of 1996 to this order. (NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO,J) 27th February 2008 ksld ...... 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