1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.4561/2008 Atmaram Palange Petitioner Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. Respondents Mr.A.M.Joshi for the petitioner Ms.M.P.Thakur,AGP for State CORAM : J.N.Patel,& Mrs.Mridula Bhatkar,JJ. DATE : 9th June,2009. P.C. . Rule. 1] Heard finally by consent. 2] The petitioner has filed this petition seeking issuance of writ mandamus or any other appropriate writ and directions against the respondents to give appointment to the petitioner as a Senior Clerk /Assistant Co-operative Officer(in short ACO) , Grade II in response to the advertisement issued by the respondents for the aforesaid post. 3] The petitioner claims that he is project affected person , he belongs to the scheduled caste and ,therefore, his 2 case ought to have been considered by the respondents for the appointment of the said post. 4] The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner pointed out that the respondents had issued a selection letter dated 13/2/2004 in favour of the petitioner and despite of the said letter the petitioner has not been given the appointment. It is further contended that in oral interview 22 candidates were interviewed and out of 22 , 7 candidates were selected and the petitioner is one of them. The learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on the Government Circular dated 18/7/2008 in which some directions regarding filling up of the vacancies of the project affected candidates are given to the Collector/Resettlement Officer. 5] The respondents have placed on record affidavit in reply and alongwith it additional affidavit in detail is also filed. The respondents have also placed on record a chart of the candidates showing their performance meritwise. It is submitted on behalf of the respondents that the petitioner though was selected in the interview it was found that the petitioner was having degree in Arts with Hindi ,as principal subject and not in 3 Economics which was the requirement of the said post. It is further submitted that the petitioner was not given an appointment order in Grade I and II so also as A.C.O./ Sr.Clerk because the petitioner has secured lesser marks than the candidates who were appointed for the post of A.C.O./ Sr.Clerk. A copy of the merit list is also placed before us. 6] The circular dated 18/7/2008 relied upon by the petitioner contains only the directions given to the Collector or Resettlement Officer regarding project affected persons which does not make the petitioner eligible for the post for which he has applied for. It appears from the record and also affidavit in reply that no irregularity or illegality is committed in the process of selection. Hence we do not find any merit in the petition. The petition is dismissed with no order as costs. Rule discharged. (J.N.Patel, J.) (Mrs.Mridula Bhatkar,J.) srs. 4