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 : 34191 of 1998 Between: 1 C.S.Srinivasan S/o C.Swaminathan r/o 19-129, Asaf Grammam Venkatapuram, Trimulgherry Post, Secunderabad-500 015, R.R.District. 2 S.Ashok Kumar S/o Mallaiah R/o 1-154, Kowkoor, Malkajgiri Mandal, R.R.District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Deputy General Manager,(H.R.Services),M/s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.,No.1, Ranganathan Gardens, Annanagar, Post Bag No.1212 &1213 Chennai 600 040 2 The District Employment Officer,Ranga Reddy District, Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad. .....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 order or direction in the nature of Mandamus or otherwise declaring the recruitment to the post of Operator V(Field)only through the channel of Employment Exchange as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14,16 and 21 of the Constitution of India and direct the Respondent No.1 to consider their case for the post of Operator V(field)on par with the candidates sponsored by 2nd Respondent in response to notification No.20112/BP, dt.15-10-98 and be pleased to pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble Court deems fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner : None Counsel for Respondent No.1 : Ms. V. Uma Devi The Court made the following : O R D E R: None for the petitioners. Heard Ms. V. Uma Devi, learned counsel representing Sri K. Srinivasa Murthy, learned Standing Counsel for respondent No.1. M/s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, a public sector undertaking issued notification for recruitment to the post of Operator- V (Field) at its bottling plant at Cherlapalli. The writ petitioners have solicited a declaration that the action of the respondents in confining the process of recruitment only to those candidates who have been sponsored by the Employment Exchange as illegal. Though this writ petition has been instituted on 30th November 1998, the same was not prosecuted diligently as the registry seems to have returned the papers for complying with certain objections raised by it, on 1st December 1998. The case was got re- presented only on 7th December 1998. An interim order has been passed by this Court directing the respondents to consider the candidature of the writ petitioners, on 10th December 1998, but however, it appears that no prompt steps have been taken to communicate the same to the respondents. The respondents in their counter-affidavit have repelled the contention of the petitioners that the process of selection to the post of Operator-V (Field) is confined only to those who have been sponsored by the Employment Exchange. They have categorically asserted that since it is public employment, apart from notifying the Employment Exchange concerned, they have also advertised in newspapers, Deccan Chronicle newspaper on 8th October 1998 and in Eenadu newspaper on 9th October, 1998 calling for applications from the eligible candidates. The respondents have also asserted that in all, 9,168 candidates have responded, of them, 7,291 candidates have attended the written test that was conducted on 13th December 1998, and that 778 of them have passed the written test and a panel was also prepared for finalizing the selections in that regard on 10th January 1999. It was also asserted that the interim order passed by this Court on 10th December 1998 has been communicated to the respondents on 14th December 1998 i.e. after the written test for the post of Operator was completed and, therefore, they could not consider the candidature of the writ petitioners. For sheer laxity of pursuing this writ petition with necessary promptitude, the petitioners have lost the opportunity of being considered for public employment. Since the respondents cannot be faulted in this regard, the writ petition is dismissed, but however, without costs. (NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO,J) 27th February 2008 ksld ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{PRASAD}