IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO : 13283 of 2008 Between: 1 Vedukula Gopala Krishna S/o. Narayana Rao R/o. Kotaveedhi, New Colony, Vizianagaram. 2 Sangireddy Jammayya S/o. Demudu R/o. Ammapalem (V), T.Boddavaram (Po), S.Kota Mandal, Vizianagaram district. 3 Korru Purushotham Rao S/o. Late Kannaiah R/o. Ammapalem (V), T.Boddavaram (Po), S.Kota Mandal, Vizianagaram Distirct. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Govt. of A.P., rep. by its Principal Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Vizianagaram, Vizianagaram District. 3 The District Medical and Health Officer, Vizianagaram, Vizianagaram Distirct. .....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 writ of Certiorari to : (a) Call For the records relating to the impugned order passed in the A.P. Administrative Tribunal in OA No.3124 of 2007 dt.24.3.2008 and set aside the same as arbitrary and illegal and violation of Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution; (b) Consider the petitioner's candidature for the post of Multipurpose Health Assistants(Male) as contract basis in Vizianagaram District treating them as local candidates and direct the 3rd respondent to appoint the petitioners as MPHA(M) in Vizianagaram District with all consequential benefits. Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI KRISHNA RAO MODHALAVALASA Counsel for the Respondents.: GP FOR MEDICAL HEALTH & FAMI.WELFARE The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO : 13283 of 2008 ORAL ORDER: (Per Hon’ble Sri. Justice Ghulam Mohammed) While hearing the miscellaneous application in W.P.M.P.23333 of 2008 ﬁled by the petitioners seeking a direction to the respondents to consider their representation, dated 23.7.2008, both the Counsel agreed that the writ petition could itself, be ﬁnally heard and disposed of. This writ petition is ﬁled challenging the order, dated 24.3.2008 passed by the AP Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, in O.A.No.3124 of 2007. The petitioners herein are the applicants before the Tribunal. They ﬁled the above O.A., seeking to consider their candidature for the post of APHA (M) in Vizianagaram treating them as local candidates and direct the 4th respondent-District Medical & Health Oﬃcer, Vizianagaram, to appoint them as MPHA (M) in Vizianagaram District. It is the case of the applicants that they prosecuted their Secondary Education at Anantagiri where Ashram School is located for catering to the needs of Scheduled Tribes. In the year 2002, when the notiﬁcation was issued for contractual appointments of Para Medical Posts, the applicants applied for the post of Multi Purpose Health Assistant (Male). On the intimation sent to them by the 4th respondent, they attended the counselling. But, however, their cases were not considered on the ground that they did not study in Vizianagaram District for the qualifying examination and they are not eligible to be considered as local candidates of Vizianagaram District. It is the further case of the petitioners that though they studied in the institutions of other Districts, their parents have been staying in Vizianagaram and therefore, their candidature shall be considered as local. While relying upon paragraph No.7 of the Presidential Order, the Tribunal having observed that admittedly, the applicants studied in Visakhapatnam District and the question of considering the residence of the parents does not arise as it is speciﬁcally excluded by the Presidential Order and the present case is directly covered by paragraph No.7(1) (a)(i), dismissed the O.A. Having aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition has been filed. The learned Counsel for the petitioners contended that the petitioners-applicants have studied 1st to 5th class at Vizianagaram and 6th and 7th classes at Ashram School in Ananthagiri of Visakhapatnam District and they studied 8th class in Vizianagaram District and again 9th and 10th classes at Ashram School in Ananthagiri of Visakhapatnam District and that the parents of the applicants are staying in Vizianagaram and therefore, their case should have been taken into consideration for the purpose of determining the local status. Heard the learned Counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader and perused the material available on record. On a perusal of the material available on record, it is relevant to note that 1st petitioner-applicant studied from 2nd to 10th standard at Bitivada village of Srikaklam District and the 2nd petitioner studied major part of his studies from 4th to 10th standard in Visakhapatnam District and he passed SSC examination in the Ashram High School, Visakhapatnam District and the 3rd petitioner studied from 1st to 10th standard in Visakhapatnam District. It is the case of the respondents that according to the notiﬁcation, the period of study of the candidates has to be taken as criteria to determine the local status of the candidates whereas it is the contention of the petitioners that the respondents did not mention about the local and non-local categories and only before issuing the appointment orders, this objection was raised and that their parents are residing in Vizianagaram District and therefore, they are entitled to be considered as local candidates of Vizianagaram District.. At this juncture, it is relevant to extract Paragraph 7(1) (a)(i) of the Presidential Order: Local Candidate: (1) A candidate for direct recruitment to any post shall be regarded as a local candidate in relation to a local area. (a) in cases where a minimum educational qualiﬁcation has been prescribed for recruitment to the posts. (i) If he has studied in an educational institution or educational institutions in such local area for a period of not less than four consecutive academic years ending with the academic year in which he appeared, or, as the case may be, ﬁrst appeared for the relevant qualifying examination.” The Presidential Order is very speciﬁc as to the basis on which a candidate can be construed as a local candidate. Clause (a) (i) of the presidential order makes it clear that those, who studied in an education institution or educational institutions in such local area for a period of not less than four consecutive academic years ending with the academic year in which he appeared or, as the case may be, ﬁrst appeared for the relevant qualifying examination, can only be construed as a local candidate. Now, coming to the facts of the case on hand, the fact that remains undisputed is that the petitioners have studied in Visakhapatnam for the qualifying examination. It is the case of the petitioners that since their parents are residing at Vizianagaram and they are permanent residents, their candidature should be considered as a local. But, the spirit of the Paragraph No.7 (1) (a) (i) of the presidential order viz., Local candidate nulliﬁes their contention as to their claim as a local candidate. Therefore, they are not entitled to be considered as local candidates of Vizianagaram District, though their parents are residing therein. The objection raised by the authorities and the ﬁndings of the Tribunal are in consonance with the Presidential Order. In this view of the matter and in view of the foregoing discussion, we feel that the order of the Tribunal does not warrant any interference. At this stage, the learned Counsel for the petitioners submitted that a direction may be issued to consider the representation of the petitioners. In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and in view of the fact that the petitioners have already submitted representation, dated 23.7.2008, we feel it appropriate to observe that the authorities may consider the case of the petitioners sympathetically and pass appropriate orders, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, in accordance with law, and communicate the same to the petitioners. Subject to the above observation, this writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. __________________________ Justice Ghulam Mohammed ________________________ Justice G. Bhavani Prasad Date: 17.9.2008 Nn THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION NO : 13283 of 2008 (Order delivered by Hon’ble Sri Justice Ghulam Mohammed) 17.09.2008