IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No.11383 of 2008 Between: 1. N. Devamandadi, S/o. N. Doraswamy, R/o. M. Gollapalli, Mothukur Post, Tavanapalli Mandal, Chittoor District. 2. T. Muralidhar, S/o. Narsimhulu, R/o. H.No. 4-18, B.J.P. Office Road, Kukatpally, Hyderabad. 3. K. Prasada Rao, S/o. Venkaiah, R/o. Ravindrapadu Village, Duggirala Mandal, Guntur District. .....Petitioners And 1. State of A.P., represented by its Principal Secretary, Home Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2. The Director General & Inspector General of Police, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad. 3. State of A.P. represented by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 4. State of A.P., represented by its Chief Secretary, Govt. of A.P., Secretariat, 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 action of the respondents in not providing employment to one of each family members of the deceased candidates who have died during running test conducted by the Police Department for appointment to the post of Police Constables as well as paying Rs. 5 lakhs compensation to each family of deceased candidates as arbitrary, illegal, discriminatory, unconstitutional, violating Articles 14, 21 of the Constitution of India and issue consequential directions directing the respondents to forthwith consider in providing employment to one of each family members of the deceased candidates who have died during running test conducted by the Police Department for appointment to the post of Police Constables as well as paying Rs.5 lakhs compensation to each family of deceased candidates. Counsel for the petitioners : Sri P.V.Krishnaiah Counsel for respondent Nos.1 and 2 : Government Pleader for Home Counsel for respondent Nos.3 and 4 : Government Pleader for General Administration The Court made the following: ORDER: (per Anil R. Dave, C.J.) By way of this public interest litigation, the petitioners have prayed that the family members of three persons who were aspiring to become Police Constables in the State of Andhra Pradesh and unfortunately died during physical endurance test should be awarded compensation to the tune of Rs.5,00,000/- and one of the family members of each deceased candidate should be given a government job. The facts which gave rise to the present petition in a nutshell are as under: Three persons named in the petition who were aspiring to join police force participated in the test. As a part of their physical endurance test, the said candidates along with other candidates had to run 5 k.m. Unfortunately, the said three candidates could not finish the run; they collapsed and they expired. It has been prayed in the petition that the family members of the deceased persons should be adequately rewarded because all the candidates were asked to run for 5 k.m. during summer period. According to the petitioners, the test should not have been taken during summer. According to them, possibly because of the scorching heat, the candidates could not run and three candidates expired. According to the petitioners, had the test been taken during any other period i.e. the period other than summer, the said incident would not have taken place. It has, therefore, been submitted that such test should not have been taken in summer. We have heard learned Advocate, Sri P.V. Krishnaiah, appearing for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader, Sri K. G. Krishna Murthy, appearing for General Administration Department and Sri K. Ramesh, Government Pleader for Home. Our attention has been drawn to the fact that the family members of each of the candidates had been awarded Rs.2,00,000/- by way of compensation. Our attention has also been drawn to the contents of the affidavit by the learned Government Pleader, Sri K.G. Krishna Murthy to the said fact. Thus, the State of Andhra Pradesh has already made an effort to compensate the family members of the said candidates by awarding Rs.2,00,000/-. In our opinion, the afore-stated gratuitous act of the State is praiseworthy. We are of the view that this Court cannot direct the State to award any further compensation or to provide any job to any of the family members of the deceased candidates. It is pertinent to note that the unfortunate candidates who lost their lives wanted to have job in police force. It is a known fact that police personnel should be ready to perform any arduous activity at any odd time. In the circumstances, physical fitness is a sine qua non for any policeman like any other person in uniform. Unfortunately, the candidates who wanted to become Police Constables might not be physically fit and yet in order to procure the job, they might have participated in the test. All other candidates might have finished the stipulated run or might have decided not to run upon knowing their physical capacity. In our opinion, a candidate, who aspires to become a Police Constable, should also be aware of his physical limitations and before participating in any such test, he must know whether he would be in a position to endure the test. In our opinion, it is always for the authorities to decide how the endurance test has to be arranged. Simply because it was summer, it cannot be said that the three candidates expired because thousands of candidates must have participated in the physical endurance test as few hundred posts had been notified. Looking to the above facts, we do not find any fault with the government authorities. It cannot be said that simply because in the month of summer, the test was taken, the afore-stated three candidates had expired. In our opinion, no right of whatsoever type of the deceased candidates had been violated and, therefore, the family members of the said candidates were legally not entitled to any special compensation and yet they have been paid compensation by the State. We do not find any substance in the petition and it is accordingly dismissed with no order as to costs. ANIL R. DAVE, C.J. 17th June, 2008 R.SUBHASH REDDY, J. ….REGISTRAR To 1.The Principal Secretary, Home Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2. The Director General & Inspector General of Police, Govt. of A.P. Hyderabad. 3. The Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 4. The Chief Secretary, Govt. of A.P., Secretariat, Hyderabad. 5. Two copies to the Govt. Pleader for General Administration, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 6. Two copies to the Govt. Pleader for Home, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 7. Two C.D. copies. ARS