Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
V.N. Sunanda Reddy & Ors.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors.
DATE OF JUDGMENT25/01/1995
BENCH:
MAJMUDAR S.B. (J)
BENCH:
MAJMUDAR S.B. (J)
KULDIP SINGH (J)
HANSARIA B.L. (J)
CITATION:
1995 AIR 914 1995 SCC Supl. (2) 235
JT 1995 (1) 618 1995 SCALE (1)322
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
JUDGMENT:
1. Leave to appeal granted in Special Leave Petition
(Civil) Nos.6395 and 13446 of 1944.
2. In all these appeals a common question arises for our
consideration, namely, whether the State Government of
Andhra Pradesh was justified in promulgating the rules under
Article 309 of the Constitution of India under which it was
provided that candidates seeking appointment to the posts in
the service specified in the concerned rules who had
obtained basic educational qualifications prescribed for di-
rect recruitment governing such posts through the Telugu
medium shall be given weightage in the matter of selection
to such posts by awarding them five per cent of the total
aggregate maximum marks in the relevant competitive
examination held by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Com-
mission for recruitment to such posts.
3. The State Government issued GOM. No. 603 dated
18.11.1981 under which one such rule was framed. Even
earlier GOM. No. 504, G.A.D. was issued on 26.6.1976 to the
same effect, of course for a limited number of posts. While
the G.0 dated 18.11.1981 was more comprehensive in nature
and covered a wider range of posts.
4. The said G.O. No.504 was brought in challenge before
the Andhra Pradesh High Court by non-Telugu medium candi-
dates by way of Writ Petition No. 2041 of 1981. That writ
petition was allowed by a learned single Judge of the Andhra
Pradesh High Court, Jeevan Reddy, J., as he then was, who by
his order dated 7.6.1981 quashed and set aside the said
G.O.M. No. 504 on the ground that it was discriminatory and
violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of
India. That resulted in two writ appeals under clause 15 of
the letters patent- one by the State of Andhra Pradesh and
another by the Telugu medium candidates. Both these appeals
were heard together by a Division Bench of the Andhra
Pradesh High Court consisting of Alladi Kuppuswami, CJ. and
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Seetharam Reddy, J. who by their judgment and or-
621
der dated 15.9.1981 allowed the writ appeals and upheld the
impugned G.O. meaning thereby they took the view that such
five per cent weightage in total marks given to the Telugu
medium candidates was not violative of the Constitutional
provisions of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Hence
the writ petition filed by the NonTelugu medium candidates
was dismissed. It is that order of the Division Bench of
the Andhra Pradesh High Court that has resulted in civil
appeal by special leave being Civil Appeal No. 2914 of 1981.
5.As stated earlier, subsequently the State of Andhra
Pradesh by issuing a more comprehensive G.O. No. 603 dated
8.11.1981 extended five per cent weightage to all Telugu
medium students who contested for posts for which
recruitment was being done by the Andhra Pradesh Public
Service Commission to any service in the State of Andhra
Pradesh. The statutory rules framed as per the said G.O.
were challenged by Non-Telugu medium candidates before the
Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal at Hyderabad. The
Tribunal by its order dated 18.1.1994 allowed the said
challenge in O.A.No.2142 of 1993 and held that the said G.O.
was violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution That
decision of the Tribunal which took a view contrary to the
earlier decision of the Division Bench of the High Court of
Andhra Pradesh, noted hereinabove, has resulted in appeals
by special leave. Special Leave Petition (C) No. 6395 of
1994 was moved by Telugu medium candidates and the State of
Andhra Pradesh also challenged the very same order by filing
the Special Leave Petition (C) No. 13446 of 1994. As the
questions involved in all these proceedings are common, all
these appeals were heard together and after hearing the
learned counsel for the respective parties, we are disposing
of these appeals by this common judgment.
6. A few introductory facts leading to the promulgation of
the aforesaid impugned rules pursuant to the impugned G.0s.
deserve to be noted at the outset. The Andhra Pradesh
Official Language Act (9 of 1966) by section 2 states that
Telugu shall be the official language of the State. Section
4 provides for continuance of English Language for official
purpose. Section 7 provides for a special position to Urdu
in addition to Telugu in certain areas of the State.
Section 8 confers power to make rules for carrying out the
purpose of the Act. The Government of Andhra Pradesh
decided to introduce in stages Telugu as language in
administration. In 1970, the State Government wrote to sev-
eral other State Governments to ascertain whether any
weightage or preference was given to candidates who had
studied in the respective regional languages in the matter
of recruitment to public posts. It is revealed from the
record that the Government of Kerala, Pondicherry, Tripura,
Haryana, Goa, Daman and Diu, Rajasthan, Kohima, Assam,
Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Gujarat, and Bihar
had replied that no such preference or weightage was given,
in the process of recruitment. In some States, knowledge of
regional language was essential for appointment while in
some states they were required to pass the language test
within a fixed period after appointment. It appears Mat
after some deliberations, it was decided by the Cabinet at
its meeting dated 14.2.1975to issue G.O.No.504.
7. By the said G.O. it was recommended that the Government
of Andhra
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Pradesh may make the rule in exercise of the powers
conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution
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read with subsection (1) of Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh
Official Language Act, 1966 to the effect that
notwithstanding anything in the Andhra Pradesh State and
Subordinate Services Rules or the Special Rules, candidates
seeking appointment to the post in the services specified in
the Table appended to the Rule, who had obtained the bask
educational qualification prescribed for direct recruitment
in the special rules governing such posts, though the Telugu
medium, will be given weightage in matter of selection to
such posts by awarding them 5 per cent of the total
aggregate maximum marks in the relevant competitive ex-
amination held by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service
Commission for recruitment to such posts. This may be
mentioned as the First G. O.
8. It may be mentioned that 12 Group 11 Services and Group
IV Services were sought. to be covered by the said G.O. In
other words, direct recruitment to these Groups, namely,
Group 11 and Group IV Services, mentioned in the
notification under Article 309 of the Constitution enabled
candidates having minimum qualification of graduation in
Telugu medium to get a weightage of Eve per cent more marks
on the aggregate marks prescribed for passing the said
examination. It may be noted that total marks for written
test and viva voice test consisted of 800 marks, five per
cent of which would work out to 40 marks. Therefore, if a
candidate who had passed this graduation with Telugu as a
medium of instruction was entitled to get a weightage of 40
more marks on the aggregate as compared to another competing
candidate in the very same examination who had passed his
graduation in English or any other medium other than Telugu
medium. As noted earlier, it is this G.O. which in a writ
petition moved by nonTelugu medium candidates was set aside
by Jeevan Reddy, J., as he then was, but which got confirmed
in writ appeals.
9. During the time the challenge to the said G.O. was
pending before this Court in Civil Appeal No.2914 of 1981,
the State of Andhra Pradesh issued a more comprehensive G.O.
being G.O. No.603 dated 18.11.1981 by which it nos decided
to give weightage of five per cent of total average maximum
marks in the competitive examination held by the Andhra
Pradesh Public Service Commission in all Group II Service
Examination, excluding recruitment to the posts in
Secretariat and Heads of Departments and in Group IV
Services examination, excluding recruitment to posts in
Andhra Pradesh Judicial Ministerial Service. Thus, this
latter G.O. was more comprehensive in nature but ran on
parallel lines as its predecessor G.O.
10 We shall refer to the said G.O. as the second G.O. This
G.O., as noted earlier, was struck down by the Andhra
Pradesh Administrative Tribunal. That has given rise to the
companion appeals.
11. We shall now briefly refer to the main grievances
voiced by learned counsel for the respective parties in
connection with these two G.0s. It was submitted by learned
counsel appearing for non-Telugu speaking candidates that
when direct recruit was appointed to any public service, may
be in the lower echelon of service, like Group II and Group
IV posts, which may consist of clerical posts, merits should
be the criterion which the Public Service
623
Commission should follow. If a candidate satisfied the
basic requirement of eligibility for competing in such
public recruitment, provision of such weightage of five per
cent marks to Telugu medium candidates only would per se
arbitrary and discriminatory and would be destructive of the
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concept of selection on pure merits. That even if Telugu be
the official language as adopted by the State in the light
of linguistic policy, once a candidate is recruited from the
open market as per the relevant rules before he is confirmed
in service and before he is entitled to earn an increment in
service, he is required to pass the Telugu language
examination. This completely meets the recruitment of the
department that candidate must be having working knowledge
of Telugu to enable him to converse and correspond in Telugu
with members of the public as well as other Government
departments. That this satisfies the object of securing
efficiency in administration. To put a further fatter at
the entry point by giving a special weightage of five per
cent more marks on the aggregate to candidates who have
passed their graduation examination in Telugu medium would,
therefore, have no real nexus to the object sought to be
achieved and would be counter productive as more meritorious
students even though having secured more marks in the
aggregate in the competitive test would be elbowed out by
those standing far behind in the queue only on the specious
plea that they have passed the qualifying examination in the
Telugu medium. That even those candidates who have passed
qualifying graduate examination in English medium or any
other medium in the State have to appear compulsorily in one
paper of Telugu language. Therefore, he is also having
sufficient working knowledge of Telugu to enable him to
correspond in Telugu as required by the exigencies of
service. That when under the relevant recruitment rules for
the concerned post, the minimum educational qualification
prescribed is passing of graduation in any subject the
further question whether he has passed this examination in
Telugu medium or English medium would be totally irrelevant.
That if a candidate who has passed graduation examination in
English medium cannot be told off the gates and can legally
complete in the examination for recruitment to the public
posts advertised by the Public Service Commission, such
imposition of five per cent weightage of total marks in
favour of candidates who had passed qualifying examination
of graduation in Telugu medium would amount to imposing an
additional qualification or eligibility criterion which is
de hors the recruitment rules and would result in total
arbitrariness and would amount to give discriminatory and
hostile treatment to all candidates who otherwise are
qualified to contest but have not Telugu medium at their
graduation level. It was also submitted that the object
about maintaining the efficiency of the administration can
also be achieved by providing or prescribing for one more
paper in the competitive test on Telugu language itself, as
in that eventuality all the candidates competing for
examination will have an equal chance to compete for the
said examination and to show their proficiency in the
concerned subjects in which they are examined. For all
these reasons, it was submitted that the decision of the
Tribunal is quite correct and similarly the decision
rendered by the learned single Judge of the Andhra Pradesh
High Court, Jeevan Reddy, J., as he then was, is equally
correct and the Division Bench judgment
624
which upturned it, deserves to be set aside.
12. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the
State Andhra Pradesh and for Telugu medium candidates sub-
mitted that when the Nation is wedded to the policy of
linguistic States based on regional languages and when
Telugu is the official language in the State, if at clerical
level in different departments for services, Telugu knowing
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candidates are insisted upon, there is nothing arbitrary or
illegal about the same That most of the schools imparting
education in Telugu are situated in remote areas of Andhra
Pradesh and the students who studied in these schools are
scared of competing in Public Service Commission. That in
order to give an impetus to such students and to encourage
them to study Telugu which is the official language of the
State, these G.0s. were issued and the rules were
promulgated. That five per cent overall weightage out of
the total marks is a very small weightage and that helps
Telugu medium candidates who are otherwise in a
disadvantageous position to complete on a more even footing
with English medium candidates and after entry in service if
they have to pass the Telugu language examination, it would
be much better to provide them with five per cent weightage
even at the entry point. That ultimately the object behind
this policy is to improve the efficiency of the public
administration when Telugu is the main official language.
That the staff members in different departments have to be
in touch with members of the public whose mother-tongue is
Telugu, they have to correspond with them as well as other
departments also in Telugu. Even they have to correspond
with Government Secretariat Departments in Telugu,
Therefore, better knowledge of Telugu is very essential for
securing efficiency in administration and with that end in
view the impugned G.0s. were issued and they cannot be found
fault with on the test Articles 14 and 16 of the
Constitution. That post- service examination for the
purpose of earning increments and confirmation cannot be
equated with pre-service requirement of efficiency in the
knowledge of Telugu by the candidates at the entry point and
for ensuring the same, the decision of the Division Bench of
the Andhra Pradesh High Court laid down the correct legal
position and calls for no interference. On the other hand,
the Tribunal was patently in error in taking the contrary
view,
13. We have given our anxious consideration to these rival
contentions and have reached the conclusion that the im-
pugned G.0s. and the consequential statutory rules framed
under Article 309 proviso do not stand the test of Articles
14 and 16 of the Constitution and will have to be declared
invalid. The reasons for our aforesaid conclusions may now
be catalogued as under:-
(1) It has to be kept in view that requirement to public
service through the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission
is an open recruitment wherein any eligible candidate is
permitted to complete at par with other competitors. The
minimum eligibility criterion for recruitment to such posts
is graduation. Therefore,it does not mean that candidates
who have passed their graduation in non-Telugu medium cannot
compete for the said posts. It has to be noted that the
minimum educational qualification for appearing at the se-
lection is graduation simpliciter. If the object underlying
the impugned provision of weightage of 40 marks on the
aggregate to
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candidates who have passed their graduation in Telugu is to
permit candidates knowing Telugu language to occupy the
concerned posts then it cannot be said that merely because a
person has passed his graduation in Telugu medium, he alone
will be proficient in Telugu and not the candidate who has
passed his graduation in any other language. For appointing
persons to posts in public services through direct
recruitment the criterion has to be pure merits. Therefore,
all candidates who possess minimum educational qualification
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have to be assessed on the basis of their relative merits.
At the stage of assessment If 5 per cent more marks on the
aggregate are added in the assessment of candidates who have
passed minimum educational qualification through Telugu
medium, the very criterion of relative merits would get
frustrated and would become otiose. In this connection, we
may usefully refer to the decision of this Court in the case
of Dr. Pradeep Jain etc. vs. Union of India & Ors. etc.
(1984 (3) S.C.R.942), wherein P.N. Bhagwati, J., as he then
was speaking for the Court had made the following pertinent
observations at pages 954 to 956 of the Report:
"The entire country is taken as one nation
with one citizenship and every effort of the
Constitution makers is directed towards
emphasizing, maintaining and preserving the
unity and integrity of the nation. Now if
India is one nation and there is only one
citizenship, namely, citizenship of India, and
every citizen has a right to move freely
throughout the territory of India and to
reside and settle in any part of India,
irrespective of the place where he is born or
the language which he speaks or the religion
which he professes and he is guaranteed
freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse
throughout the territory of India and is
entitled to equality before the law and equal
protection of the law with other citizens in
every part of the territory of India, it is
difficult to see how a citizen having his
permanent home in Tamilnadu or speaking Tamill
language can be regarded as an outsider in
Uttar Pradesh or a citizen having his
permanent home in Maharashtra or speaking
Marathi language be regarded as an outsider in
Karnataka. He must be held entitled to the
same rights as a citizen having his permanent
home in Uttar Pradesh or Karnataka, as the
case may. To regard him as an outsider would
be to deny him his constitutional rights and
to derecognise the essential unity and
integrity of the country by treating it as if
it were a mere conglomeration of independent
States.
Article 15, clauses, (1) and (2) bar
discrimination on grounds not only of re-
ligion, race, caste or sex but also of place
of birth. Article 16(2) goes further and
provides that no citizen shall, on grounds
only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent,
place of birth, residence or any of them be
ineligible for or discriminated against in
respect of, any employment or office under the
State. Therefore, it would appear that
residential requirement would be
unconstitutional as a condition of eligibility
for employment or appointment to an office
under the State which also covers an office
under any local or other authority within the
State or any corporation, which is an
instrumentality or agency of the State."
14. It is ofcourse true that the aforesaid observations
were made in connection with admission in M.B.B.S and Post
Graduate Course and in the light of the question whether
discrimination on the ground of place of birth would be
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countenanced under Article 15(1) and (2) However, the sweep
of Article 14 read with Article 16(1) is no less pervasive.
Article 16(1) ensures equality of opportunity for
626
all citizens in the matter of employment or appointment to
any office under the State. Article 14 declares that the
State shall not deny to any person equality before the law
or the equal protection of laws within the territory of
India. The principles emerging from Articles 14 and 16 are
well-settled. The object is to ensure equality to all those
who are similarly situated. In other words, all the
citizens applying for employment under the State are
entitled to be treated alike. If that is so, it is
difficult to appreciate how having once allowed all candi-
dates having minimum qualification of graduation in any
medium to compete for the posts, a further special
beneficial treatment can be given to only candidates passing
minimum educational qualification, examination, namely,
graduation in Telugu medium after their relative merits are
assessed vis a-vis other candidates in open competitions and
how they can be permitted to steal a march over other
meritorious candidates standing higher up in the merit queue
by giving weightage of 35 or 40 marks, as the case may be.
15. Reliance placed by learned advocates for the State of
Andhra Pradesh and Telugu medium candidates on a decision of
this Court irk the case of Sanjay Ahlawat v. Maharishi
Dayanand University, Rohtak & Ors. (1994 (4) Scale 221) is
of no assistance as on the peculiar facts of that case this
Court held that weightage of 10 extra marks to the
candidates who have graduated from the Medical College at
Rohtak as not discriminatory or violative of Article 14. In
that case, extra marks were found to be justified for being
awarded to local medical graduates for the purpose of
ensuring that the medic facility in the State is not
impaired in way because of dearth of doctors. In order to
attract the residents of Haryana to Post Graduate Course
after they obtain medical degrees, this weightage of ten
marks was found necessary and reasonable. That was to
ensure for the people of the State services of good doctors
hailing from Haryana itself It was also found that this
weightage was based on domicile in Haryana or education at
the only Medical College at Haryana. This did not have the
effect of shutting the doors of admission to the outstation
boys. The aforesaid weightage of 10 marks was, therefore,
justified on the peculiar facts of the case before the
Court. Such is not the situation in the present case.
16. The aforesaid sub-classification of meritorious
candidates into Telugu medium candidates and non-Telugu
medium candidates insofar as their graduation is concerned,
does not have any rational nexus to the object sought to be
achieved thereby. If the object is to have proficiency in
Telugu language which is the official language of the State,
it has to be kept in view that even those candidates who
have studied in non- Telugu medium like English or Hindi at
graduation level also have, to pass in one compulsory paper
of Telugu It may be pointed out that State had adopted,
after passing of the Official language Act in 1966, 3
language formula in the field of education. The students
studying in other media are also required to pass a paper in
Telugu language. Therefore, they have got working knowledge
of Telugu It has also to be kept ion view that even after
they are appointed to the posts of which they competed they
have to clear Telugu language examination before getting
increment or even confirmation and if they do not clear this
examination, they are liable to be discharged. If that is
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so,
627
proficiency in Telugu language at entry point pales into
insignificance so far as recruitment to these posts is
concerned. It may be that the concerned selected candidates
at lower echelon of service may have to deal with public in
Telugu language or may have to correspond with other public
departments or authorities in Telugu language, but that is
well ensured by the requirement of passing Telugu language
examination after being recruited to these posts. Under
these circumstances, giving a further weightage of 35 or 40
marks to such candidates even prior to their entry in
service has really no nexus to the object sought to be
achieved by such provision. It cannot be said that merely
because a person has passed his graduation in Telugu medium
alone is proficient in Telugu and not the candidate who has
passed his graduation in any other language. There may be
cases where a student may have passed his matriculation
examination in Telugu medium, but he may have studied his
intermediate and under-graduation course in English medium
and vice versa. It must therefore, be held that provision
for granting additional weightage of marks to candidates who
have passed their graduation in Telugu medium is arbitrary
and does not justify the sub-classification of meritorious
candidates into Telugu medium candidates and non-Telugu
medium candidates as sought to be done by the said impugned
provision. In this connection, we may profitably refer to a
decision of this Court in the case of State of Maharashtra
v. Raj Kumar (A.I.R.1982 SC 1301) wherein a rule of
recruitment framed by the Government of Maharashtra giving
weightage in recruitment to a candidate coming from rural
area and who had passed S.S.C. Examination held at villages
or places with ’c’ type Municipally was held to be violative
of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The Court
speaking through Fazal Ali, J., found that there was a
provision that during viva-voce the Board would put relevant
questions to judge the suitability of candidate for working
in rural area and to test his knowledge of rural problems.
This being a sufficient safeguard to test the ability of
candidate the express provision for giving weightage would
virtually convert merit into demerit and demerit into merit
and would be per se violative of Article 14. In our view
the situation in the present case is also similar We
respectfully concur with the views expressed by Fazal Ali,
J.
17. For all these reasons, it must be held that the present
rule of weightage to be given to candidates who have been
passed graduation in Telugu medium is violative of Articles
14 and 16 of the Constitution and does not represent any
valid and reasonable classification having a rational nexus
to the object sought to be achieved thereby.
(2) As seen above, 5 per cent of the total aggregate marks
to be added to the assessment of Telugu medium candidates
would frustrate the very concept of recruitment to public
post on merits. It is easy to visualise that hardly a few
vacancies are available in each recruitment for a particular
category of posts. When once a limited number of posts are
available for direct recruitment from open market, and when
eligible candidates having minimum educational qualification
are allowed to compete, such competition would be too severe
and fierce and even addition of one more mark to the total
marks obtained on merits would tilt the entire balance and
would disrupt the entire queue of merito-
628
rious candidates found fit to be appointed to such limited
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number of posts. If 4 marks as per the impugned rule are to
be added to the assessment of a Telugu medium candidate then
he would jump the queue and steal a march over more meri-
torious candidates who stood higher up in the merit list.
He would go ahead of all such more meritorious candidates
only on the specious plea that he had passed his graduation
in Telugu medium while other more meritorious candidates
standing ahead of him in the queue had cleared the
graduation examination, having studied in any other medium
like, English, Urdu or Hindi. This would weed out best
available candidates from the open market and would give
undue advantage to less meritorious candidates. That would
seriously impair the efficiency of administration. It
deserves to be pointed out that even while making
reservation for members of the Scheduled Castes and the the
Scheduled Tribes as permitted by Article 16(4) of the
Constitution, efficiency in administration is required to be
borne in mind, as enjoyed by Article 335; and it is
principally this requirement which led the 9- Judge Bench of
this Court in the Mandal Commission case (A.I.R. 1933 SC
477) to hold that reservation cannot exceed 50%. This
aspect shall have to be borne in mind, a fortiori, here as
the weightage to be given has no constitutional sanction.
(3)Then by section 4 of the Official language Act,
continuance of English is provided for. Section 7 provides
for grant of special position to Urdu in certain areas of
the State. Under these circumstances, grant of weightage to
only those who studied in Telugu medium would not be
strictly in consonance with the provisions of the Act
18. It must, therefore, be held that the Division Bench of
the Andhra Pradesh High Court was not right when it took the
view that provision of said weightage was in the interests
of the State to enable it to prefer persons who were better
acquainted with Telugu, being the official language of the
State. With respect, the Division Bench was not justified
in upsetting the contrary view expressed by learned single
Judge B.P.Jeevan Reddy, J.
19. Before parting we may mention one submission on behalf
of the Telugu medium students. It was submitted that if the
weightage given to them in recruitment is to be found fault
with, those Telugu medium candidates who have already been
appointed may not be disturbed otherwise irreparable injury
will be caused to them. It was also submitted that those
Telugu medium students whose appointments could not be made
on account of the pendency of these proceedings may be given
one more chance to compete for future recruitment on such
posts and for that purpose suitable age relaxation may be
given to them as otherwise they will be out of employment
market. In our view this request is quite reasonable and
deserves to be, granted. We, therefore, direct that despite
our finding that 5 per cent weightage given to the Telugu
medium graduates in the present case is violative of Article
14 and 16(1) of me Constitution, those Telugu medium
graduates who have already been appointed to the strength of
such weightage and who are working on their concerned posts
should not be disturbed and their appointments will not be
adversely affected by the present judgment. On the other
hand, those Telugu medium graduates have been selected on
the strength of the weightage but to whom actual appoint-
629
ments have not been given on account of pendency of the
present proceedings should be given a chance to complete for
such posts as and when future recruitment to such posts is
resorted to and for that purpose only once suitable age
relaxation may be given to them in case they are otherwise
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found suitable on merits to be appointed in such future
direct recruitment to such posts. In other words, only on
account of the fact that they have become age barred, they
should not be denied appointments on the strength of their
meritorious performance. This will be pay way of only one
time concession about age relaxation.
20. As a result, subject to what is stated hereinabove,
Civil Appeal No. 2914 of 1981 will have to be allowed and
the judgment and order of the Division Bench will stand set
aside and the decision rendered by the Single Judge
B.P.Jeevan Reddy, J., as he then was, will stand resorted in
W.P.No.2041 of 1981. Civil Appeals arising out of S.L.P.(C)
Nos. 6395 and 13446 of 1994 on the other hand will stand
dismissed and the judgment and order rendered by the Andhra
Pradesh Administrative Tribunal at Hyderabad in O.A. No.
2142 of 1993 will stand confirmed. In the facts and
circumstances of the case, there will be no order as to
costs. Ordered accordingly.
630