B RAYAPPA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner along with four others filed O.A.No.139 of 2001 before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad Bench (hereafter called 'the Tribunal'). In the said O.A. he prayed to set aside the fixation of cut-off date as 1-1-2000 for the eligibility criteria for fulfilling the service conditions of five years for the competitive examination for promotion to the post of PSS Group-B. The learned Tribunal by the impugned judgment dt.25-4-2001 dismissed the O.A. placing reliance in Dr. Amritlal Bhat v. State of Rajasthan1. Aggrieved by the same petitioner is before this Court by filing this Writ Petition.

(2.) The petitioner was appointed as Inspector of Post Offices (Group-C) on 25-9-1995 and he completed five years of service on 24-9-2000 as Inspector. He is one of the aspiring candidates for the post in Postal Superintendents Service (PSS) Group-B. The said posts are filled up by competitive examination. Respondent No.2 issued a notification on 12-12-2000 proposing to conduct examination initially on 13/14-3-2001 and later the said date was postponed. Now it is submitted by the learned Counsel that the examination is likely to be conducted on 24-7-2001; though in the affidavit accompanying the writ petition it is stated that the examination was postponed from 13/14-3-2001 to 25/26-4-2001. Be that as it may, the petitioner submitted an application to the divisional head and the same was rejected on the ground that he did not complete five years of service as on 1-1-2000 and the petitioner could not sit for examination on 25/26-4-2001. He challenged the fixing of cut-off date as 1-1-2000 before the Tribunal on the ground that the vacancies which arose during 1998,1999 and 2000 are sought to be filled up in April by present competitive examination and therefore, when the examination is to be conducted for the vacancies year-wise fixing one cutoff date would work adverse to the interest of the officials who became eligible in different years and that fixing such cut-off date as 1-1-2000 when the examination is likely to held in April/July 2001 is irrational and arbitrary. It was also prayed before the Tribunal to modify cut-off date for service eligibility condition as 1-1-2001 instead of 1.1.2000. As already noticed the Tribunal came to the conclusion that as the exercise is for filling up the posts/vacancies which arose in 1998, 1999 and 2000 fixing cut-off date as 1-1-2000 is reasonable and valid.

(3.) Sri Krishna Devan, learned Counsel for the petitioner reiterated the same grounds urged before the learned Tribunal. He placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Vipinchandra Hiralal Shan2 and submits that when the selection process for filling up promotion posts has to be taken up year wise when the posts are being filled up in April 2001 the respondents ought to have taken 1-1-2001 as cut-off date.