G SRINIVAS RAO Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Sri Nooty Rama Mohana Rao, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri V. T. Gopalan, Additional Solicitor General for India instructed by Sri B. Naraslmha Sharma, learned Additional Central Government Standing Counsel for the 1st respondent, the learned Government Pleader for Services-I for the 2nd respondent and Sri Madhav Pannikar, Advocate for Sri Bhaskar Poluri for the 4th respondent.

(2.) The substantive grievance of the petitioner is as regards his allocation to the Manipur-Tripura Joint Cadre of the Indian Police Service. Urging the said grievance, in particular on the ground that his allocation to the Manipur-Tripura Joint Cadre while allocating the 4th respondent to the AP Cadre is illegal, the petitioner filed OA No. 155 of 2001 before the Hyderabad Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). By the order dated 9-1-2004 the OA was dismissed. The said order is assailed in this writ petition. CHRONOLOGY OF FACTS, IN BRIEF:-

(3.) The case of the petitioner is that the single vacancy in the IPS. RR arising in Andhra Pradesh is an "insider general vacancy" and had been irrationally converted by the 1st respondent to an "insider OBC" vacancy by allocating the 4th respondent thereto. According to the petitioner since he is a general candidate and obtained the higher rank of 95 as against rank 133 of the 4th respondent in the over all merit list of CSE 1998 and as the sole vacancy in the AP Cadre for the said recruitment year was allocable to a general insider candidate i.e., an open vacancy allocable to a candidate hailing from the State of Andhra Pradesh, on all relevant and applicable parameters, the petitioner ought to have been allocated to the AP Cadre and not the 4th respondent. THE STAND OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT:-