ALAMDEEP SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in the present writ petition filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India seeks summoning of the records whereby respondent No.3 has been appointed to the post of PCS (Executive Branch) and respondent No.4 to the post of Excise and Taxation Officer. A writ of certiorari is prayed for quashing the merit list (P6) along with a writ of quo warranto for quashing the selection and appointment orders of the said respondents being ineligible as per the definition of Sportsperson given in the information brochure of Punjab State Civil Services Combined Competitive Examination (PCS), 2009. Thus quashing of the appointment orders after summoning the respondent is prayed for. Resultantly, a writ of mandamus for directing the official respondents to re-frame the merit list and declare the petitioner selected and to appoint him under the Sportsperson Punjab category for general candidates on the posts on which the private respondents No.3 & 4 have been appointed, is prayed for.

(2.) The above reliefs are claimed on the strength that the petitioner is B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Thapar University, Patiala (P1). On account of having represented Punjab in the 6th National Fencing Championship conducted by the Fencing Association of India (in short, the FAI), he had been awarded B-Grade certificate by the Sports Department, Punjab. The certificate in question would show that he had participated in the 6th National Fencing Championship which was held from 27.02.1993 to 01.03.1993 at Bhilwara (Rajasthan) under the auspices of FAI which was organized by the Rajasthan State Fencing Association and Bhilwara District Fencing Association. Resultantly, having secured the first position, he had been granted the 'B' Sports Gradation Certificate (P2 colly) on 23.06.1993. It is his case that FAI is a unit affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association (in short, 'IOA') (P3).

(3.) On account of advertisement issued on 26.11.2009 (P4), the State Government had advertised 143 posts of PCS (EB) and Allied Services which were subsequently increased to 180. Four posts were reserved for Sportsperson, Punjab out of which 2 were for General category candidate, one was for SC and one was for Balmiki/Mazhbi Sikh. As per the categorywise break-up one of the posts fell to the PCS (EB) whereas the other fell to the category of ETO (P5). On account of preliminary examination conducted on 19.12.2010, the result of which was declared on 23.12.2010, the petitioner had become eligible for written examination held from 16.09.2011 to 09.10.2011 and the result of which was declared on 27.04.2012, the petitioner became eligible for viva voce. He had received interview call from the office of Punjab Public Service Commission - respondent No.2 on 30.05.2012. The result was declared on 14.06.2012 and as per the category-wise merit list of Sportsmen for general category, the petitioner was shown at Sr.No.4 whereas private respondents No.3&4 were shown at Sr.No.1&2 respectively. Their gradation is as under:-