Telangana High Court
R. Rajasekhar vs State Of Telangana on 31 January, 2025
Author: Nagesh Bheemapaka
Bench: Nagesh Bheemapaka
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA
WRIT PETITION No. 4055 OF 2019
O R D E R:
Assailing the Selection Notification dated
12.02.2019 published by the 2nd respondent - Telangana State
Public Service Commission (TSPSC) regarding the provisionally-
selected candidates for appointment to the post of School
Assistant (Social Studies) under Notification No.52/2017 dated
21.10.2017 as arbitrary, illegal, and violative of Articles 14, 16,
and 21 of the Constitution of India, petitioner is before this
Court.
2. It is the case of petitioner that he belongs to
Scheduled Caste community and possesses the requisite
qualifications for the post of School Assistant (Social Studies).
He obtained a Graduate Degree in Arts with less than 45%
marks, Masters in Public Administration with 63% and Masters
in History with more than 50% marks. The 2nd respondent
issued notification announcing 148 vacancies, including 40
vacancies under Open Competition (OC-G) and 14 vacancies
under Scheduled Caste (SC-G) in Mahabubnagar District. The
said notification prescribed that candidates must possess a
Graduate Degree with two optional subjects or their allied
subjects with 50% marks or a Postgraduate Degree with 50%
marks, with a relaxation of 5% for SC, ST, OBC, and Differently-
abled candidates. At the time of applying, petitioner's
application was not accepted due to his undergraduate
percentage being less than 45%. Aggrieved by this, he is stated
to have filed Writ Petition No.47368 of 2017, wherein this Court
vide order dated 04.01.2018, permitted petitioner and similarly-
placed candidates to take the examination. Petitioner manually
submitted his Application, mentioning his qualification as M.A.
Public Administration with 63%; he was issued a Hall Ticket
and appeared for examination held on 04.03.2018. The ranking
list was subsequently published and petitioner was found to be
within the zone of consideration for employment; he being SC
candidate, secured 75.656 marks, was ranked 96th in the State,
22nd in Mahabubnagar District under Open Competition, and
1st in Mahabubnagar District under SC category. Thereafter, his
certificates were verified, however, in the impugned selection
notification, petitioner's Hall Ticket number was excluded while
several candidates with lower merit were included. Petitioner
immediately approached the 2nd respondent for clarification who
informed that his exclusion was due to not possessing the
requisite 45% in his undergraduate degree and that he was
permitted to take the examination solely under the orders of this
Court. Aggrieved by this action, petitioner filed this Writ
Petition.
3. This Court, while issuing rule nisi, on 27.02.2019,
directed respondents to verify the eligibility of petitioner and if
he is fulfilling all other parameters, but was not considered only
on the ground that he did not secure 45% pass in graduation,
he should be considered for inclusion of his name in the
provisional selection list as per his merit.
4. Learned Standing Counsel for TSPSC Sri P.S.
Rajashekar, based on the counter, submits that as per the
notification, the candidates must have got 50% marks in
graduation level and also 50% marks in post graduation level in
the relevant subjects and since petitioner did not possess the
requisite 50% marks in the graduation level in the relevant
subjects, his case was not considered for appointment to the
post of School Assistant (Social Studies).
5. Learned counsel for petitioner Sri A. Raghuram
Mahadev cites the judgment in Writ Petition No. 3305 of 2019,
wherein this Court directed respondents to consider
qualifications of petitioner therein in securing more than 50%
marks in post-graduation as valid. The operative portion of the
judgment clearly states that when the State Government has
taken a decision regarding the validity of qualifications,
respondent (TSPSC) cannot object to it and reject candidates on
the grounds of non-qualification. The Court directed
respondents to consider candidates securing more than 50%
marks in post-graduation and complete the process within four
weeks. The petitioner contends that his case is identical to the
said Writ Petition and seeks the same benefit.
6. This Court in similar circumstances, in Writ
Petition No. 3305 of 2019, recording the submissions made by
the Government Pleader for Services, on written instructions,
that qualification possessed by petitioners therein is valid and
hence, their cases have to be conserved for appointment to the
post of School Assistant (Social Studies) and that as per the
NCTE Regulations also, petitioners are qualified and eligible for
appointment to the post of School Assistant (Social studies) as
they have secured more than 50% marks in the post graduation
level, allowed the Writ Petition.
7. In the light of the same, this Writ Petition is also
allowed directing the 2nd respondent to consider the case of
petitioner for appointment to the post of School Assistant (Social
Studies) duly taking into consideration their qualification of
securing more than 50% marks in Post Graduation level as valid
and if petitioner stood in the merit list, he can come within the
zone of consideration for appointment to the post of School
Assistant (Social Studies). It is needless to observe that the
entire exercise of considering the case of petitioner shall be
completed within four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of
this order.
8. Miscellaneous Applications, if any shall stand
closed.
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NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA, J
31st January 2025
ksld
