JUDGMENT

CHANDRACHUD, CJI.: — The petitioners Prem Prakash and Dal Chand Anand are members of a scheduled caste. By these writ petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution they ask for a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to appoint them against the vacancies reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Delhi Judicial Service. They also ask for a writ of prohibition to the effect that the respondents should not fill up the reserved vacancies for which they competed either by holding a fresh examination or by appointing candidates who had qualified in any previous examination. The Union of India, the Administrator of the Union Territory of Delhi and the Registrar of the Delhi High Court are respondents 1, 2 and 3 to these petitions.

2. On Sept. 26, 1979, the Registrar of the Delhi High Court published a newspaper advertisement that the Delhi High Court will hold an examination for recruitment of officers to the Delhi Judicial Service on Jan. 11, 12 and 13, 1980 in the time scale pay of Rs. 650-1200. The advertisement stated that the total number of vacancies was 16 out of which 2 were reserved for Scheduled Castes and 1 for Scheduled Tribes. In addition