JUDGMENT

Anil R. Dave, J.

1. Leave granted. As all these appeals have been filed against a common judgment dated 4th March, 2011, delivered by the High Court of Judicature at Madras in Writ Appeal Nos. 1063 and 1287 of 2009, they have been heard together and decided by this common judgment.

2. The facts giving rise to the present litigation in a nutshell are as follows.

The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as 'the Commission') had issued an advertisement on 27thDecember, 2000, inviting applications for 95 posts for Group I Services. Subsequently, the vacancies had been decreased and it was notified that in all 91 vacancies had to be filled up.

3. In pursuance of the aforesaid advertisement, several candidates had submitted their applications and ultimately they had also appeared in the preliminary examination. The candidates who had been declared qualified in the preliminary examination were asked to appear in the main written examination. Subsequently, oral interviews had been conducted of the candidates who were selected in the main examination and thereafter a final select list had been prepared by the Commission.

4. Writ petitions had been filed in the Ma