( 1 ) WE heard these cases earlier and we came across the vigilance report which had been submitted in pursuance of the earlier orders passed by a Division Bench of this court when the writ appeals were admitted. Since that report had not been made available to the parties, we thought it proper to hear the case again and give a chance to the parties to contest the report. Accordingly copies of the vigilance report were furnished to the parties who have filed their objections.

( 2 ) THE cases are before us in view of the orders of the Division Bench which referred the matter to the Full Bench, as it found that there were earlier judgments of this Court by division Bench with regard to the same subject matter.

( 3 ) IN the first instance, we will deal with the writ appeals. Both the writ appeals have been filed against the judgment dated 17-7-2000 in W. P. No. 35618 of 1997. W. A. No. 1088 of 2000 has been filed by the state, whereas W. A. No. 1163 of 2000 has been filed by respondents 3 and 4 in the writ petition. The facts leading to filing of w. P. No. 35618 of 1997 may be summerised thus,

( 4 ) THE writ petition was filed by one sarvepalli Ramaiah challenging the o