Nooty Ramamohana Rao, J.

1. In both these cases a common question touching upon the eligibility of the petitioners for selection to the posts of Assistant Engineer (E & M) notified by the respondent Singareni Collieries Company Limited arises for consideration. There are 3 petitioners in W.P. No. 4962 of 2015 and 6 petitioners in W.P. No. 7632 of 2015.

2. The case of the petitioners in W.P. No. 4962 of 2015 is that they have obtained B.Tech/B.E. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna University and Andhra University as the case be, whereas the 6 petitioners in W.P. No. 7632 of 2015 have joined the service of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited with ITI certificate and subsequently passed the Section A & B of Associate Membership Examination conducted by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (India). It is their case that a pass in Section A & B of Associate Membership Course in Mechanical Engineering from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (India) is recognized by the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Department of Higher Education and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as equivalent to AMIE. Therefore, the