ORDER :

R. Raghunandan Rao, J.

1. Heard Sri B. Adinarayana Rao, learned Senior Counsel appearing for Sri Srinivasa Rao Bodduluri learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Yogesh Tandava, learned Counsel for the petitioner in W.P. No. 2156 of 2020 and Sri R.V. Mallikarjuna Rao for the respondents.

2. Before adverting to the controversy in question, a few facts would be necessary:-

The A.P. Public Service Commission had issued notification dated 31.12.2018 for filling up various carry forward vacancies and fresh vacancies falling under Group-I Service. The said notification also set out the conditions under which the recruitment process would be carried out. The selection process was in three stages, viz., preliminary examination, main examination and interview. All persons, who are eligible in terms of age and other qualifications were permitted to appear for the preliminary examination, which was an objective test consisting of two papers, viz., Paper-I was to test the candidates in-(a) History and Culture; (b) Constitution Policy, Social Justice and International relations; (c) Indian and Andhra Pradesh Economy and Planning; and (d) Geography and Paper-II was to test the candidates in-(