The court affirmed that horizontal reservation must be applied correctly, ensuring merit-based selection without exceeding prescribed quotas, and upheld the applicant's claim for appointment due to improper selection procedures.

JUDGMENT:

Ravi Nath Tilhari, J.

Heard Sri J. Sudheer, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri R. S. Manidhar Pingali, learned Government Pleader for Services-I and Sri N. Pramod, learned Standing Counsel for Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission.

2. The aforesaid three writ petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India arise out of the order, dated 15.03.2012 passed in O.A.No.3556 of 2010 and Contempt Application No.782 of 2010 on the file of the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal (in short ‘Tribunal’), filed by the applicant, the 1^st respondent in W.P.No.24591 of 2012 and W.P.No.17319 of 2012 and the petitioner in W.P.No.16265 of 2014. He would be referred as the applicant.

3. The Tribunal allowed the O.A with directions and also closed the Contempt Application.

A. Facts - I :

4. The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (in short ‘APPSC’) issued notification No.23 of 2007 inviting applications from the eligible candidates to fill up 22 posts of Assistant Conservator of Forests (in short ‘ACF’). Out of 22 vacancies, so notified six (6) vacancies were earmarked for OC General and four (4) for OC women candidates.

5. The applicant K.Suresh Kumar appeared in the selection process. He secured 409 marks, out of 660 marks, in the merit list of OC/ General category. The APPSC published the final list of selected candidates, vide notification dated 25.05.2010. Applicant’s name did not figure in the list of the selected candidates.

6. The APPSC selected three (03) women OC candidates, contending that they were selected on their own merit. The APPSC also selected four women candidates under reservation quota of 331/3% in OC/ General category. Thus, in total, out of 10 vacancies, 7 OC women were selected. The applicant was informed that after filling up the reserved vacancies for women i.e., 4, there were only 6 vacancies left and as the applicant secured 9^th position, he could not be selected.

7. The procedure, adopted by the APPSC, to select 7 women against 10 vacancies of OC/General was that the APPSC firstly filled the six (6) vacancies as per the merit of the candidates, including women and men. Then, it filled the remaining four (4), earmarked for reservation quota for women of 331/3%, exclusively from the remaining women candidates, as per the merit inter se i.e., excluding those three (3) women candidates, who had been selected on their merit position amongst six (6) selected candidates. To put it differently the APPSC applied the rule of ‘vertical reservation’.

II. O.A.No.3556 of 2010 before the Tribunal:

8. The applicant filed O.A.No.3556 of 2010 challenging his non-selection against the 10 OC/General vacancies raising the plea inter alia that he got 9^th rank. His case was that he secured 409 marks out of 660. He was at serial No.9. The procedure for selection, if it was followed by giving horizontal reservation to women candidates, under 331/3% reservation, only four (04) women could be selected in OC category. The other three (03) selected women candidates secured marks less than the applicant. So, the case of the applicant was that if procedure followed was according to law, the applicant would have been selected.

9. The State of AP and its authority (respondent Nos.1 & 2 in O.A.) filed the counter affidavit in O.A., They submitted that as per the notification, 22 posts were to be filled up, against which, 20 selected candidates had joined. One post was not filled up by ST vacancy for want of ST certificate verification by the District Collector and the remaining one candidate Sri K.Vinod Kumar (BC-D) though selected, did not join and as such, his appointment was cancelled, and the roster point No.93 (BC-D) was carried forward to the next recruitment.

10. The APPSC/ 3rd respondent in O.A., also filed counter, inter-alia stating that, the last selected candidate in OC/General had secured 424 marks. Therefore, the applicant could not be selected to any of the (6) OC/General vacancies due to his lower merit. The