( 1 ) THIS is an appeal from the order of Malimath, J, dismissing WP. 2015 of 1973. The appellants and the respondents herein were respectively the petitioners and the respondents therein. For the sake of convenience, the appellants will hereinafter be referred to as the petitioners.

( 2 ) OF the three petitioners, petitioner 2 has since been posted as First divn Clerk in the Commercial Tax Dept and hence he has no subsisting grievance. This appeal is now confined to petitioners 1 and 3 only.

( 3 ) THE material facts are briefly these: Petitioners 1 and 3 had been appointed as local candidates for the posts of First Divn Clerk and Second divn Clerk respectively in the Commercial Tax Dept of Karnataka State. By its Notification dated 14-1-1972, the State Public Service Commission, (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) called for applications, inter alia, for the pests of First Divn Clerks in several Depts of the State Govt. Petitioners 1 and 3 had applied for those posts and had expressed in their applications preference for being allotted to the Commercial Taxes Dept. In the examination held by the Commission, they were among the successful candidates. In t