The main legal point established in the judgment is the need for adherence to Rules and Regulations in the appointment process, including prescribed qualifications and transparent selection procedures for the Selection Committee to avoid arbitrariness.

JUDGMENT

Bharat P. Deshpande, J. - Rule. Rule returnable forthwith. Heard parties with consent for final disposal.

2. Notices were issued to the respondents on 19/04/2022 and by way of interim order respondent No.6 was restrained from taking charge of the post of 'Peon' till further orders.

3. In a nutshell, the Petitioner contends that respondent No.2 acted in an arbitrary and illegal manner in issuing an appointment letter dated 06/01/2022 in favour of respondent No.6 thereby appointing her to the post of 'Peon' in the office of Village Panchayat Quelossim without there being any recommendation from the Departmental Selection Committee.

4. Heard Mr. Nigel Da Costa Frias, learned Counsel for the Petitioner, Mr. Manish Salkar, learned Government Advocate for respondent Nos.1, 3 and 5 and Mr. Dharmanad Vernekar, learned Counsel for respondent No.6.

5. Learned Counsel Mr. Costa Frias, appearing for the petitioner/Panchayat, submitted that post of 'Peon' and 'Clerk' had fallen vacant in Village Panchayat Quelossim. Accordingly, the Memorandum dated 02/03/2021 issued by respondent No.5 and in accordance with paragraph 14 of Goa Panchayat (Staffing Pattern, Scales of Pay and Mode of Recruitment of Staff of Panchayats) Order 2003 (hereinafter called as 'Order 2003'), granted no objection to the Block Development Officer/Respondent No.3 herein for the appointment of one Village Panchayat Clerk and one Village Panchayat Peon on regular basis in the office of the Petitioner as per the said order 2003. An advertisement was issued in the newspaper calling eligible candidates, vide dated 02/08/2021, which is at page 31 of the petition.

6. Pursuant to a such advertisement, the Petitioner received 8 applications for the post of 'Peon' and 11 applications for the post of 'Clerk' after scrutinizing all the applications, the same were found valid and eligible for the purpose of an interview. The date of the interview was fixed on 13/12/2021. The members of the Departmental Selection Committee i.e. the Petitioner himself being the Sarpanch of the Village Panchayat, together with respondent No.3 /Block Development Officer and respondent No.4 i.e. the Chief Officer, being a Selection Committee member were intimated. All the candidates were called on 13/12/2021 for the purpose of assessment by the Departmental Selection Committee. The said Committee after a brief discussion prepared individual mark sheets and short listed one candidate for the post of 'Clerk' and one candidate for the post of 'Peon'.

7. It is the contention of the Petitioner that the candidate by name Mr. Clinton D'Silva performed well during the interview and stood first being the resident of Curpavaddo Quelossim, Mormugao Goa and was selected for the post of 'Clerk' based on the recommendation of the Departmental Selection Committee.

8. For the post of 'Peon', Mr. Cavin De Souza, resident of Quelossim, stood third however being a resident of the village Quelossim he was selected on the basis of the recommendation of the Departmental Selection Committee. Ms. Valencia Barbosa/respondent No.6 herein though stood first in the merit list, was not shortlisted being the resident of Zamboll, Cortalim, Mormugao, Goa. Candidate No.2 Mr. Clinton D'Silva who stood second in the list was also not selected as he was already selected for the post of 'Clerk'. The entire exercise was conducted in consultation with Departmental Selection Committee and accordingly an appointment order was issued to Mr. Clinton D'Silva for the post of 'Clerk' by respondent No.2 which is at Annexure H.

9. It is further claimed by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner that with respect to the appointment of the post of 'Peon', it was specifically discussed during the meeting that respondent No.6 though stood first, is not resident within the jurisdiction of Village Panchayat and therefore preference has to be given to th