Nagendra Rai, J.

1. Both the appeals filed by the appelants are directed against the order dated 17.8.1999 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court in CWJC No. 9138 of 1998 by which the prayer made on behalf of the appellants to fill up 123 posts of Assistant Public Prosecutor (hereinafter referred to as the APP) from the panel prepared by the Bihar Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) pursuant to Advertisement Nos.1 and 2 of 1996 has been rejected.

2. As the same order has been challenged in both the appeals, they have been heard together and are being disposed of by the common judgment.

3. Appellant No. 1 in both the appeals along with others filed a writ application for a direction to the respondent-State to send requisition to the Commission for sending recommendation for filling up 123 posts of APPs which were lying vacant in the State. During the pendency of the writ application, an intervention application was filed on behalf of the intervenors praying therein that they may be also heard at the time of hearing of the writ application because their interest are the same as that of the writ petitioners and accordingly they were also heard and thereafter the writ application was finally disposed of.

4. The facts which are not in dispute are that under Section 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the State Government has been vested with a power to appoint one or more APPs in every district for conducting prosecution in the Court of Magistrates. The State Government has appointed APPs to conduct prosecution in the Court of the Magistrates. Sufficient number of APPs were not appointed. The Free Legal Aid Committee, Jamshedpur filed a writ petition (S.L) No. 1344 of 1981 before the Apex Court and the Apex Court having noticed the statement made in the affidavit filed on behalf of the State that against 562 Courts of Magistrate, only 257 APPs were working, directed the State Government by order dated 9th January, 1990 to create posts of APPs as many as necessary to meet the short-fall and in the meantime, the District Magistrates were directed to take steps under Section 25(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide the services of a counsel to act as APP in each court so that no single trial is adjourned for want of APPs.

5. It appears that in pursuance of the aforesaid direction of the Apex Court, 562 posts of APPs were created, but all the posts were not filled up. Then writ applications being CWJC Nos. 2650, 4169 and 4216 of 1996 were filed before this Court for a direction to the State Government to fill up the existing posts of APPs. This Court noticed that against the sanctioned 562 posts of APPs, only 434 were working. This Court also found that 712 Courts of Magistrates were holding courts in the State and accordingly directed to create posts of APP equivalent to the number of courts functioning in the State. Later on as evident from order dated 12.9.1996 passed in the aforesaid writ applications, which has been annexed as Annexure-12 to LPA No. 1125 of 1999, that 150 additional posts of APPs were also created. Thus the State Government created 712 posts of APP. This Court thereafter issued direction in the said cases to the State Government to fill up the remaining sanctioned posts of APPs.

6. As only 434 APPs were working against the total sanctioned strength of 712, the State Government sent three requisitions to the Commission to fill up the remaining 278 posts. Thereafter the Commission issued an advertisement, which was published in the daily Aaj on 31st July, 1996, inviting application for appointment to the post of APPs. The said advertisement contained advertisement Nos. 1 and 2 of 1996. Advertisement No.1 of 1996 invited application only from the Scheduled Tribe candidates to fill up 30 posts of APPs specially reserved for them and Advertisement No.2 of 1996 invited application to fill up 48 vacancies from all the categories including 9 of the Scheduled Tr