P.S. MISHRA, J.

By this application under article 226 of the Constitution or India the petitioner has moved this Court for a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no. 4 to appoint her as a clerk in Darbhanga Collectorate.

2. Petitioner worked during the census from 1.9.81 to 28.2.82 as a Tabulator in the Regional Tabulation office, and was retrenched from the said post with effect from 1.3.82 under the orders of the Directorate of Census operations, Bihar Regional Tabulation Office, Darbhanga. On 7.4.82 a Circular was issued to all concerned by the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, on the subject of appointment of the retrenched employees of the Census operation stating that steps should be taken to appoint such retrenched employees in preference to others in accordance with their qualifications against the available vacancies. A copy of the said Circular is Annexure 2 to this application. Contents of this Circular were reiterated in a letter by the Commissioner, Darbhanga Division to all the departments within his division dated 18.8.82. This letter also mentions that despite a clear circular of the Government and the Government decision in this behalf retrenched employees of the Census operation were not given the preference in the appointments and persons otherwise qualified were still being appointed which was not proper. This letter, which is Annexure 3 to the writ application, emphssisec1 that while preparing the penal of the waiting list for the appointments against the existing vacancies, retrenched employees of the Census operation should be given preference. Petitioner was thereafter called for interview but in the interview letter (Annexure 4 to the writ application) it was also stated that the petitioner would be required to appear at typewriting test for the post of clerk which would be held on 10.1.83. Petitioner appeared in the test held on 10.1.83 but failed to qualify being not able to type out up to the desired speed.

3. Petitioner has asserted that when she found the list of the 26 selected candidates for appointments as clerk in the Darbhanga Collectorate published in a daily newspaper on 1.3.83, she made enquiries and came to know that in the previous years quite a few persons were appointed as clerks who had no knowledge of type-writing and even in the list of candidates selected for appointment, Sudhakar Mishra and Bimal Kumar Das at Sls. 6 and 10 (retrenched employees of the Census operation like the petitioner) were 8elected who had not attained the minimum type-writing speed and the notice giving appointment to them recited that they would be required to obtain the requisite minimum type-writing speed in Hindi within three months of their appointments failing which their services would be terminated but her candidature had been rejected. Knowledge of type-writing to petitioner, is not an essential qualification. Although its knowledge may be valuable and counted as additional but not indispensible qualification, on account of an administrative instruction issued on 2.5.1977, respondents have been insisting that without the knowledge of typewriting no person would be deemed to be qualified for appointment as a clerk.

4. Return to the rule issued by this Court has been filed only on behalf of respondent no. 4. He has maintained that under rule 148 (K) of the Bihar Board Miscellaneous Rules, 1947 and correction slip no. 29 dated 19.11.78, knowledge of Hindi type-writing up to the required standard is an indispensible qualification for a clerk in a Mofassil office and the petitioner did oat qualify in the typewriting test. It has been stated that it is not correct to say that the petitioner qualified on ground that she was a retrenched staff of the Census operation and was entitled to a preferencial appointment since her name had not been included in the list of 107 retrenched staff of 1981 Census operation, as she had worked for less than six months in the said operation. A cir