Heard Mr. Atul Chandra, on behalf of the petitioner and Mr. R.M. Prasad, G.P. III, for the State.

2. Pursuant to advertisement no. 11 of 1985 issued by the Bihar State Subordinate Services Selection Board, the petitioner was a candidate in the 'Sachivalay Evam Sanlagn Sahayak Parikcha'. The examination was held in three papers, namely, Hindi, Precis Writing and General Knowledge. Of the three, Hindi was only a qualifying paper, that is to say; though it was imperative to secure the pass marks in that paper, the marks obtained in Hindi were not to be added in the aggregate for determining the candidate's position in the merit list which was determined on the basis of his marks in the remaining two papers of Precis Writing and General Knowledge. The examination in question was held on November 21 and 22, 1987. On 21.11.1987 the examination in Hindi paper was in the second sitting (2 P.M. to 5 P.M.), On 22.11.1987 Precis Writing was in the 1st sitting (10 A.M. to 1 P.M.) and General Knowledge in the second sitting (2 P.M. to 5 P.M.).

3. On the publication of the final results the petitioner's name was not included in the list of the selected candidates. On obtaining the mark-sheet