Paresh Upadhyay, J.

1. Challenge in this group of petitions is made by number of petitioners to the actions of the State of Gujarat ('the State' for short) and the Gujarat Public Service Commission ('the GPSC' for short), pertaining to the recruitment process and the appointments/non-appointments in different posts in the Gujarat Civil Services Class-I and Class-II, pursuant to the Advertisement No. 87/2006-07 published by the GPSC.

2. Relevant facts giving rise to this batch of petitions, are as under.

2.1 The Gujarat Public Service Commission issued an Advertisement No. 87/2006-07 on 26.06.2006 and invited applications for recruitment on different posts in the Gujarat Civil Services Class-I and Class-II. It was for recruitment for total 283 posts. Thereafter, it was amended vide Public Notice dated 10.11.2006 to increase the total number of posts to be filled in, from 283 to 317. The details of the said advertisement, with required break up, are noted in the later part of this judgment. (Para:35.2).

2.2 Pursuant to the said advertisement, combined competitive examination was conducted by the GPSC. Since there is no controversy regarding conducting the examination, the details with regard to the different stages of the said examination are not elaborated here. Finally, the merit list was published by the GPSC on 13.05.2010. It was for 316 candidates. (The result of one candidate was kept in sealed cover at the relevant time for some reason, which is not the subject matter of this group of petitions, and therefore the figure is 316, as against 317 posts advertised. This difference of one, is not changing the complexion of the matters and therefore even that aspect is not deliberated further.)

2.3 The names of those 316 candidates were recommended by the GPSC to the Government for appointment on the advertised posts. Each candidate was informed about this, individually by the GPSC, vide its letters dated 03.08.2010.

2.4 The candidates were waiting for medical examination call/appointment orders, however the same was not done by the State for more than nine months.

2.5 On 26.04.2011, the GPSC cancelled the earlier merit list dated 13.05.2010 ab initio, and published a fresh merit list of 317 candidates. The names of number of candidates, who were earlier included in the merit list dated 13.05.2010, were excluded from the merit list dated 26.04.2011.

2.6 It is this batch of candidates (except the petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 11163 of 2012), who have approached this Court, principally challenging the revised merit list dated 26.04.2011 and the consequential actions of the respondent State.

2.7 The grievance of the petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 11163 of 2012, who is a Male - SEBC candidate, is to the effect that, though his name figures in both the merit lists, and he is entitled to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police, and the post (from that very advertisement) is vacant, then also, the State has refused to offer the said post to the petitioner.

2.8 In Special Civil Application No. 8203 of 2012, serious grievance is voiced and allegations are made against the State, of favouritism and manipulation of record, to appoint the respondent No. 4 therein on the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police and continue her on the said post, though she is ineligible to hold that post. The petitioner has prayed for writ of quo warranto against respondent No. 4.

3. At the outset, it needs to be noted that, this Court has, on this group of petitions, passed interim orders at different stages, which need to be taken into consideration at this stage. One of such orders needs to be noted at this stage. This Court (Coram: Hon'ble Smt. Justice Abhilasha Kumari) had, on 06.05.2011 recorded the following order on the lead matter being Special Civil Application No. 6057 of 2011.

"The learned counsel for the petitione