C.S. Rajan, J.

The petitioners were appointed as Sub Inspectors of Police on the advice of the Public Service Commission dated 9.2.1971. They were promoted as Circle Inspectors of Police on 26.9.1979, 9.6.1980, 11.10.1980, 14.10.1980 etc. They were further promoted to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police on various dates in 1990. Petitioners 1 to 4 were further promoted as Superintendents of Police. The posts of Circle Inspectors, Deputy Superintendents of Police and Superintendents of Police are selection posts. The promotions of the petitioners to these posts were on the basis of selection by the Departmental Promotion Committee.

2. The 6th respondent was also recruited as Sub Inspector of Police along with the petitioners. But this rank in the advice list was lower than that of the petitioners. According to the 6th respondent he was entitled to get the appointment on the basis of communal rotation because he belongs to Hindu Ezhava community. It seems that in his SSLC book his community was not mentioned. The 6th respondent also did not produce any community certificate along with the application or even at the time of the interview. The representation of the 6t