1. The Kerala Public Service Commission (the "Commission)" is the appellant. By a common judgment in O. P. Nos. 8652 of 1984 and 10575 of 1984, the learned judge held that the reasons stated by the Commision for the cancellation of the ranked list dated 5-3-1983 by publication of a subsequent ranked list dated 7-6-1985 was not 'correct'. The learned judge directed the Commission to treat the earlier ranked list as valid until the completion of three years from the date of its publication, namely, 5-3-1983.

2. The petitioners in the two Original Petitions (the contesting respondents) were persons who had been placed on the first ranked list, but who could not be appointed to the existing vacancies as their ranks were relatively low. On 7-6-1985, the second list was published pursuant to a notification of the Commission dated 3-5-1983. With the publication of the second list, the original list stood cancelled. This is because R.13 of the Kerala Public Service Commission Rules of Procedure provides to that effect.

3. One of the principal contentions of the petitioners before the learned judge was that the Commission acted arbitrarily when it issued a notification on 3-5-1983