The main legal point established in the judgment is that the alteration of selection norms after the recruitment process has started, without proper publication and notification, is not sustainable in the eye of the law.

JUDGMENT :

I.M. Quddusi, J. - All these Writ Petitions involve common questions of facts and law and as such they are being disposed of by this judgment.

2. The State of Orissa in the Revenue Department and the Collector, Malkangiri have challenged the judgment and order dated 9.7.2002 in a batch of O.As, leading case of which was O. A. No. 1448 of 2001. They have also challenged the Order dated 10.1.2003 on the application for clarification filed by the intervenors and the petitioners in the said O.As. passed by the Orissa Administrative Tribunal, Bhubaneswar.

3. The brief facts of the case are that in the year 1996 a recruitment was conducted by the Collector, Malkangiri for appointment on the posts of Junior Clerks in his district. Some unsuccessful candidates had challenged that selection before the Tribunal by filing some O. As. including O. A. No. 874 of 1996 which were declared in a batch by a common judgment and order dated 10.9.1997 with the direction that a fresh select list of successful candidates including the candidates who had already been given appointment be drawn up after fresh scrutiny. While preparing the select list in pursuance of the said direction, it was decided by the Collector (Petitioner No. 2 in the instant Writ Petition) that 18 candidates are to be treated as unsuccessful as they were not having the minimum speed of 20 words per minute in typing out a passage consisting of 200 words, as a result of which notices were issued on 6.2.1998 to those candidates who had already been given appointment asking them to show cause as to why their services would not be terminated for the reason that their names had not found place in the fresh select list drawn up in accordance with the above mentioned order of the Tribunal. Being aggrieved, those candidates filed the batch of O.As. before the Tribunal which were decided vide the impugned common order as already mentioned above.

4. The question of law for determination before the Tribunal was whether while preparing the fresh select list, adoption of the norm of minimum speed of 20 words per minute in typing was justified ? Vide impugned judgment and order the Tribunal has held that the same was not justified. The following reasons were given by the Tribunal in its judgment for arriving at that conclusion :

(i) The Schedule to the O.M.S. Rules 1985 as it prevailed before amendment only states that there shall be a test in typewriting to know that the candidates have fair knowledge in typewriting. The minimum speed for deciding fair knowledge in typing is not indicated in the schedule.

(ii) The advertisement for the recruitment examination issued by the Collector on 3.1.1996 which is at Annexure-1 to 0. A. 1455/2001 also does not stipulate that such a minimum standard would be adopted. It only states that a typewriting test in English will be held for the candidates who qualified in the written test.

(iii) A meeting of the recruitment board was held before the examination was conducted to decide the modalities for conducting it. The proceedings of that meeting are available at Annexure-3 to O. A. No. 1448/2001. What is recorded in these proceedings regarding the typewriting test is as follows :

It was further unanimously decided to hold the type-test on two days i.e. 26/27.2.1996 in TIC Control Room in both morning and afternoon sessions. ADM suggested that as the probable date of type test has already been informed to the candidates on written test, a general notice indicating the roll number of candidates qualified for type test would be sufficient.

(iv) Call letter sent to the successful candidates of the written examination asking them to appear in the typewriting test which is at Annexure-9 to O. A. 1448/2001 also does not state that the test will carry a minimum qualifying standard of 20 words per minute.

5. The recruitment to the post in question, i.e. Junior Clerk, is governed by the Orissa Ministerial Service (Method of Recruitment of Posts of Junior Clerks in