Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2019 Supreme(Telangana) 406

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA
M.S. RAMACHANDRA RAO, K. LAKSHMAN, JJ.
G. Ramachandra Rao and Others – Petitioners
Versus
The State of Andhra Pradesh and Others – Respondents
Writ Petition Nos. 36489, 37131, 41996 of 2017, 5776, 6094, 6474, 9959, 14748, 16994, 35119, 35667, 35986 of 2018
Decided On : 22-11-2019

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioners: M. Surender Rao, K.G. Krishna Murthy, G. Vidyasagar, J. Sudhir, V. Ravichandran.
For the Respondent: P. Govind Reddy.

Point of Law :
satisfactory service conditions postulate that there should be no sense of uncertainty amongst public servants because of stale claims made after lapse of 14 or 15 years and one who feels aggrieved with an administrative decision affecting ones seniority should act with due diligence and promptitude and not sleep over the matter; once position in the seniority list is settled, it should not be reopened after lapse of many years at the instance of a party who has during the intervening period chosen to keep quiet

Headnote:
Constitution of India, 1950 - Website of the Irrigation Department - Screening Committee - Challenged zonal seniority - Petitioners claim to be appointed to posts of Assistant Executive Engineer in Irrigation and CAD Department presently Water Resources Department combined State of A.P. on selection by the A.P. Public Service Commission to different zones pursuant to Notifications issued during different years - provisional seniority list of AEEs working in different units/zones was issued by Circular Memo No. RC/ENC/and was put up on website of Irrigation Department -
Finding of the Court:
State of Rep. by its Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation and CAD Department, Hyderabad and the State of A.P. Rep. by its Secretary, Water Resources - Department shall prepare seniority lists for all cadres Zone wise in respect of Zones falling within their respective territories and affect promotions to posts of Dy.EEs Zone wise and thereafter to the Statewide posts of EEs, SEs, CEs and Engineer-in-Chiefs - For a period of two months from today within which exercise is to be completed by the State of A.P. Rep. by its Secretary - Water Resources - Department and its Engineer-in-Chief (AW), Water Resources Department, State of A.P. Vijayawada and State of Rep. by it’s Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation and CAD Department, Hyderabad, status quo as on date shall be maintained in all respects -
Result: Ordered Accordingly

ORDER :

1. The main issue in these cases is whether posts and promotions in each Zone as per the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Organization of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order, 1975 (for short ‘the Presidential Order, 1975’ issued under Article 371-D of the Constitution of India) are “water-tight compartments” and if so, whether the said principle has been violated by the State of Andhra Pradesh or the State of Telangana.

2. In this batch of Writ Petitions (i) the principles involved in the preparation of Seniority List in the cadre of Deputy Executive Engineer (for short Dy.EE) applied by the Engineer-in-Chief, Administrative Wing, Water Resources Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, (ii) the Seniority Lists issued by him on different dates during July to November, 2017 and (iii) also consequential promotions effected, based on the said seniority lists, to the cadres of Executive Engineers (EEs), Superintending Engineers (SEs), Chief Engineers (CEs) and Engineer-in Chief (ENC) in both the State of A.P. and the State of Telangana, are in question.

(A) Brief facts relating to the petitioners and prior history leading to the filing of these cases:

3. The petitioners claim to be appointed to the posts of Assistant Executive Engineer (for short ‘AEE’) in Irrigation and CAD Department (presently Water Resources Department) in the erstwhile combined State of A.P. on selection by the A.P. Public Service Commission to different zones pursuant to Notifications issued during different years which are as under:

S. No.	Name	Notification	DOA	Unit
1	A. Trinadham	1990	2.4.1993	Zone-V	W.P. No. 5776/2018
				Zone-I
2	Md. Amzad Hussain	1987	9.5.1989	Zone-V	W.P. No. 6094/2018
				Zone-V
3	B. Gopala Krishna Rao	1990	22.4.1992	Zone-V
				Zone-I
4	Saragadam Jagadeeshwar Rao	1990	13.4.1993	Zone-V	W.P. No. 6474/2018
				Zone-I
5	G. Srinivasa Rao	1990	7.4.1993	Zone-V	W.P. No. 9959/2018
				Zone-I
6	G. Ramachandra Rao	1990	15.4.1992	Zone-V	W.P. No. 37131/2017
				Zone-I
7	K. Ramana	1990	2.4.1993	Zone-V
				Zone-I
8	M. Bhaskara Rao	1990	17.5.1992	Zone-V
				Zone-I
9	B. Srihari	1990	8.4.1993	Zone-V
				Zone-I
10	Sambangi Sugunakara Rao	1987	3.5.1989	Zone-VI	W.P. No. 41996/2017
				Zone-I
11	Peela Appala Naidu	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-VI
				Zone-I
12	Ponnada Sudhakara Rao	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V
				Zone-I
13	Reddy Venkata Satyanarayana	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V
				Zone-I
14	Dola Tirumala Rao	1987	3.5.1989	Zone-IV
				Zone-I
15	Dulam Rama Gopal	1987	3.5.1989	Zone-V
				Zone-I
16	B.Venkateswarulu	1985	20.1.1986	Zone-V	W.P. No. 35119/2018
17	S. Narasimha Rao	1985	16.1.1986	Zone-V
18	B. Shanker	1987	29.4.1989	Zone-V
19	K. Shyamsunder	1985	27.1.1986	Zone-V
20	V. Ajay Kumar	1987	1.3.1989	Zone-V	W.P. No. 35667/2018
21	K.S.S. Chandrasekhar	1987	1.4.1989	Zone-V
22	T. Srinivasa Rao Gupta	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V	W.P. No. 14748/2018
23	A. Amarender Reddy	1990	20.3.1993	Zone-V
24	V. Srinivas	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V
25	N. Venkateswarlu	1985	1.2.1986	Zone-V	W.P. No. 16994/2018
26	N. Sreedhar	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V
27	Mohd. Azmal Khan	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V	W.P. No. 35986/2018
28	Mittapalli Ramesh	1990	1.4.1992	Zone-V
29	D. Srinivasulu		1995	Zone-I	W.P. No. 36489/2017
30	B. Yesubabu			Zone-II
31	B. Rambabu			Zone-I

(a) The zonal seniority lists in the cadres of (i) AEEs, (ii) Dy.EEs and (iii) State-wide integrated seniority list of Dy.EEs:

4. The provisional seniority list of AEEs working in different units/zones was issued by Circular Memo No. RC/ENC/A3/24018/2012-1 da

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2019 Supreme(Telangana) 406

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