ORDER :

Heard the Party in Person for the Petitioners and Learned Government Pleader for Respondent No.1, Learned Standing Counsel for Respondent No.2 and 3.

2. This Writ Petition is filed to issue a Writ of Mandamus, declaring the arbitrary rejection of the case of the petitioners for selection to the post of Food Safety Officer by the 1st respondent and non ascertaining by the 1st respondent the equivalency of BDS & MDS to that of a degree in medicine as illegal and consequently, direct the respondents to treat the qualification of BDS and MDS possessed by the Petitioners for selection to the post of Food Safety Officer notified vide Notification no. 10 of 2019 as per merit and eligibility.

3. The case of the petitioners, in brief, is as follows:

a) The 1st petitioner is a MDS degree holder and the BDS and the 2nd petitioner is a BDS degree holder and have applied for selection to the post of Food Safety Officer against the notification issued by the 1st respondent vide No. 10 of 2019.

b) Even though, both the petitioners have successfully qualified the Written Examination but both the petitioners, despite being qualified were not considered for selection.

c) As per Educational Qualification prescribed in the notification, the degrees held by both the petitioners are equivalent to the qualification of a degree in Medicine.

d) A degree in Dental Surgery, is a Degree in Medicine and is equivalent to the Degree of MBBS and hence satisfies the prescription given in the notification. It had been orally informed by the Petitioners that the cases of the petitioners had been rejected deeming BDS & MDS as not recognized qualifications to hold the post of Food Safety Officer.

e) Though the Apex Bodies of Medical and Dental Courses are clear about the equivalency of BDS degree to a degree in Medicine, the respondents herein had not applied their mind and rejected the case of the petitioners for the post of Food Safety Officer. Hence, the Writ Petition.

4. The counter affidavit filed by the 1st respondent, in particular paras 6, 7, 8 and 9, reads as under:

“6. In this connection, I respectfully submit that the qualifications for these posts of Food Safety Officers are clearly mentioned in the Notification at Para No.-4 under the column of Educational Qualifications:

“Para 4) EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Applicants must possess the qualifications from a recognized university/Institution as detailed below or equivalent thereto, as specified in the relevant Service Rules, indented by the Department as on the Date of Notification.

7. In view of the above, it is clear that the qualifications of the petitioners i.e. MDS (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery) & B.D.S. are not either prescribed or equivalent qualifications as per the Notification and accordingly, their candidature was rejected. It is also relevant to submit here that, some more candidates with the qualification of BDS, BAMS and BHMS were also rejected on the same grounds.

8. Further, I respectfully submit that, an Expert Committee was constituted to ascertain the equivalency of the various qualifications i.e. MDS, BDS, BAMS and BHMS, etc, with the following professors:

1. Prof. Kavita Waghray, Osmania University

2. Prof. V. Vijaya Lakshmi, PITSAU, Hyderabad

3. Mrs. M. Jaya Surya Kumari, Koti Womens College, O.U.

A meeting of the Experts Committee was held on 02/09/2020 in TSPSC Of