HON’BLE MRS. JUSTI CE SUREPALLI NANDA WRI T PETI TI ON No.448 OF 2022

ORDER:

Heard Sri Ajay Kumar Nerella, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home, appearing on behalf of the respondents.

2. The petitioners approached the Court seeking prayer as under:

“….to issue an order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of MANDAMUS by declaring the impugned Memorandum issued by the 4^th respondent wherein rejected the claim of the petitioners for reversion from the rank of Head Constable to Police Constable vide Rc.No.A1-Estt/686/2021 dated 06.12.2021, even though the respondent authorities were considered the claim of similarly situated persons for reversion from the rank of Head Constable to Police Constable vide Rc.No.123/A1/2018-19, D.O. No.5357/2019, dated 30.03.2019 as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and accordingly set aside the same with a consequential direction to respondents to consider the claim of the petitioners for reversion from the category to HC to PC in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble High Court in W.P No.37146 of 2013 and 39280 of 2013 and orders issued in favor of similarly situated persons vide orders Rc.No.123/A1/2018-19, D.O.No.5357/2019 dated 30.03.2019 in the interest of justice and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstance of the case.”

3. The case of the petitioners, in brief, is that the petitioners have been appointed as Police Constables in the year 2018 and posted to the 1^st Battalion, Hyderabad. As per the Telangana State Police Rules category 7(b), the petitioners are eligible for conversion from TS Special Police to Armed Reserve (AR) Constables after completion of 10 years of service. Subsequently, the petitioners have been promoted to the post of Head Constables in the year 2021 but later sought voluntary reversion to the post of Constable due to personal hardships. However, their request for reversion was rejected by the 3^rd respondent vide the impugned order Rc.No.A1/Estt/686/2021, dated 06.12.2021, without assigning proper reasons and merely citing administrative grounds though the similarly situated persons belonging to the same Battalion were allowed for reversion vide order dated 30.03.2019. Aggrieved by the said rejection order, the petitioners have approached this Court by filing the present writ petition.

4. PERUSED THE RECORD:

(A) The relevant portion of the impugned Memorandum vide Rc.No.A1/ Estt/ 686/ 2021 dated 06.12.2021 of the respondent No.4 addressed to the petitioners herein is extracted hereunder:

“The following (13) Head Constables of this unit have submitted the represe4ntations and the same were forwarded by the concerned OsC of this unit vide reference 1^st to 7^th and 11^th to 13^th cited, in which the individuals have requested to revert them to the rank of Police Constable.

In this connection, vide references 8^th to 10^th cited, the Addl. Director General of Police, TSSP Bns, have instructed all the Commandants that, the applications of the HCs of the respective units requesting to revert them as PC are to be rejected on Administrative grounds and also to dispose of the applications of the HCs of their respective units accordingly.

Further, vide reference 14^th cited, it is informed that, as per Rule 28 of Telangana State and Subordinate Service Rules 1996, any member of a service may in writing relinquish any right or privilege to which he may be entitled to such relinquishment once made will be final and irrecoverable provided that no conditional relinquishment of right for a temporary period shall be permitted.

Further, it is also informed vide reference 14^th cited that, according to this rule, the employees are entitled for relinquishment of post at the time issue of promotion orders only. But whereas in the instant case they have enjoyed the post of HCs for a considerable period and have now come forward for reversion which