HON’BLE MRS JUSTI CE SUREPALLI NANDA WRI T PETI TI ON No.46831 of 2022

ORDER:

Heard Sri L. Bhargava Krishna, learned counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner and learned Assistant Government Pleader for Services (Home), appearing on behalf of respondent Nos.1 to 3.

2. The petitioner approached this Court seeking the prayer as under:

“…to issue a writ, order or direction more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus by declaring the action of the 2^nd respondent in not fixing the seniority of the petitioner over and above his juniors namely the proposed respondent herein in the cadre of Head Constable and grant all consequential benefits thereon by setting aside the order of the 2^nd respondent in rejecting to do so in RC No A8/TSPF/34/Seniority-HC/2022-1, dt 12/01/2022 declaring the same to be illegal and against the rules and pass…”.

3. The case of the petitioner, in brief, is that the petitioner had been appointed as TSSPF Constable in the year 1994 and promoted as Head Constable in the year 2004, and in the month of November, 1996 a complaint was made against the petitioner with allegation that he had behaved high handedly against an auto driver while discharging his duties. Upon such incident, a departmental enquiry was conducted; as a result petitioner was not promoted. After making several representations, the petitioner was given a belated promotion with notional date of 18.06.2004. Further the respondents had imposed punishment of RTSP for 2 stages for 2 years with effect of future increments and pension, wherein the APAT by its orders dated 23.07.2009 set aside the punishment. Further, the 3^rd respondent had issued another provisional seniority list of Head Constables of TSPF dated 15.12.2021 in which the petitioner’s name is shown at Sl.No.133 while one T.Ramulu who is a junior to the petitioner herein was shown at Sl.No.1031. Subsequently, the petitioner submitted a representation to the 3^rd respondent for proper fixation of the petitioner’s name in the Head Constable Seniority List however, the same was rejected by the 3^rd respondent herein vide proceedings dated 12.01.2022. Thereafter the 3^rd respondent issued proceedings bearing RC No.A8/TSPF/34/Seniority-HC/2022-1, dated 12.01.2022 rejecting the request of the petitioner for giving the petitioner seniority, over and above persons who got lesser merit marks than the petitioner. Aggrieved thereby the petitioner approached the Court by filing the present writ petition.

PERUSED THE RECORD

4. The impugned Proceedings Rc.No.A&/ TSPF/ 34/ Seniority-HC/ 2022-1, Dated: 12.01.2022 issued by the 2^nd respondent to the petitioner herein is extracted hereunder:

“In the reference 1^st cited above provisional seniority was communicated calling for objections if any.

In response to the above, 21 Head Constables vide reference 2^nd to 22^nd cited above have represented that they were appointed as Constables in the year of 1994 in SPF. The APAT had passed orders on 08.02.2001 in O.A.No.3847/2000 and directed "to prepare the seniority list of Constables following the old rules as the applicants were appointed under the old rules". The DIG, APSPF had issued a memorandum dated: 22.06.2010 stating that upon a clarification sought from the Government on the procedure to be adopted for fixation of inter-se-seniority of Constables appointed during the year'1994, the seniority of Constables appointed in the year 1994 had been revised as per the communal roster as prescribed in the AP State & Subordinate Service Rules and objections were called. On the said seniority list W.P.No.3363 of 2018 was filed and is currently pending in the High Court of Telangana. In spite of the same present seniority list was communicated once again on the same grounds. They have therefore requested to stay any further promotions on the seniority and to take up seniority wise promotions based on the date of their appointments under old rules applicable to them.

Their representation have been carefully examined and found that si