THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTI CE NAMAVARAPU RAJESHWAR RAO WRI T PETI TI ON No.1817 OF 2025

ORDER:

This writ petition is filed for the following relief:

“…to issue an order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents herein in not selecting and appointing the petitioner to the post of Junior Lecturer in Hindi (Post Code No.15) under EWS category in Multi Zone-I, as per the marks/ranking secured by the petitioner in the selection process held pursuant to the Notification No.22 of 2022 dated 09.12.2022, though Income Certificate for claiming EWS reservation which in accordance with the Clause-V of Para-4 of the said Notification submitted and accepted by the respondents is illegal, arbitrary, unjust, unfair, contrary to the notification and all statutory norms, apart from violation of constitutional provisions and consequently declare that the petitioner is entitled to be appointed as Junior Lecturer in Hindi under EWS Category in Multi Zone-I pursuant to Notification No.22 of 2022 dated 09.12.2022, with all consequential benefits and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper.”

2. Heard Sri C. Sai Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri P.S. Rajasekhar, learned Standing Counsel for TGPSC, for respondent No.1 and learned Government Pleader for Services-I for respondent Nos.2 and 3. Perused the material on record.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is a resident of Bichkunda Village and Mandal in Kamareddy District, belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

He holds a Master’s degree in Hindi (M.A. Hindi) with 66% marks, making him fully qualified for the position of Junior Lecturer in Hindi.

4. It is contended that respondent No.1 issued Notification No.22 of 2022 on 09.12.2022, inviting applications for various posts, including the posts of Junior Lecturer in Hindi under Post Code 15, with four vacancies reserved for EWS candidates in Multi Zone-I. Pursuant to the notification, the petitioner submitted his application under the EWS category and participated in the written examination held on 27.09.2023, securing 253.854 marks and ranking 613 in the EWS category.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the petitioner was called for certificate verification on 23.08.2024, during which, his documents, including the Income Certificate for claiming EWS reservation for the financial year 2023-2024, were duly verified and accepted. However, despite securing higher marks, the petitioner was not included in the provisional selection list, whereas a candidate who secured 234.564 marks (ranking 1103) was selected. The petitioner made representations to respondent No.1 on 13.12.2024 and 24.12.2024, requesting reconsideration based on his higher merit, but no response was received.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that, upon investigation, the petitioner learned that his exclusion from the selection list was due to the format of his Income Certificate, which was issued manually by the Tahsildar of Bichkunda, rather than through the Mee-Seva portal. He states that the notification did not specify a requirement for the certificate to be obtained through Mee-Seva, and both manual and Mee-Seva certificates are issued by the same competent authority.

7. Additionally, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner submitted an RTI request on 13.12.2024 seeking information regarding the marks obtained, final cutoff, and selection criteria. However, no information was provided. In the absence of any response, he made a second representation on 24.12.2024, but this was also ignored.

8. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that, as per the notification, the petitioner submitted an EWS certificate dated 10.05.2023 online. However, the petitioner is seeking an EWS certificate for the financial year 2021-2022. The petitioner mistakenly uploaded the certificate fo