Shri HidangmayumDevamani Sharma vs The State of Manipur, represented by the Principal Secretary (Health), Government of Manipur

Heard Shri B.P. Sahu, the learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner and Shri K. Jagat, the learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondent.

By the instant writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for issuing a writ of Mandamus directing the respondent to appoint him to the post of Manipur Health Services Grade-IV (Medical Officer) in pursuance of the Advertisement dated 05-03-2014 issued by the Manipur Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "MPSC" within a stipulated period.

1. According to the petitioner, he is an MBBS Degree holder belonging to general/ unreserved category and pursuant to the Advertisement dated 05-03-2015 issued by the MPSC inviting applications from amongst the eligible candidates for appointment of 200 posts of Medical Health Services Grade-IV (Medical Officers), he applied for it. As per the said advertisement, out of the said 200 posts, 51 posts are earmarked for un-reserved candidates whereas 3 posts are reserved for SC candidates; 101 posts for ST candidates; 29 posts for OBC (Meitei/Meetei); 13 posts for OBC (MP); 3 posts for Teli, Nepali, Badi and 6 posts for physically handicapped persons. 3.2.After the Written Test having been held on 14-07-2014, the result thereof was declared vide notification dated 22-07-2014 issued by the Secretary, MPSC. Thereafter, the Secretary, MPSC issued another notification dated 24-07-2014 notifying that the PersonalityTest/Interview of the qualified candidates including the petitioner, would commence from 05-08-2014 and the petitioner''s date of personality test/ interviewfell on08-08-2014.

3.3. After the process of selection was over, the Secretary, MPSC issued a notification dated 08-08-2014 notifying the combined merit list whereinthe names of as many as 189 candidates including the petitioner, were shown to have beenrecommended for appointment to the said posts on the basis thereof and while the petitioner was expecting an offer for appointment to the said posts, the Under Secretary (Health & Family Welfare), Government of Manipur, to his shock and surprise, issued an order dated 15-10-2014 whereby only 145 candidates were appointed as Manipur Health Services Grade-IV (Medical Officers).

Being aggrieved by the actions of the respondent, the instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioner on the interalia grounds that in view of his merit position, the petitioner ought to have given appointment to the said post of Manipur Health Services Grade-IV; that out of the 51 posts earmarked for the un-reserved candidates, only 19 candidates were appointed and 32 posts were diverted to other categories; that out of 200 posts, only 145 candidates have been given appointment as a result of which 55 posts are still lying vacant and since the petitioner''s right to be considered for appointment has been infringed by the respondent in an illegal and unwarranted manner, the interference of this court is highly called for to meet the ends of justice.

To contest the writ petition, an affidavit on behalf of the respondent has been filed wherein the facts as regards the number of posts that have been advertised and the break-up of reservation for the different categories, are not denied. However, it is stated therein that the petitioner being a general candidate and his merit position being at Sl. No. 125, he could not be accommodated against the 51 posts meant for the general candidates. The averments made in the petition that 32 posts which were earmarkedfor un-reserved candidates,had been diverted to other categories, are denied and the candidates belonging to other categories who by virtue of their merit in the select list, were appointed against the said 32 posts earmarked for un-reserved categories. It is also stated that the posts which remain unfilled, are reserved for the ST candidates and therefore, the same cannot be filled up from amongst the general candidates and are to be carried forward to the next recruitment year for filling up from amongst the ST candidates.

At the very outset, it may be noted that the validity and correctness of the advertisement dated 05-03-2014 by which 101 posts were reserved for the ST categories, is not the subject matter in issue in the present case and therefore, this court will not go into it. During the course of the proceedings and on perusal of the order dated 15-10-2014 issued by the Under Secretary (Health & family Welfare), Government of Manipur, it was not clear to this court as regards the categories to which the candidates had been appointed as Medical Officers. Accordingly, the respondent was directed either to file an additional affidavit in respect thereof or to produce the relevant file, to which the learned Government Advocate informed this court that the file maintained by the State Government had been destroyed in an incident by fire. Then, the respondent was directed to produce the file maintained by the MPSC so that correct facts could be brought to surface and in compliance with the order 24-10-2016 passed by this Court, the learned Government Advocate did produce it for perusal by this court. On perusal of the said file, this court is of the opinion that the submissions of Shri B.P. Sahu, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner have no substance at all.In the present case, mainly two issues have arisen for consideration by this court-one, whether some posts earmarked for the general/ unreserved category have been diverted to other categories or not and two, whether the petitioner can be appointed against the posts which remain unfilled or not. As regards the first issue, there is no question of 32 unreserved posts being diverted to other categories. The candidates belonging to reserved categories who are appointed against the said 51 posts, have been appointed on the basis of their own merit positions in the combined merit list. With respect to the second issue, it is true that out of 200 posts, only 145 candidates have been appointed and the remaining posts have been kept unfilled for the reason that as against 101 posts reserved for the ST categories, only 69 candidates applied for it and out of 69 candidates, only 51 candidates were found to be qualified for appointment as Medical Officers against the posts reserved for the ST categories. Since the unfilled posts are nothing but posts reserved for the ST categories, the same cannot be filled up from amongst the general candidates. In other words, the petitioner being a general candidate, cannot be considered for appointment against the posts reserved for the ST categories. Having heard the learned counsels appearing for the parties, this court is of the view that the writ petition is devoid of any merit and hence, is liable to be dismissed.

For the reasons as stated hereinabove, the writ petition being devoid of any merit, fails and is, accordingly, dismissed with no order as to costs.