- (1.) Both the Writ Petitions involve the same questions and are accordingly disposed of by this common judgment. There is one petitioner in Writ Petition No. 568 of 2012 and there are two petitioners in Writ Petition No. 616 of 2012. We will refer to the facts as stated in Writ Petition No. 616 of 2012.
(2.) The petitioners seek a Writ of Certiorari to quash and set aside a decision of the Government of Goa, taken in its 'Cabinet Meeting' held on 23rd May, 2012 (in Agenda Item No.18), not to accept the recommendations of Respondent No.2 Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) in regard to the selection to 9 (nine) vacancies to the post of 'Junior Scale Officer of Goa Civil Service'. The petitioners have also sought a Writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to accept the said recommendations of GPSC pursuant to advertisement No. 2 of 2011 as modified by advertisement No. 4 of 2011.
(3.) By the said advertisement No. 2 of 2011 issued on 11th February, 2011, the GPSC invited applications in respect of 9 vacancies for the said post of which 4 were reserved for ST (Schedule Tribes), 2 for OBC (Other Backward Classes), 2 for PH (Physically Handicapped) and 1 for CFF (Children of Freedom Fighter). The second advertisement No. 4 of 2011 issued on 25th March, 2011 modified the advertisement No. 2 of 2011 by inviting applications for 3 vacancies from candidates belonging to the General Category and reserving 3 posts for Schedule Tribes and 1 post each for OBC, PH and CFF. Both the advertisements inter alia provided as under : "Note: The eligible applicants will be subjected to a competitive examination. The syllabus is published in Official Gazette Series I. No. 12 dated 20.06.2002. The written examination consist of 250 marks the details of which are as follows : Paper-I English 100 marks ( 3 hours duration) Paper-II General Studies Part-I Descriptive 60 marks (1 1/2 hours duration) Part-II Objective 90 marks (1 1/2 hours duration) Only eligible candidates will be admitted to the competitive written examination. The written examination will be followed by an Oral Interview, details there about will be provided in the interview call letter. The number of candidates to be called for interview will be restricted to maximum 1:5 which will be in the order of merit based on the performance in the competitive written examination. The final selection will be in order of merit based on the combined marks secured by the candidate interviewed in the competitive written examination and oral examination.";