V. Balakrishna Eradi, J. - (1.) This appeal preferred by special leave is against the judgment of a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court setting aside the decision of a learned single Judge of that Court and dismissing a writ petition filed by the present appellant.
(2.) The appellant, who was working as an officer of the Forest Department in the State of Andhra Pradesh, approached the High Court challenging the provisional integrated gradation list of Forest Officers of the former Andhra and Hyderabad States published under the provisions of the States Reorganisation Act as annexure to a State Government order dated January 27, 1962. The contentions raised by the petitioner in the writ petition were mainly two-fold. Firstly, it was urged that the inter se seniority between the appellant and the 6th respondent, both of whom originally belonged to the Andhra Cadre, had been wrongly fixed in the provisional gradation list by showing the 6th respondent as senior to the appellant, whereas the appellant was legally entitled to seniority over the 6th respondent. Secondly, it was contended that respondents Nos. 3. 4, 5, 7 and 8, who were officers allotted to the State of Andhra Pradesh from the Telengana region of the former Hyderabad State, had been erroneously assigned ranks above the appellant in the integrated gradation list in violation of the principles laid down by the Government of India for equation of posts and the fixation of inter se seniority between the persons drawn from the two sources.
(3.) By the time the writ petition came up for hearing before the learned single Judge, the Central Government had already set right the appellant's grievance concerning his ranking and seniority in relation to respondents 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. It therefore became unnecessary for him to pursue the second contention aforementioned and hence he pressed before the learned single Judge only the plea concerning his claim for seniority over the 6th respondent. The learned single Judge found that the contention put forward by the appellant that he was entitled to seniority over the 6th respondent was well founded. Accordingly, the learned Judge allowed the writ petition and issued a writ of mandamus directing the State Government and the Government of India to modify the gradation list by showing the appellant as senior to the 6th respondent.;