- (1.) This special appeal has arisen from a judgment and order of the learned Single Judge dated 21 July 2015.
(2.) On 19 April 2006, an advertisement was issued by the Electricity Service Commission by which 309 posts were reserved for OBC candidates out of a total 1021 posts of Junior Engineer (Apprentice-Electrical). Selections were made in pursuance of the advertisement. There were 70 unfilled vacancies including 55 from the OBC category. On 20 August 2007, a special recruitment drive was initiated for filling up the unfilled backlog posts. Out of a total of 70 posts, 55 were reserved for the OBC category. The 13 appellants applied in pursuance of the special recruitment drive. The select list was published on 1 September 2008. The names of the appellants were from serial no. 55 and below. The first 54 candidates were selected together with a candidate at serial no. 71 (who came to be selected under the horizontal reservation for freedom fighters). The selection of the candidate at serial no. 71 is not in question. Since the appellants ranked in the select list below serial no. 54, they were admittedly not selected. A third advertisement was issued on 26 February 2011. The advertisement of 2011 inter alia provided for a reservation of 50 seats for the OBC category.
(3.) In pursuance of the first advertisement issued on 19 April 2006, letters of appointment came to be issued. The process in pursuance of that advertisement continued until 10 February 2008 when it was concluded. Twenty one candidates from the OBC category did not join. Having been unsuccessful in the 2007 recruitment, the appellants filed a writ petition seeking a direction that 21 posts from the advertisement dated 26 February 2011 should be excluded on the ground that they were the subject matter of the earlier advertisement of 19 April, 2006 which had remained vacant on account of the selected candidates not having joined. The appellants sought a mandamus for appointing them on the post of Junior Engineer on the basis of their merit position and in pursuance of the advertisement dated 20 August 2007.;