Reservation law governs later recruitment by interview; mandamus cannot compel appointments contrary to the statute.

Recruitment initiated by interview after the commencement of a reservation statute is subject to that statute, because the saving clause protects only selection processes already started before commencement. Where the interview began after the Act came into force, the recruitment had to comply with the reservation regime under Section 3(1). A candidate or selectee has no vested or indefeasible right to appointment merely because a vacancy exists or a name appears in a select list, and mandamus cannot compel an appointment that would contravene the statute. The direction to appoint contrary to the reservation law was therefore invalid.

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Issues: Whether the selection process for the post of Readers was initiated before the commencement of the reservation Act so as to attract the saving clause, and whether a writ of mandamus could be issued to compel appointment in disregard of the Act.

Analysis: The Act applied to public services and posts and contained a specific saving provision excluding only those cases in which the selection process had already been initiated before commencement. The explanation treated a selection by interview as initiated only when the interview had started. On the facts, the interview commenced after the Act had come into force, so the recruitment process was subject to the reservation regime under Section 3(1). The Chancellor's direction to make appointments contrary to that regime could not override the statute. The governing principle is that a candidate or selectee has no vested or indefeasible right to appointment merely because a vacancy exists or a name appears in a list, and mandamus cannot be used to direct an act that would violate law.

Conclusion: The selection process was not protected by the saving clause, the statutory reservation provisions governed the recruitment, and the direction to appoint the respondents was invalid. The writ of mandamus was rightly denied.

Ratio Decidendi: Where recruitment by interview begins after the commencement of a reservation statute, the selection must conform to that statute, and no writ can compel appointment in contravention of it.

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