PRAMODH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these Writ Appeals and Original Petition relate to appointment to the post of Public Prosecutors/Assistant Public Prosecutors Grade II. All the petitioners and contesting respondents other than the State are Advocates practising in various courts in the State. Since some of the Advocates are practising in this Court and are known to us, we asked the Advocates appearing in these cases and they stated that they have no objection in hearing the matter by this Bench. For the sake of convenience, we are mainly relying on the exhibits mentioned in O.P. 16441/99 and Annexures produced in W.A. 1681/02 unless otherwise referred to.

(2.) Government issued notification No. 47996/C4/97/Home dated 19.8.1997 inviting applications from eligible candidates for appointment to the post of Assistant Public Prosecutors Grade II in the scale of pay of Rs. 2060-3200 (Ext. P2 in O.P. 16157/01). The number of vacancies mentioned in the notification is 13. The above notification was published in various newspapers also to show that there was effective publication. The eligibility criteria was mentioned in paragraph B as follows:

(3.) Appointments to the above posts of Assistant Public Prosecutor Grade II are covered by Special Rules for the Post of Legal Advisor to the Vigilance Division, Additional Legal Advisor to the Vigilance Division of Assistant Public Prosecutors. The above rules were published on 16th September, 1996. Qualification for appointment is mentioned in Clause 7 which reads as follows: