V GOPALAN S/O VELAYUDHAN Vs. GOVERNMENT OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF IRRIGATION GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions come up before me for deciding the question as to whether these writ petitions should be entertained by this Court or should the petitioners be relegated to the jurisdiction of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal. In the first writ petition, the petitioners are HR/CLR workers under the Department of Irrigation of the Government of Kerala. In the other writ petition, the petitioners are part-time sweepers in the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs. The Registry noted a defect that the petitioners being employees of the Government of Kerala working under Departments of the State Government, the jurisdiction lies with the Kerala Administrative Tribunal under Section 15 of the Administrative Tribunals Act. The learned counsel for the petitioners contend that they are not regular employees in the State or Subordinate Service of the Government of Kerala and, therefore, the jurisdiction vests with this Court. According to them, under Section 15(1)(b) of the Administrative Tribunals Act, only service matters of persons appointed to any civil service of the State or any civil post under the State can be entertained by the Administrative Tribunal. They submit that the word, "Services" is defined in the Kerala Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1960, as a group of persons classified by the State Government as a State or Subordinate Service, as the case may be. Going by that definition, insofar as the petitioners are not classified by the State Government as State or Subordinate service members, the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction and jurisdiction rests with this Court. They also rely on the decision of the Supreme Court in Phool Badan Tiwari v. Union of India, 2003 9 SCC 304. I have heard the learned Government Pleader also on the question as to whether this Court should entertain these writ petitions or the petitioners should be relegated to the Administrative Tribunal. According to the learned Government Pleader, the jurisdiction vests with the Kerala Administrative Tribunal in view of the definition of "service matters" in the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. The matter has to be considered in the light of Section 15 (1) of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. The same reads thus: