SINTO Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners aspire to be appointed as Assistant Professors in Botany and Zoology in the various Universities in Kerala; but they say that they have been precluding from doing so because their qualification, namely M.Sc Biotechnology, has been abruptly ordered by the Government not to be considered as a qualification for such purpose.

(2.) Smt.Sayujya, representing K.R.Rajeev Krishnan - learned counsel for the petitioners, submitted that, in fact, Government of Kerala had issued an order dtd. 20/2/2020 - a copy of which is on record as Ext.P4 - stipulating that MSc Biotechnology is an eligible qualification for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor in Botany and Zoology in Universities and Colleges; but that without assigning any cogent or reliable ordering the stoppage of implementation of the former. The learned counsel submitted that Ext.P5 is, therefore, egregiously improper and is liable to be set aside by this Court.

(3.) In response, the learned Government Pleader - Smt.Resmi Thomas, submitted that a statement has been filed on behalf of the 2nd respondent, wherein, it has been explained why Ext.P5 order was necessitated to be issued by the Government. She explained that, while some Universities in Kerala agreed to Ext.P4 order, many of them disagreed on the ground that their Academic Council did not treat M.Sc Biotechnology to be equivalent to M.Sc Botany, which is the relevant qualification for appointment to the post of Assistant Professors in Zoology and Botany. She further submitted that Government is in the process of collating the inputs and the suggestions from the various Universities in Kerala and that they will take a final decision in this regard without any further delay.