STATE OF KERALA Vs. K. MOHAMED AKBAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Under what circumstances can the power of judicial review be exercised in matters of state policy ? That is the question that arises for our consideration in this batch of O.P(KAT)'s. The brief facts necessary for a disposal of these petitions are as follows:

(2.) In two successive rounds of litigation, the Tribunal disposed the pending OA's before it with a direction to the State government to consider the grievance of the applicants. On both those occasions, the State government passed orders rejecting the requests and representations on the ground that the State government had not yet taken a policy decision in regard to enhancing the age of retirement of the doctors in the AYUSH department. This led the doctors in that department to once again approach the Tribunal impugning the order passed by the State government. This time around, the Tribunal, probably exasperated with the non-compliance by the State government with its directions, allowed the OA's by placing reliance on a recent judgment of the Supreme Court in North Delhi Municipal Corporation v. Dr. Ram Naresh Sharma & Ors. - Judgment dated 03. 08.2021 in C.A.No.4578 of 2021, and directed the State government to enhance the retirement age of doctors in the AYUSH department to 60 years as was done in the case of doctors in the Health department. The benefit of enhanced retirement age was, however, confined to only those who retired after 3/8/2021 ie. the date of the judgment of the Supreme Court in NDMC (supra).

(3.) The order of the Tribunal has given rise to three categories of aggrieved persons before us. On the one hand there is the State, which is aggrieved by the order of the Tribunal to the extent it directs it to enhance the age of retirement of doctors in the AYUSH department to 60 years and on the other hand, there are the doctors of the AYUSH department who retired on superannuation on attaining the age of 56 years, prior to the date of the judgment of the Supreme Court in NDMC (supra). They are aggrieved by the cut-off date fixed by the Tribunal for the benefit of enhanced retirement age. The third category consists of persons who are included in the rank lists prepared by the Kerala Public Service Commission [PSC] for appointment as doctors in the AYUSH department. They have approached this Court by filing O.P (KAT)'s, after obtaining the leave of this Court to do so. Although they do not have any locus standi to challenge the order of the Tribunal since they are not in service as of now and, as persons empanelled in a select list prepared by the PSC they do not have any indefeasible right of appointment to any post either, we permitted the learned counsel appearing for them to advance arguments supporting the stand of the State.