USHAKUMARI Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition has been filed on being aggrieved by the rejection of the application submitted by the petitioner for appointment to the post of Munsiff-Magistrate under the Kerala Judicial Service in pursuance of Ext. P1 notification. It was rejected on the ground that the petitioner had failed to sign on the photograph affixed on the application. The contention of the petitioner is that rejecting the application for the said failure is an extreme step and therefore, it is liable to be interfered. To buttress the said contention, the learned counsel for the petitioner relied on Ext. P5 judgment of this Court in W.P. (C). Nos. 10989 of 2012 and 10991 of 2012. In the case of the petitioners therein, under similar circumstances, attributing same defects, their applications were rejected. Ultimately, after consideration of all the aspects, this Court disposed of the said Writ Petitions with a direction to the respondents to process their candidature as if they had submitted valid applications. There is no case for the respondents that the said judgment was subsequently, interfered with in appeal and that the petitioners were not permitted to participate in the selection process. In the circumstances, I am of the view that in the light of Ext. P5 judgment, this Writ Petition can disposed of, on the same lines. In this case, on the strength of the interim order passed by this Court, the petitioner was permitted to appear for the written examination held on 23.6.2013 after proper identification. The very purpose of affixing photographs is to identify the concerned candidate as the person who responded to the concerned notification. Since the petitioner was identified and was permitted to appear for the examination, I am of the view that the said failure on the part of the petitioner cannot be a reason for treating her application as invalid, especially, in the light of Ext. P5 judgment. In the circumstances, this Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to treat the application submitted by the petitioner as valid and to proceed to publish the result of the petitioner along with the other candidates based on her performance in the preliminary written examination. The entitlement of the petitioner for participating in the rest of the selection process would depend on the result of the preliminary examination.