MANAGER, ST.THOMAS COLLEGE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE 1st petitioner is the Manager of a college. Ext. P1 order passed by the 3rd respondent University is under challenge. Ext.P1 came to be passed on the basis of a judgment of this Court in W.P.(C). No. 12504/2009 at Ext. P5.

(2.) THE issue involved was in relation to sanction of one post in the Economics Department of the College for filling up of the retirement vacancy of Sri. A.P. Kuriakose. According to the college it had 40 hours of work load in Economics and 6 hours in Statistics. Since the work load in Statistics was handled by the Economics Department in terms of Clause 7(1)(c) of the M.G. University Ordinance, such hours of work in the Statistics Department should be included in the work load of Economics Department and therefore the total working hours in the Department would come to 46 hours. There were three teachers in the Economics Department at the time when Sri. A. P. Kuriakose retired from service. When the 1st petitioner sought to fill up the said retirement vacancy the Government passed Ext. P4 order stating that as per the staff fixation statement of the college approved earlier by the Empowered Committee the work load of Economics and Statistics papers of Economics were shown separately and there are only 40 hours of work load in Economics and 6 hours in Statistics. As per UGC norms, college is eligible for two posts in Economics only. Hence the claim of the Manager for one more post in Economics was rejected. In fact 6 hours of statistics was not taken into consideration by the Government while passing Ext. P4. This order came to be challenged by the 1st petitioner in W.P.(C). No. 12504/2009 which resulted in Ext. P5 judgment.

(3.) IN fact the Deputy Director of Collegiate Education had taken a view before the University that the High level Empowered Committee constituted by the Government in 2004 had found only 40 hours of work load in the Department of Economics in the petitioner's college and hence only two posts are available in which Sri. Prasad Joseph K. and Sri. C. K. Thomas, two regular teachers were working in the Department till 31.03.2009. On the retirement of Sri. Prasad Joseph K. on 31.03.2009, it was open for the Manager to fill up the said post. A contention had been urged by the Government that the Manager appointed a candidate against a non -existing vacancy due to the retirement of a supernumerary teacher Sri. A.P. Kuriakose on 31.03.2006. Apparently, the contention urged by the Government before the University was not with reference to the addition of 6 hours of Statistics to the Economics Department but on the ground that the vacancy that had arisen was the retirement vacancy of a supernumerary teacher Sri. A.P. Kuriakose and since it was a supernumerary post, it is not an established vacancy.