MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY Vs. KARTHIKA A.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals are directed against the judgment dtd. 1/12/2022 in W.P.(C) No.37876 of 2022. The appellant in W.A.No.2 of 2023 was the third respondent in the writ petition and the appellant in W.A.No.119 of 2023 is a third party. Parties and documents are referred to in this judgment for convenience, as they appear in the writ petition.

(2.) The matter relates to the claim made by the petitioner who is an Assistant in the service of the third respondent, the Mahatma Gandhi University (the University) for an inter-university transfer to the Kerala University.

(3.) The petitioner is a person who entered into an inter-caste marriage. Her husband is employed in Kerala University and is residing in Thiruvananthapuram. The petitioner was appointed as an Assistant in the University on 22/6/2022 and she is working as such at Kottayam since 28/6/2022. Immediately after joining the service of the University, on 25/8/2022, the petitioner preferred a representation to the Registrar of the University seeking inter-university transfer to Kerala University, by extending her the privilege by the State Government to inter-caste married couples to work in the same station. Ext.P10 is the representation preferred by the petitioner in this regard. In Ext.P10, it is stated by the petitioner that her mother-in-law who is suffering from cancer, is being taken care of by her husband and if she is transferred to Thiruvananthapuram, the same would be helpful to both her husband and the mother-in-law. Ext.P10 representation was rejected by the University in terms of Ext.P12 memo. Ext.P12 memo was under challenge in the writ petition. The case set out by the petitioner in the writ petition was that in light of Exts.P8 and P9 orders of the Government, the University ought to have allowed the request made by the petitioner. The prayer in the writ petition, in the circumstances, was for a direction to the University to transfer the petitioner to the Kerala University.