DR. GEETHU Vs. SECRETARY, KERALA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is preferred assailing the judgment dtd. 9/1/2024 in W.P.(C).No.43778 of 2023 of a learned Single Judge of this Court. The learned Single Judge rejected the prayer sought for by the appellants to extend the cut-off date for submitting applications for the posts of Medical Officer Panchakarma and Assistant Professor of Panchakarma to enable the appellants to appear for the exam.

(2.) To appreciate the contentions raised by the appellants in this appeal, brief facts of the case are required to be stated: The appellants herein are the final-year MD students pursuing education in various Ayurveda Colleges in the State of Kerala. According to them, the final year exams ordinarily used to be held in November, and the results were published in December. However, insofar as they are concerned, the current year's exams have been scheduled to be conducted in February. While so, a notification to the posts of Medical Officer Panchakarma and Assistant Professor of Panchakarma had been announced by the Public Service Commission with a cut-off date on 31/1/2024. The grievance of the appellants is that the results of their final year exam would be published only by April, 2024. Under the aforesaid circumstance, they had submitted a representation before the 1st respondent with a request to extend the application period to 30th of April, 2024. Their request was not considered by the 1st respondent. It was in the above circumstances that the appellants had approached the learned Single Judge seeking to direct the Kerala Public Service Commission to take steps to extend the cut-off date for the posts of Medical Officer Panchakarma, and Assistant Professor Panchakarma, from 31/1/2024 to 30/4/2024 to enable them to get an opportunity to apply for the posts upon completing their MD/PG Course.

(3.) The learned Single Judge noted that the notification had set 31/1/2024 as the last date for submitting applications in order for the appellants to have acquired minimum qualifications prior to the cut-off date. The learned Single Judge was of the view that this date could not be extended under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The writ petition was accordingly dismissed.