K.N. SATHEESAN Vs. CHIEF JUSTICE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are employees of this Court working on the clerical side. Petitioners I and 2 are Senior Grade Assistants in category 1A of Division II of the High Court Service Rules, 1970 (the "Rules"). The 3rd petitioner is an Assistant Grade I in category 8 of Division II of the Rules These two are feeder categories for promotion to the post of Court Officer. All the three petitioners are law graduates and have acquired the necessary test qualifications. They are thus fully qualified to be appointed as Court Officers. They challenge Ext P2 which is a notification, dated 14th June 1984 published in Kerala Gazette No. 30, dated 24th July 1984, Part III, Judicial Department. By this notification R.16(d) was amended by the substitution of a new provision. The petitioners contend that they are aggrieved by the amendment as their chances of promotion as Court Officers are jeopardised by reason of the quota introduced by the amended provision for promotion of non law graduates as Court Officers. They apprehend supersession in the matter of promotion by non law graduates who are juniors to them.

(2.) Respondents 1 and 2 respectively are the Chief Justice and the Registrar of this Court and the additional respondents 4 to 11 are the persons who are directly benefited by the impugned amendment.

(3.) Before we deal with the amendment, we shall briefly refer to the relevant provisions of the Rules. In exercise of the powers vested in him under Art.229 of the Constitution of India, the Chief Justice made the Rules in 1970 to regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of the members of the Kerala High Court Service. They came into force on 19th January 1971. Part II of the Rules refers to the various divisions of the High Court Service. Division I has several categories of which Section Officer, Court Officer and Court Fee Examiner are categories 5, 6A and 6B respectively (see R.4). The Chief Justice is the appointing authority for all the categories, but the Registrar may, subject to the control of the Chief Justice, make appointments to certain lower categories (see R.5). Without prejudice to the power of the Chief Justice to borrow the services of an officer belonging to any other service under a State or the Central Government or the Supreme Court or a High Court, R.6 has prescribed the method of appointment to the High Court Service.