INDIRABAI Vs. KSW AND WW AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These Original Petitions relate to the appointments in the Kerala Water and Waste Water Authority, which has since been redesignated as the Kerala Water Authority. The first of these petitions is filed by a candidate who bad appeared for the examination conducted by the third respondent therein, who has been a reader in the department of Education of the University of Kerala, on 26-11-1984 at various centres in the State for selection of candidates for appointment to the posts of Lower Division Clerks, Confidential Assistants and Last Grade Servants. Petitioners in O.P. No. 11417 & 11504 of 1985, and O. P. Nos. 228 and 256 of 1986 are provisional employees in the service of the Authority. They seek regularisation of their provisional services. They oppose regular appointment of candidates selected after the conduct of the examination on 26-11-1984, since they are likely to be replaced by such candidates. The other four Original Petitions are filed by persons who were selected and included in the rank list prepared by the Chief Examiner appointed by the Authority. Their complaint is against the decision of the Authority, which was communicated in Letter No. KWWWA/No./El/778/86 dated 4-7-1986, to the effect, that "no further regular appointments should be made to the entry cadre, in the Kerala Water and Waste Authority Office until further orders". Petitioner in OP. No. 11118 of 1985 alleges that there were serious irregularities in the conduct of the examination and the select list was prepared without regard to the performance of candidates in the examination. It is her case, that the then Chairman of the Authority had influenced the third respondent to include many undeserving persons in the select list due to extraneous considerations like political or personal influence and other such factors. The then Public Relations Officer of the Authority, whose appointment itself was effected under quite extra ordinary circumstances, is said to have influenced the selection of undeserving candidates. Many relations in the personal staff of the then Chairman of the Authority are said to have been smuggled into the list and appointed through the back-door. It was on these allegations that the petitioner filed the Original Petition seeking the issue of a writ of certiorari to quash the rank list of last grade employees published by the third respondent on 11-12-1985.

(2.) There are five petitioners in OP. No. 11504/1985, four petitioners in OP. No. 11417/1985, three petitioners in OP. No. 108/1986, three petitioners in O.P. No. 228/1986 and one petitioner in O. P. No. 256/1986. They were provisionally appointed as Lower Division Clerks/Lower Division Typists/ Class IV Servants in the erstwhile Public Health Engineering Department in 1981 and later. Some of them were appointed after the formation of the Authority on 1-4-1984 under Ordinance 14 of 1984. Their case is that all of them had completed more than 240 days of work under the Authority and were therefore entitled for regularisation. It is stated that such regularisation was promised by the Chairman of the Authority. They also claim that they were entitled to be given opportunities to compete in the next selection to be conducted by the Authority in terms of the decision of the Supreme Court reported in 1984 KLT 17 and the Government Orders and Circulars issued pursuant thereto. It is stated that applications were invited by publication of a notification in the local newspapers without specifying the Authority under which the appointments were to be made. Even after the invitation of applications, the Authority had considered a proposal for regularisation of services of provisional employees like the petitioners. Their case is that they were not aware of the fact that applications were being invited for regular appointment in posts which were being held by them on a provisional basis, since the notification did not give any indication to that effect. It is also their case that this sleight of hand was adopted so as to avoid open competition, to restrict applicants and to resort to mal-practices and nepotism. They refer to a list of 439 Lower Division Clerks, 136 Last Grade Servants, 40 Lower Division Typists and 19 Confidential Assistants prepared by the Chief Examiner appointed by the Authority, as a result of the notification and from which regular appointments to displace the petitioners were being made. Reference is also made to regularisation of services of 19 persons; who were appointed through Employment Exchanges to various posts as per order No. KW & WWA/206/84 dated 7-6-1984. The services of these 19 provisional appointees were regularised in Order No. KW & WWA/IHO/EI/ 1640/85 dated 24-1-1985. Such fortunate persons are said to include M/s. Mukundan Nair, Rajalakshmi, Ajayakumar, Rahtna Kumari, Ramdas, Amina (all L. D. 'Clerks) and Abdulla and Parameswaran (peons). They assail the refusal of regularisation in the case of the petitioners. They also challenge the method adopted by the Authority in picking and choosing undeserving candidates on the basis of personal and political influence alone. They, therefore, seek the issue of a writ of certiorari to quash the notification inviting applications for regular" appointment under the Authority in the posts of Clerks/Typists/Confidential Assistants and Last Grade Servants, and a writ of mandamus directing regularisation of their service as in the case of the 19 persons recruited through Employment Exchanges.

(3.) The last batch of four Original Petitions are filed by 11 candidates who had appeared for the examination conducted by the Chief Examiner acting on behalf of the Authority pursuant to the notification inviting applications for appointment as L. D. Clerks/Typists/Confidential Assistants and Last Grade Servants under the Authority. They assail the decision of the Authority not to effect any further appointment on the basis of the select list prepared by the Chief Examiner.