P J GARVASEES Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is challenging the select list wherefrom 5th respondent was appointed as Assistant Director (Documents Civil) in the Forensic Science Laboratory, Trivandrum. According to the petitioner, petitioner having joined service earlier than the 5th respondent, should have been selected. I heard counsel appearing for the petitioner and counsel appearing for the 5th respondent and Government Pleader. The petitioner, 5th respondent and three others were advised by the PSC for appointment to the post of Scientific Assistant in the Forensic Science Laboratory simultaneously. In the advise list, 5th respondent admittedly stood as No. 1 and petitioner was the 5th. However, since 5th respondent was in another department at the time of selection and was on maternity leave, she joined service as Scientific Assistant after the petitioner joined. The petitioner joined on 03/12/1998 and the 5th respondent joined on 27/01/1999. According to the petitioner, petitioner qualified for promotion by acquiring five years' service in terms of the Special Rules on 02/12/2003. Admittedly when the vacancy first arose on 09/04/2003, no one was qualified for promotion. However, petitioner's case is that since petitioner was the first to be qualified, he should have been appointed to the post of Assistant Director. The case of the 5th respondent on the other hand is that all those who joined as Scientific Assistant were to undergo training for six months and the said training was completed on 21/09/1999 and since all qualified simultaneously, selection has to be made based on seniority in the feeder category. Government Pleader clarified that when DPC met on 11/09/2004, they considered the 5th respondent along with one Sulekha who were holding position No. 1 and 2 respectively in the seniority list of Scientific Assistants and between them, the senior namely, 5th respondent got selected.

(2.) R.2(b) of the Special Rules provides the method for appointment among others to the post of Assistant Director from the post of Scientific Assistant. The said Rule is as follows: