DEEPTI MATHEWS AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in these two Original Petitions are stated to be presently working as Agricultural Assistants Gr.II in the Department of Agriculture. They aspire promotion to the post of Agricultural Officers in the Department and they assert that they are qualified and competent to be considered for such promotion.

(2.) Their grievance, as voiced by them before the learned Kerala Administrative Tribunal, Trivandrum, in the O.As filed by them viz., O.A. No. 2109 of 2017 and O.A. No. 932 of 2017 is that ineligible persons have now been considered for promotion to the post of Agricultural Officers, in violation of the applicable Government orders stipulating qualifications for promotion to the said post, copies of which have been placed on record as Annexure A1 in both the cases.

(3.) There are several allegations made by the petitioners in these proceedings, as well as in the O.As with respect to the stipulations in the Government Orders relating to the qualifications. But the crux of their allegation is that those persons, who have now been considered by the PSC, are not qualified to be considered so. We refrain from entering into any consideration into the validity or otherwise of these allegations because we notice that the learned Tribunal has only directed the competent among the respondents to consider these allegations on its merits, because it found that there is reason to find a prima facie view in favour of the petitioners. We notice from the orders of the learned Tribunal, impugned before us that two major issues were raised before it, one relating to the qualification to the posts of Agricultural Officer and the other relating to the quota, within which Agricultural Assistants can be promoted as Agricultural Officers.