IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE B.P.RAY WEDNESDAY, THE 16TH FEBRUARY 2011 / 27TH MAGHA 1932 WP(C).No. 3586 of 2009(B) ------------------------- PETITIONER: --------------- SUMA NAIR, HOUSE NO.7/409/4, LENIN NAGAR PATTALAMKUNNU, MANNUTHY.P.O, THRISSUR, PIN:680651. BY ADV. SRI.S.P.ARAVINDAKSHAN PILLAY SMT.N.SANTHA SRI.K.A.BALAN RESPONDENTS: --------------- 1. KERALA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, REPRESENTED BY ITS REGISTRAR, OFFICE OF THE KERALA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, MAIN CAMPUS, VELLANIKKKARA, THRISSUR, PIN :680656. 2. SINDHU BHASKAR,ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (FARM POWER MACHINERY),KELAPPAJI COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, TAVANUR.PO,MALAPPURAM DIST, PIN:659753. ADV. SRI.K.P.MUJEEB,SC,KERALA AGRL.UTY FOR R1 SMT.SREEDEVI KYLASANATH FOR R2 SRI.S.SANJITH FOR R2 SMT.V.J.SAFEENA FOR R2 SMT.S.PREETHA FOR R2 THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 16/02/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: APPENDIX PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS: P1: TRUE COPY OF NOTIFICATION DT.9.10.2007 OF THE UNIVERSITY. P2: TRUE COPY OF RELEVANT EXTRACT OF NOTIFICATION DT.15.11.2007 OF THE UNIVERSITY. P3: TRUE COPY OF JUDGMENT DT.22.9.2008 IN W.P.(C) NO.13794/08-P OF THIS HON'BLE COURT. P4: TRUE COPY OF NOTIFICATION DT.4.11.2008 OF THE REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY. P5: TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DT.19.11.2008 OF THE REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY. P6: TRUE COPY OF REPRESENTATION DT.19.12.2008 SUBMITTED BY PETITIONER TO THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERISTY. P7: TRUE COPY OF LETTER DT.3.1.2009 OF THE REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY. P8: TRUE COPY OF LETTER DT.1.12.2008 OF THE DEPUTY COMPTROLLER AND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER OF THE UNIVERSITY. P9: TRUE COPY OF ORDER DT.22.1.1998 OF THE REGISTRAR OF UNIVERSITY. TRUE COPY P.S. TO JUDGE C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR & BHABANI PRASAD RAY, JJ. .................................................................... W.P.(C) No.3586 of 2009 .................................................................... Dated this the 16th day of February, 2011. JUDGMENT Ramachandran Nair, J. The contesting parties are already appointed as Assistant Professors in the Agricultural University. The only dispute is whether the petitioner who is the first rank holder should have been appointed first before appointing the second respondent, who was in fact appointed first as she is from the reserved quota. While the case of the petitioner is that first rank holder should be appointed first, the case of the second respondent is that appointment under the Kerala State & Subordinate Service Rules is on rotation basis and since the last appointment in the cadre of Assistant Professor was made from the open merit quota, the next one is for the reserved quota and so much so, second respondent was rightly appointed. Since both are appointed as of now, we do not think we should decide this question because eligibility for first appointment between the two candidates will be considered by the University while fixing the interse seniority of 2 Assistant Professors. We direct the University to fix the seniority based on the Rules in regard to appointment as well. If there is a second vacancy, then the appointment of the petitioner under interim orders will be treated as proper appointment in accordance with the Rules. W.P.(C) is disposed of as above. C.N.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR Judge BHABANI PRASAD RAY Judge pms