IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.R.RAMAN & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR THURSDAY, THE 1ST OCTOBER 2009 / 9TH ASWINA 1931 WP(C).No. 27656 of 2009(B) -------------------------- PETITIONER(S): --------------- VINOD V,NAMBOOTHIRI, PERUMPILLY AZHATHU MANA, EROOR SOUTH PO, THRIPUNITHURA,. BY ADV. SRI.S.KRISHNAMOORTHY RESPONDENT(S): --------------- 1. TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD REP. SECRETARY, NANDANCODE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 2. COMMISSIONER,TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 3. EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SABARIMALA TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD, NANDANCODE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM BY S.C. SHRI V. KRISHNA MENON THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 01/10/2009, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: P.R. Raman & T.R. Ramachandran Nair, J. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - W.P.(C) No.27656 of 2009-B - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 1st day of October, 2009. JUDGMENT Ramachandran Nair, J. In this writ petition, the petitioner seeks for a declaration that he is eligible to take part in the interview of Melsanthi at Sabarimala to be held on 6th and 7th of October, 2009. The apprehension expressed by the petitioner is that his application will be rejected on the basis that he is not having 10 years of service as Melsathi till the last date of application. It is the further contention that the stand taken by the Vigilance Officer in his report that the temple does not have three times daily poojas, is also not correct. 2. The petitioner claims service as Melsanthi in Ayyer Kulangara Devi Kshethram from March 1994 to January 2008. This is supported by Exts.P5 and P6 certificates. Ext.P1 is the notification, wherein clause 6 provides for the qualification for applying the post of Melsanthi at Sabarimala/Malikapuram Temples. It is specified that the applicant should be one having 10 years of continuous service as on the date of application. wpc 27656/2009 2 It is the contention of the petitioner that the requirement is satisfied, if he was having 10 years of service at any point of time. 3. We have considered similar contentions in our judgment in W.P. (C) No.25699/2009 and connected cases, wherein in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the judgment, we have held thus: “...................Therefore, there cannot be any room for doubt that there should be 10 years continuous service as Melsanthi as on the date of submission of the application, which means that the continuous service should be one preceding the date of application. In the present notification, it has been clearly specified that the applicant should have 10 years of continuous service as a Melsanthi in any major temples having poojas thrice daily and which are open in the morning and evening, as on the date of submission of the application. Therefore, as the petitioners do not satisfy this requirement, they cannot seek for a direction to the Travancore Devaswom Board to accept their application in these proceedings. Admittedly, the petitioners do not fulfill the said criteria as on the date of submission of the application. The said reasoning squarely applies to the facts of this case also. In that view of the matter, the declaration sought for is not liable to be granted. 4. In the light of the fact that the petitioner does not fulfill the qualifications specified in the notification, it is unnecessary for us to wpc 27656/2009 3 pronounce finally upon the other contentions whether the temple, viz. Ayyer Kulangara Devi Temple is a major temple having poojas thrice daily. Therefore, we find no reason to entertain this writ petition. Hence, the same is dismissed. (P.R. Raman, Judge.) (T.R. Ramachandran Nair, Judge.) kav/