IMPORTANT POINT
Reference to diploma being an additional qualification is extraneous to Rule 10(a)(ii) of Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules 1958.

JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J

This batch of appeals arises from a judgment dated 10 December 2018 of a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala. Affirming the correctness of the judgment of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal dated 20 December 2017, the High Court dismissed the writ petition filed by the appellants under Article 227 of the Constitution.

2. On 16 August 1972, the Government of Kerala in exercise of its powers under Section 11 of the Kerala Municipal Common Service Rules 1967, specified the method of recruitment and qualifications for posts in the Municipal Common Service. The posts were specified in an annexure to the order. The post of Health Inspector/Food Inspector Grade-II was among those posts and the qualifications were:

“Minimum general educational of S.S.L.C. Standard. Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate of Bombay or Madras; or Health Inspectors' Certificate of Trivandrum Medical College; or

Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate of the All India Institute of Local Self Government, Bombay or the certificate in Sanitary Inspectors course awarded by the National Council for Rural Higher Education.

Age - Not below 18 years and above 30 years”.

3. On 26 December 2014, Kerala Public Service Commission [“KPSC”] advertised vacancies in nine districts for the post of Junior Health Inspector Grade-II in the Municipal Common Service. The notification specified the qualifications for the post in the following terms:

“Qualifications:-

1. S.S.L.C.

2. Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate of Bombay or Madras.

OR

Health Inspectors' Certificate of Trivandrum Medical College.

OR

Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate of All India Institute of Local Self Government, Bombay.

OR

The certificate in Sanitary Inspectors' Course awarded by the National Council for Rural Higher Education.

OR

Sanitary Inspector' Training Course conducted by the Rural Institute, Thavannur.

Note:-KS&SSR Part-II, Rule-10(a)(ii) is applicable for selection to this post”.

The note above has some bearing on the outcome of the present case.

4. On 29 May 2015, a notification was published for posts in five additional districts. The qualifications for the post remained the same. On 27 November 2015, a common written test was conducted. On 16 November 2016, KPSC published a list of selected candidates for the district of Kottayam. Lists containing the names of candidates selected for other districts were also published. Candidates possessing the qualification of a Diploma in Health Inspectors Course, “DHIC”, a two-year course conducted by the Director of Health Service, were also included in the shortlists. The DHIC was not one of the qualifications specifically prescribed in the rules or in the advertisement. Candidates who claimed to be affected by the inclusion of candidates possessing a DHIC qualification filed cases before the Tribunal, challenging the State‘s decision to include persons possessing a DHIC qualification in the shortlists.

5. During the pendency of the proceedings before the Tribunal, on 10 January 2017, a three-member Committee conducted a comparative study of the syllabi of the DHIC programme and the Sanitary Inspector Diploma Course, “SIDC”. The Committee submitted a report holding that:

(i) While the DHIC is a two-year course, the duration of the SIDC (the certificate prescribed) is 52 weeks;

(ii) While there are prescribed textbooks for the DHIC, no recommended texts exist under the available syllabus for the SIDC;

(iii) The topics in both sets of syllabi are almost the same except for some ‘minute differences’; and

(iv) While the number of theory sessions is greater in the DHIC, the SIDC has more practical sessions.

6. On 20 February 2017, KPSC filed a reply before the Tribunal stating that the two year DHIC is a higher qualification in the same faculty and that it had accordingly been decided to consider candidates possessing a DHIC for the post of Junior Health Inspector Grade-II by adhering to the provisions of Rule 10(a)(ii) of the Kerala State and Subordinate