SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
L. NAGESWARA RAO, ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.
Praveen Kumar C.P. – Appellant
Versus
Kerala Public Service Commission and Others – Respondents
Civil Appeal Nos. 4846, 4847 of 2021, Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) Nos. 4604 of 2020, 3927 of 2021
Decided On : 17-08-2021

IMPORTANT POINTS
(1) Whether a GO would have prospective effect or relate back to an earlier date is a question which would have to be decided on the basis of text and tenor of respective orders.
(2) Principle of service jurisprudence that a candidate must possess requisite qualification for a post on the date of issue of employment notification cannot be applied in appellants’ cases when they possessed equivalent qualifications when they applied for the posts.

Headnote:

Service Law – Appointment – Eligibility criteria – Posts of High School Assistants in State of Kerala – Whether a GO would have prospective effect or relate back to an earlier date is a question which would have to be decided on the basis of text and tenor of respective orders – GOs which declared appellants’ degrees to be equivalent to those required as per applicable notifications were not general orders but these two orders were person specific, relating to two appellants – Once GOs specifically declared that their B.Ed. degrees were equivalent to designated subject which formed part of employment notification, GOs in substance have to be interpreted as clarificatory in nature and these cannot be construed to have had elevated status or position of degree they already had after declaration was made in GOs – Subject GOs only recognised an existing state of affairs so far as nature of degrees were concerned and did not create fresh value for degrees which appellants possessed – Though these equivalent orders were not in existence on dates of issue of employment notifications, GOs in substance recognize such status from dates of obtaining such degrees – GOs do not reveal any intervening circumstances which could be construed to imply that respective degrees acquired equivalent status because of such circumstances occurring subsequent to grant of their B.Ed. degrees – Defect, if any, on disclosure requirement, shall stand cured on issue of University orders followed by GOs – GOs also specify context in which these were issued and refer to appellants being included in list of KPSC – Treating appellants’ degrees as equivalent to those required under applicable notifications by GOs issued in year 2019 would not result in change in rules of game midway – At best, it can be termed as interpreting rules when game was on, figuratively speaking – Such a course would be permissible – Appellants’ degrees in B.Ed. were equivalent to those required by employment notifications and equivalency orders were merely clarificatory in nature – Relief cannot be denied to these two appellants on the ground that other similarly situated persons may not have had applied for same posts and were being put to disadvantage – Principle of service jurisprudence that a candidate must possess requisite qualification for a post on the date of issue of employment notification cannot be applied in appellants’ cases as they possessed equivalent qualifications when they applied for the posts – GOs only confirmed equivalency of their B.Ed. degrees – Judgments under appeal set aside and orders of Tribunal restored – Result of appellants to be disclosed and in the event, on the basis of their performance, they come within list of selected candidates as per ranked lists, benefit thereof shall not be denied to appellants on the ground of lapse of list by efflux of time – In the event they qualify for appointment, they shall be given appointment and they shall be treated to have been in service from the date of their appointment in their respective posts. [Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules, 1958 – Rule 10] (Paras 27, 28 & 29)

Facts of the case:

Controversy involved in these proceedings relates to the issue as to whether the appellants possessed the eligibility criteria for appointment to the posts of High School Assistants in State of Kerala. The main dispute is over the question as to whether appellants’ B.Ed. degrees were in subjects fulfilling the eligibility criteria. This is the common question involved in both the appeals.

Findings of Court:

As we have held that the respective GOs only clarified or confirmed an existing status of certain educational qualifications, in absence of specific instance of similarly situated but unspecified number of persons having not applied for the posts would be unfair to the ones who apply for the same and undergo three levels of litigations to establish that they had equivalent degrees.

Result : Appeals allowed.