( 1 ) IN this writ petition, the petitioners have questioned the legality of the notification issued by the gulbarga university established under the Provisions of the Karnataka state universities Act, 1976 ('the act' for short), inviting applications for selection for appointment to 35 teaching posts on the establishment of the university on the ground that out of 35 posts as many as 33 are reserved in favour of persons belonging to backward classes and only two posts are made available for general merit and therefore the reservation was violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of india.

( 2 ) THE brief facts of the case, stated in the petition, are these: the university has various departments such as kannada, english, urdu, marathi, etc. Each of the departments constitute a separate and distinct unit consisting of posts of lecturers, readers and professors in the respective subjects. The seniority of lecturers, readers and professors in each of the departments is maintained separately. The minimum condition of eligibility prescribed for the posts lecturers, readers and professors in each of the subjects is the master's degree in the concerned subject