1. The question which the petitioner, a Senior among Junior Engineers (now Assistant Engineers) but a non-graduate, asks is the same which Bhagwati J., posed on behalf of persons like the petitioner in the decision in Mohd. Shujat Ali v. Union of India, AIR. 1974 SC. 1631,

"I am senior to the graduate Supervisor who is intended to be promoted. I am more suitable than he is. It is no doubt true that I am a non-graduate, but my not being a graduate has not been branded as a disqualification. I am regarded fit for promotion and, like the graduate Supervisor, I am equally eligible for being promoted. My technical equipment supplemented by experience is considered adequate for discharging the functions of Assistant Engineer. Then why am I being denied the opportunity for promotion and the graduate Supervisor is preferred?"

There cannot be any doubt about the answer after the decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Abdul Basheer v. Karunakaran, ILR.1981(2) Kerala 526. It can only be an invalidation of the rule which provides for this preference for the graduate junior.

2. Now to the facts, which makes the above question relevant and the only answer obligatory. The petition