A.K. BASHEER, J.

1. This Writ Petition has come up before us on a reference made by a Division Bench noticing apparent conflict between two bench decisions. In fact, a learned Single Judge had referred the case to the Division Bench after noticing inconsistency in the views taken by the two Division Benches.

2. The question that has cropped up in this case is whether Respondent No.1 Corporation is justified in tinkering with or varying the minimum qualifications prescribed in the Special Rules for recruitment to the post of Deputy Manager (Technical), while notifying the vacancies.

3. The relevant facts which led to this legal imbroglio may be briefly noticed: Petitioners are now working as Regional Managers (Marketing) in the cadre of Deputy Manager in Respondent No.1 Corporation, which is a Company fully owned by the Government of Kerala. The Corporation, being an instrumentality of the Government of Kerala, is State within the meaning of Art.12 of the Constitution of India.

4. Petitioner No.1 is a B.Tech (Mechanical) with Master of Business Administration (MBA) as an additional qualification. After working as Assistant Engineer in the Kerala Automobiles limited for