The employer is kind. But the employee complains that it is not kind enough. How kind should an employer be towards its employee, whose very entry into the service was found to have been on shaky, questionable grounds?

2. Haridas K.N., the petitioner, joined the State Bank of Travancore, the respondent, on 28.07.1972 as a Peon. Promoted as a Record Keeper, he retired on 31.07.2012. While he was in service, there arose a dispute about his community status, because he secured his employment claiming to be a scheduled tribe candidate–Mala Araya. The dispute or the resulting litigation has run in two streams; parallel streams, if I may say so.

3. Briefly I will touch upon the judicial course of the dispute in both the streams: In 1978, certain people from Mala Araya community, including the petitioner's close relatives–but not the petitioner–filed O.S. No. 487 of 1978 seeking a declaration that they belong to Mala Araya community; the Government was a party. When the suit was allowed, the Government filed an appeal, but without success. Later, it filed a Second Appeal before this Court.

4. When the Second Appeal was pending, the State brought in legislation: the Kerala Schedule