JUDGMENT

Gopinath, J.

These Original Petitions have been filed challenging the common order dated 9.12.2019 in Original Application Nos.1417 and 1578 of 2019 on the file of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal. The applicants before the Tribunal were persons included in a ranked list prepared by the Kerala Public Service Commission for selection to the post of Lecturers in Technical streams in Polytechnics under the Technical Education Department. They had approached the Tribunal contending that in terms of the AICTE Regulations on Pay Scales, Service Conditions and Minimum Qualifications For Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff such as Library and Physical Education Personnel in Technical Institutions and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Technical Education – (Diploma) Regulation, 2019, (the 2019 Regulations) Lecturers in Polytechnic could be appointed only through direct recruitment in spite of the fact that the Special Rules namely, Kerala Technical Education Service Rules, 1967, after its amendment through the Kerala Technical Education Service (Amendment) Special Rules, 2010, provided that the post of Lecturer in Engineering/Technology could be filled up by