JUDGMENT :

Petitioners 1 to 5, who are undergoing Part time Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering in various Government Polytechnic Colleges under the 1st respondent-State of Kerala, seek to quash Ext.P12 and to command the respondents to permit the petitioners to undergo their Part time Diploma Course in accordance with the conditions in Ext.P1 Prospectus and Ext.P4 Curriculum of 2015 Scheme and to direct the respondents to award the Diploma in Mechanical Engineering accordingly.

2. Petitioners 1 and 5 are working as Senior Instructors and the 4th petitioner is working as Workshop Attender in the Government ITI, Kalamassery. The 2nd and 3rd petitioners are working as Tradesmen in the Government Polytechnic College, Kothamangalam and Government Polytechnic College, Purappuzha respectively. For Career Advancement, the petitioners decided to pursue a Part time Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering in the 4th respondent-State Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research at Kalamassery.

3. Clause 2 of Ext.P1 Prospectus issued by the Directorate of Technical Education provided that the program of Part time Diploma Courses shall be of six semesters, for a total period of thr