ORDER :

A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J.

I have gone through the well articulated judgment authored by my learned brother Sri.Raja Vijayaraghavan, J. on behalf of himself and learned brother Sri.C.P. Mohammed Nias, J. While I agree with that part of the judgment that encapsulates the sequence of events leading to the amendment of Rule 51A of Chapter XIV-A of the Kerala Education Rules [hereinafter referred to as the “KER” for brevity], I find myself unable to accept the answer it provides to the question referred to us for our opinion and the reasoning leading to it.

2. As per the scheme of Chapter XIV-A of the KER, the appointment of teachers to private aided schools can be only of candidates possessing prescribed qualifications. An exception was carved out in earlier years for appointment of unqualified teachers on temporary basis, probably on account of the then perceived dearth of qualified candidates, and in such cases the unqualified candidate was given a preferential right to permanent appointment to the post, as and when he/she acquired the necessary qualification. In later years, however, through an amendment brought about in Rule I of Chapter XIV-A with effect from 18.7.1972 (G