Point of Law: Kerala State and subordinate Service Rules shall be applicable to University employees till such time University adopts its own service rules.

JUDGMENT :

The petitioner, appointed as a Farm Assistant (Agricultural Grade-II) in the Kerala Agricultural University by an order dated 14-08-1997, was later appointed as Technical Assistant as per order dated 3-4-1998 on the basis of an internal selection.

2. On completion of 8 years of service in that grade, he was granted time bound higher Grade, and the petitioner was promoted as Technical Officer Gr.II by order dated 3-6-2010 with effect from 21-4-2006. While the petitioner was holding a substantive post of Technical Officer Grade II in the University, the University issued a notification dated 9-10-2007, inviting applications for appointment to the post of Assistant Professors in various disciplines as per Ext. P3 notification. Petitioner applied for the post of Assistant Professor in the discipline of Agronomy and was appointed as per the order of the university dated 8-8-2011 as Assistant Professor in the scale of pay of Rs. 15600-39100. He was posted as Assistant Professor in Agronomy at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kannur, on relieving him from the post of Technical Assistant Grade -II on 16-08-2011. An agreement dated 17-8-2011 was also executed with the university.

3. Petitioner submits that the provisions in the Kerala Service Rules, Part – I are made applicable to the University and thus entitled to get the protection of pay that he drew earlier in the Technical Officer Grade post -II under the same University. He made a request, Ext. P8 on 14-12-2011, which was not considered. Petitioner had moved this Court in W.P. (C) No. 14254 of 2012 which was disposed of by Ext. P9 judgment directing the University to pass orders on the representation. By Ext. P10, University rejected the petitioner's request for protection of pay drawn in the post of Technical Officer Grade-II but allowed the petitioner's request regarding carrying over the leave accrued during the previous service after getting clarification from the Government. The reasons stated in Ext. P10 is that the protection of pay under Rule 37 (b) Part I KSR is applicable only in cases where appointments were made only in accordance with the special rules applicable and since the petitioner was not appointed in accordance with the special rules but as per an agreement executed by him at the time of joining the post of Assistant Professor in the UGC Scheme. Thus, contending that his scale of pay, increment, mode of appointment, and retirement age is entirely different under the UGC Scheme to the state's Scheme where he earlier worked, the request for protection of pay was rejected by Ext. P10, which is impugned in this Writ Petition.

4. Heard Sri.. S. Prasanth, the learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri. M.V.Anandan, Standing Counsel for Kerala University and also the learned Government Pleader.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the Government, by SRO No. 293/1972 dated 15-6-1972, had issued a statute prescribing the conditions of service relating to officers, teachers, and other employees of the Kerala Agricultural University. Statute 4 in Part I, as amended by Notification dated 3-4-1986, provided that subject to the provisions of the Act and the Statutes and Ordinances, the conditions of service applicable to government Servants contained in the Kerala Service Rules and the Kerala State and subordinate Service Rules shall mutatis mutandis, be applicable to the University employees till such time the University adopts its own service rules and as the university has not so far adopted its own service rules, provisions of the KSR applies and accordingly, Rule 28 A of KSR Part I will also be applicable. Even going by Rule 37 (a) in Part I KSR, the petitioner's appointment as Assistant Professor is to a post lower in time-scale, and his pay has to be fixed as per Rule 37 (b).

6. The contentions of the petitioner's are countered by the University, stating that as per Circular No. 29/96 Fin. Dated 1-6-1996, Ext. R1 (a) the scale of pay of teachers formulated by