Point of Law: Rule 17A indicates that under this Rule special recruitment can be done from among Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes when they are not adequately represented in any service, class, category or grade, in addition to normal appointments to reserved quota.

JUDGMENT :

1. The appellant is the petitioner in W.P(C)No.38986 of 2022, a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of certiorari to quash Ext.P4 communication dated 20.04.2022 issued by the 1st respondent Cochin University of Science and Technology and Ext.P6 order dated 16.09.2022 of the 2nd respondent Registrar of the said University. The appellant has also sought for a writ of mandamus commanding the 2nd respondent to appoint her as Associate Professor-Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Applied Chemistry, in the vacancy earmarked for the Scheduled Caste community; and a declaration that Ext.P6 order dated 16.09.2022 issued by the 2nd respondent is violative of the rights of the candidates in the Scheduled Caste community. By the impugned judgment dated 03.02.2023, the learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition holding that the 1st respondent University was justified in declining the request of the petitioner for appointment to the vacancy notified vide Ext.P1 notification dated 22.10.2019. Feeling aggrieved, the appellant is before this Court in this writ appeal invoking the provisions under Section 5(1) of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958.

2. Heard the learned counsel for the appellant-petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for Cochin University of Science and Technology for the respondents-respondents.

3. The learned counsel for the appellant-writ petitioner would submit that the learned Single Judge has not properly appreciated the contention of the appellant as to her entitlement for appointment as Associate Professor-Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Applied Chemistry in the 1st respondent University, from Ext.P2 rank list, in the vacancy earmarked for the Scheduled Caste community, on account of the 1st rank holder being relieved from service for accepting appointment as a Professor in the School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University. Though the notified vacancy of Associate Professor-Inorganic Chemistry in Ext.P1 notification is only one, in view of the provisions under sub-section (10) of Section 31 of the Cochin University of Science and Technology Act, 1986, Ext.P2 rank list shall remain in force for a period of two years from the date of publication and all vacancies arising during that period can be filled up from that list. The recruitment, vide Ext.P1 notification, for the post of Associate Professor-Inorganic Chemistry, after the earlier notifications of the years 1999 and 2005 is a special recruitment for the Scheduled Caste community, governed by the provisions under Rule 17A of the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1958. Therefore, the 1st respondent University has to follow the procedure contemplated under Annexure A Government order dated 15.07.1992 and Annexure B circular dated 23.09.2019.

4. Per contra, the learned Standing Counsel for Cochin University of Science and Technology would contend that the reasoning of the learned Single Judge in declining interference on Ext.P6 order warrants no interference. By Ext.P5 judgment in W.P.(C)No.15183 of 2022, this Court directed the competent authority in the University to consider the appointment of the appellant, subject to her rank and her eligibility as per the rules of communal rotation, within the time limit stipulated in that judgment. The appellant is not entitled to be appointed as Associate Professor-Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Applied Chemistry, from Ext.P2 rank list, in the vacancy earmarked for the Scheduled Caste community, on account of the 1st rank holder being relieved from service for accepting appointment as a Professor in the School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, for the reason that the turn of communal rotation after the relieve of the 1st rank holder is reserved for Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian (LC/AI) category.

5. Vide Ext.P1 notification dated 22.10.2019, the 1st respondent University invited applications from qualified candid