JUDGMENT :

The petitioners herein have been included in the ranked list for the Assistant Engineer (Civil) post in the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd (‘KSEBL’ for brevity). Their grievance is that despite the availability of substantial vacancies in the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil) in KSEBL, those vacancies are not reported to the PSC by the 1st respondent on the ground that restructuring measures are being initiated in the company.

2. Brief facts that need to be stated to resolve the issues raised in this writ petition are as follows:

a) The petitioners have been included in Ext. P1 rank list in the main list. The aforesaid rank list is stated to expire on 02.12.2023, as is evident from Ext.P2. It is stated that from Ext.P4 information obtained under the Right to Information Act, there are a total number of 330 sanctioned posts as on 01.02.2023 for the post of AE (Civil) in KSEBL, out of which 115 posts are occupied and 215 posts are vacant. The cadre strength of 330 is distributed in the ratio 4:1:3:2; 40% Degree quota (Open market), 10% in service quota (Degree), 30% Diploma quota, and 20% ITI quota. Accordingly, there would be 132 sanctioned posts in the category of AE (