JUDGMENT

This Writ Petition is submitted by the petitioner, who is appointed as HSST(Maths) in M.I. Higher Secondary School for Girls, Ponnani, Malappuram District. The petitioner's grievance concerns the denial of approval for the said post.

2. The facts which led to the filing of this Writ Petition are as follows:

2.1.The petitioner is a B.Sc Degree holder in Mathematics, which was obtained from Calicut University in April 1998. She holds a B.A.Degree in Mathematics from the University of Kerala in 1999. On the basis of the said qualifications, she was appointed as UPSA in M.I. Higher Secondary School. The said appointment was approved, and later, she was promoted to HSA (Maths) on 4.7.2011, as evidenced by Exhibit P1.

2.2. While working as HSA (Maths), the petitioner had undergone M.Sc Degree course conducted by the Annamalai University through Distance Education Board. The petitioner joined the said course for the batch 2007-2009. However, she could not successfully complete all the papers of the said course, as she failed to clear some of the subjects. Ultimately, the petitioner could successfully qualify for the post-graduation course only in the examination conducted during the month of May 2017, and the mark list dated 5.9.2017 issued in respect of the said examination is Ext.P9. On the basis of the same, the petitioner was issued with a degree certificate by the Annamalai University on 17.02.2018, which is Ext.P10.

2.3. While so, in one of the schools managed by the corporate agency of the school of the petitioner, a vacancy of HSST (Maths) arose on 1.4.2020. However, the petitioner did not stake any claim for the said post at the relevant time, as she had not completed 10 years of service to get qualified for the said post. Smt. Jamsheena M.C., who was working in the said school as an HST, had the said qualifications. However, as there was a general ban on account of the Covid-19 pandemic in making the appointment, the vacancy could not be filled up by the management. Later, on 15.7.2021, the Government issued Government order permitting the lifting of the ban and thereby permitting the appointments in the school. By that time, the petitioner had completed 10 years of service and, therefore, the petitioner raised a claim for the said post. As part of the same, the petitioner challenged the selection of Jamsheena M.C by filing WP(C)No.24869/2022 before this Court and this Court directed the 2nd respondent to consider the claim of the petitioner.

2.4. In compliance with the judgment, a hearing was conducted by the 2nd respondent and as per Ext.P11, the claim put forward by the petitioner was rejected, mainly on the reason that, as on the date of occurrence of the vacancy, the petitioner was not having the minimum service of 10 years. Another reason for rejecting the claim of the petitioner was that the postgraduate degree obtained by the petitioner from Annamalai University could not be recognized as the UGC had issued a notice to the effect that, after the academic year 2015-2016, the Annamalai University cannot offer any distance education course.

3. Later, another vacancy of HSST(Maths) arose in M.I.Higher Secondary School. The Manager promoted the petitioner to the said post by issuing Ext.P12 appointment order dated 25.8.2022. On the basis of Ext.P12, the petitioner joined duty on the same day and Ext.P13 is the certificate evidencing of the same. However, the approval of the said appointment has not been granted so far, presumably because of the reason that, there is already a finding in Ext.P11 to the effect that the postgraduate degree obtained by the petitioner is not a recognized one and thereby cannot be acted upon. According to the petitioner, she has all the qualifications and the postgraduate degree obtained by her from Annamalai University has been treated as equivalent to the M.Sc degree of the University of Calicut University as well as M.G. University. Exhibits P14 and P15 are the Equivalency Certificates