The equivalence of educational qualifications granted by the Government applies to all relevant posts, ensuring fair consideration for applicants.

JUDGMENT

1. The petitioner is having educational qualification B. Com degree with Computer Application from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam district, Kerala. She passed out B. Com with Computer Application in Business in the year 2014. The degree certificate issued by the said University to the petitioner is placed on record as Exhibit P-2 in this writ petition. The petitioner was an applicant for the post of Lower Division Clerk (LDC) in the Kerala State Co-operative Coir Marketing Federation Limited (COIRFED) in pursuance to the notification in Exhibit P-1 issued by the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) on 30.10.2023.

2. The said notification prescribed the following qualifications for the post of LDC;

8. Qualifications:

1) Must have 3 years regular service in any cadre in the Member Societies affiliated to the Kerala State Co-operative Coir Marketing Limited. Candidates selected under this Category should be in service of the Member Society not only on the date of application but also on the date of appointment to the new post.

2) (A) A Degree in Commerce or Degree of a recognized University with Co-operation as Special Subject.

OR

(B) (i) B.A./B.Sc./B.Com. Degree (3 years) of a recognized University and

(ii) HDC or equivalent (HDC or equivalent of State Co- operative Union of Kerala or HDC/HDCM of the National Council for Co-operative Training) or Successful completion of the Subordinate (Junior) Personnel Co-operative Training Course (JDC).

OR

(C) B.Sc. (Co-operation and Banking) Degree of Kerala Agricultural University.

3) A Certificate in computer application/ Data entry issued by an institution recognized by Government of Kerala or Government of India.

Note appended to the said notification would state that Rule 10(a)(ii) of Part II KS & SSR shall be applicable for the said selection.

3. The petitioner’s application for the said post has been rejected on the ground that the petitioner does not possess the requisite qualification in Computer Application as mandated in the said notification in Exhibit P-1. The communication in Exhibit P-11 issued to the petitioner by the Secretary, KPSC stating the reasons for rejecting the petitioner’s application reads as under;

“Towards the appointment in Lower Division Clerk (Part II – Society Category) (Cat. No. 454/2023) (I NCA-Ezhava/Thiyya/Bilava) in Kerala State Co-operative Coir Marketing Federation Limited, the notification required two qualifications. Your request pertains to considering one qualification, i.e., BCom (Compute Application) instead of the two qualifications mentioned in the notification. The same is not acceptable under the Rules. In addition, the certificate submitted by Smt. Aswathykutty U in Computer Teacher’s Training issued by Netaji Compute and Vocational Training Centre cannot be accepted in lieu of a certificate issued by Kerala State or Central government-approved Institution. For the above-mentioned reasons, the application stands rejected. There are no further proceedings pending with regard to your complaint.”

4. The learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the said rejection of the application by the KPSC is wholly illegal and it is in violation of the Government Order dated 26.05.2012 wherein the Government itself has clarified that the qualification, B.Com with Computer Application would be considered as equivalent to or higher than Diploma in Computer Application qualification for selection to the post of Assistant in Government Secretariat, KPSC etc.

5. The submission of the learned Counsel for the petitioner that Rule 10(a)(ii) of Part II KS & SSR empowers the Government to lay down the equivalent qualifications and the Government, in exercise of the said power, has issued the Government Order dated 26.05.2012. Therefore, the rejection of the petitioner’s application on the ground of not having the certificate in Computer Application from the Government/Government recognized institution does not appear to be proper and justifiable. The petiti