IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. NITIN JAMDAR &

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.MANU TUESDAY, THE 18^TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2025 / 29TH MAGHA, 1946 WA NO. 1737 OF 2024 AGAINST THE JUDGMENT IN WP(C) NO.21014 OF 2022 OF HIGH COURT OF KERALA APPELLANT/S:

C. KRISHNANKUTTY NAIR AGED 65 YEARS S/O. CHELLAPPAN PILLAI, RESIDING AT SREEKRISHNA BHAVAN, KIZHAVOOR, MUKHATHALA P.O., KOLLAM, PIN -

691577 BY C. KRISHNANKUTTY NAIR(Party-In-Person)

RESPONDENT/S:

1 PRINCIPAL SECRETARY WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695001

2 WOMEN CHILD WELFARE DIRECTOR WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORATE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695012

3 N.SHANMUGHA DAS (DELETED)

KOCHU PANAYIL, VALATHUNGAL P.O, KOLLAM, PIN -

691011

4 ASHA DAS (DELETED)

LILLY BHAVAN, MATHILIL P.O, KOLLAM, PIN - 691601

5 AMBIKA SONI F (DELETED)

ST. CHARLES CONVENT, CHITTAYAM INCHAVILA P.O., KOLLAM, PIN - 691601

6 ASHWATHY VISWAN (DELETED)

ASHWATHY, VIKAS NAGAR-76, TKMC P.O., KARIKODE, KOLLAM, PIN - 691005

7 RENJANAA. R (DELETED)

RENUKA SADANAM, PERUMPUZHA P.O, KOLLAM, PIN –

695014. R3 TO R7 ARE DELETED FROM THE PARTY ARRAY AS PER ORDER DATED 7-1-2025 IN I.A.NO.1/2024 IN W.A NO.1737/2024.

8 ALAN M ALEXANDER SEENAY, VISHNATHUKAVU NAGAR-95 , THIRUMULLAVARAM P O, KOLLAM, PIN - 691012 BY ADV S.SREEKUMAR (KOLLAM)

OTHER PRESENT:

SRI V TEKCHAND, SR.GP THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON

18.02.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

C. R.

J U D G M E N T Dated this the 18^th day of February, 2025.

Nitin Jamdar, C. J.

The appointment to the post of member of the Child Welfare Committee, Kollam, is the subject matter of this appeal. The Appellant -the original Petitioner, filed a writ petition to challenge the appointment of Respondent No. 8 as a member of the Child Welfare Committee and for a prayer to appoint the Appellant as a member. The learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition. Hence, the Appellant filed this appeal under Section 5 of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958.

2. The Child Welfare Committee is constituted under Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (Act of 2015) for every district. This Committee consists of a Chairman and four other members. Exercising the powers under Section 110(1) of the Act of 2015, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 (Rules of 2016) have been framed by the Central Government. Chapter IV of the Rules of 2016 provides for the Child Welfare Committee. Rule 87 of the Rules of 2016 enables the State Government to constitute the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee consists of a retired judge of the High Court as the Chairperson to be appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned and a representative from the department as specified, representatives from non-governmental organisations, academic bodies, universities, etc. The State of Kerala, by notification dated 18 July 2017, has framed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Constitution of Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards (Kerala) Rules, 2017 (Rules of 2017), which provides for the constitution of the Committee, qualifications for the Chairperson and members of the Committee, and the tenure of the Committee.

3. By Exhibit-P2 notification dated 26 November 2021 issued by the Women and Child Development Department, applications were invited for appointment to the posts of the Chairperson and members of the Child Welfare Committees in 14 Districts in the State of Kerala. The notification states that as per the Act of 2015, applications are invited to appoint the Chairman and four members of the Child Welfare Committee each in 14 Districts of Kerala. The period of appointment was for three years.

4. The Appellant applied pursuant to Exhibit-P2 notification. Twenty-nine applications received were found to be eligible. Interviews were held on 22 March 2022. The Appellant participated i