The Kerala High Court has recently delivered a significant judgment affirming the legal authority of the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) to address historical reservation losses, even when qualified candidates from currently assigned communities are available. This ruling came as the court dismissed a petition challenging a decision by the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT).
Court Upholds Tribunal Decision on Reservation Conversion
A division bench comprising Justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S rejected the plea of a candidate from the Thiyya community. The petitioner had sought to overturn the KAT order that supported KPSC's action of converting a reservation turn originally meant for the Ezhava/Billava/Thiyya (E/B/T) community to the Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian (LC/AI) community.
The case centered on the appointment chart for the post of Medical Officer (Marma), where the petitioner argued that turn 28 in the reservation roster belonged to the E/B/T communities. However, KPSC converted this turn to compensate the LC/AI community for a vacancy lost decades ago, specifically in 1995.
Legal Reasoning Behind the Dismissal
In its detailed observation on January 31, the High Court emphasized the limitations of its supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution. The bench stated that such jurisdiction cannot be exercised merely to correct errors in lower court or tribunal orders, unless there is a grave dereliction of duty or flagrant abuse of fundamental legal principles.
The court outlined specific conditions for interference, including:
- Manifest error in the tribunal's decision
- Palpably perverse or patently unreasonable reasoning
- Gross and manifest failure of justice
- Violation of basic natural justice principles
Finding none of these conditions met in the current case, the court declined to intervene in the tribunal's ruling.
KPSC's Actions Deemed Legal and Proper
The High Court found that KPSC's actions were fully in accordance with established rules and procedures. The commission was not arbitrarily converting reservations but rather restoring a lost turn to its original community as mandated by the Kerala state and subordinate service rules.
These rules clearly authorize KPSC to compensate all pending, uncompensated turns of vacancies that were passed over due to non-availability of particular reserved communities as of February 2, 2006. The court noted that accepting the petitioner's contention would effectively continue the pre-amended system of passing over vacancies, which the current rules specifically aim to rectify.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, a Thiyya community candidate in the ranked list for Medical Officer (Marma), challenged KPSC's conversion of reservation turn 28 from E/B/T to LC/AI. According to the petitioner, this turn rightfully belonged to her community based on the reservation roster.
However, KPSC maintained that the conversion was necessary to compensate the LC/AI community for an incident in 1995 when an E/B/T candidate was appointed to a turn reserved for LC/AI candidates under the pre-amended rule 15 of the Kerala state and subordinate service rules.
The High Court's ruling reinforces KPSC's authority to implement compensatory measures for historical reservation losses, ensuring that communities receive their due representation in government appointments even when vacancies occurred decades earlier.
