Kerala High Court Restrains Kannur University From Approving Appointment Of General Category Candidate To PwD Reserved Post In College

The Kerala High Court recently directed Kannur University to refrain from granting approval to the appointment of a general category candidate made by the Manager of Nehru Arts and Science College, on a post reserved for physically disabled candidates. 

Justice T.R. Ravi issued the interim direction, and sought the response of the respondents in the matter. 

The Court was seized with the plea of a visually impaired candidate with 60% disability in both eyes, who holds the requisite qualifications for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor in the Department of English, as per the UGC Regulations. 

The petitioner was aggrieved by the Manager of the College in conducting selection and appointment to the post of Assistant Professor in the English Department, by allegedly ignoring the orders issued by the State authorities regarding reservation of posts for persons with disabilities, and subsequently, appointing a general category candidate to the said post. 

The petitioner averred that the Principal Secretary, Social Justice Department of the State, had issued an order extending the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights, and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, to all educational institutions getting Government Aid. It had accordingly directed concerned Administrative Departments to give instructions to appointing authorities of aided institutions to 3% reservation for persons with disabilities in aided schools and aided colleges, and to fill the backlog vacancies from February 1996 to April 2017, as per the Act, 1995. 

The petitioner submitted that as per a subsequent order issued by the State Government in October 2019, reservations for persons with disabilities in all Government Establishments were increased to 4%. Additionally, he averred that when the orders were challenged before the High Court, the Court had issued an order directing Managers of all private aided colleges to include provision for reservation of persons with disabilities in the notification inviting applications for filling posts identified suitable in their colleges. 

He added that vide another G.O. dated May 2022, guidelines were issued for implementing reservations for persons with disabilities in private aided colleges. 

The petitioner thus contended that the College ought not to have appointed the 8th respondent in violation of the mandates of the aforementioned Government Orders. 

"The 7th respondent (Manager of the College) could have carried out appointments in the general category only after filling such backlog reservation for PwD category. The vacancy of Assistant Professor in English which was the first post to be filled after the issuance of the Ext. P7 order (G.O. dated May 2022)should have been reserved for persons with disabilities category and filled accordingly," the plea states. 

The matter has been posted for further consideration on a later date. 

The plea has been moved through Advocate Isaac Kuruvilla Illikal. 

Case Title: Jose Babu v. State of Kerala & Ors. 

Case Number: W.P.(C) 38159 OF 2023 (T) 

Click Here To Read/Download The Order