DR. P. V. FRANCIS AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KERALA AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) - These two writ petitions have been ordered to be heard together as they were stated to raise certain common questions. At the hearing it was disclosed that O. P. No. 3764 of 19/6 has got nothing in common with the earlier writ petition of 1975. O. P. No. 3471 of 1915 The ten petitioners in this writ petition are employees in the various Government Medical Colleges in the State. When we refer to the Government Medical Colleges of the State, we exclude [the T. D. Medical College (Thirumala Devaswam Medical College) which was a private College at its inception, but was later taken over by the Government, and which now is also a full-fledged Government Medical College. The petition has described the position occupied by each one of the petitioners in the different Medical Colleges. The reliefs prayed for in the writ petition are :

(2.) The Thirumala Devaswam Medical College was, till 1967, a private College under the management of the Thirumala Devaswam Trust. The Government took over the management of the College for a period of five years from that date under the terms of an agreement executed by the Trust. Even before the expiry of the five year term, that is, 4-10-1972, the Government desired the Devaswam to assume possession of the properties. The Trust requested the Government to continue in management. The Government were advised that it is open to them to treat the properties belonging to the Trust as having vested in the Government from 17-10-1972, under the terms of the agreement and that the institution cannot be regarded as a minority institution entitled to rights under Art. 30(1) of the Constitution. The T. D. Medical College and its properties were accordingly declared to have become vested in the Government on and from 17-10-1972 under clause 7 of the Agreement of Trust, by Ext. PI G O. MS. 263/73/HD dated 23-10-1973. As part of the said G. O. certain specific orders regarding the set up of the service conditions of the staff were also issued. It was provided that the integration of the staff belonging to the T. D. Medical College and the Government Medical Colleges would be as on the vesting date, namely, 17-10-1972; that till the integration is finalised, the teaching and nonteaching staff existing on 16-10-1967 and these appointed during the period of Government management would he treated as a separate unit; that rules regarding appointment, promotion, transfer, which are in vogue in the Government Medical Colleges will he made applicable to the T. D Medical College, Alleppey, which will, for that purpose, be treated as an addition to the already existing Government Medical Colleges, subject to the condition that in the case of promotion to vacancies existing or arising in future in the T. D Medical College, Alleppey, till the integration of the staff is finalised, first preference will be given to T. D. Medical College staff, if they are fully qualified for promotion. If there are no qualified persons available among them, the vacancies may be filled up by the promotion from qualified staff in the Government Medical Colleges taken as a single unit. The T. D. Medical College have no claim for promotion or transfer to the vacancies in the other Government Medical Colleges till the integration was finalised.

(3.) To formulate the principles of integration in accordance with Ext. PI G. O - a high power Committee was constituted. The Committee made certain recommendations on the basis of which the Government issued orders by Ext P2 G O Ms 52/74/HD dated 19-2-19/4 in regard to the categories of teaching staff of the Medical Colleges Ext P2 G. O provided that the staff of the T. D. Medical College could be divided into four categories, one of which was those deputed from Government Medical Colleges. In regard to this, it was observed that there could be no question of integration. Discussing the principles of integration, with respect to the remaining categories, the Government agreed with the Committee that it would not be fair to effect integration on the basis of the usual procedure of taking into account only the date of appointment in the particular cadre It took due note of the service put in by the staff in the T. D. Medical College with the legitimate expectations raised for promotion and the need to satisfy these expectations and evolved certain principles set out in Ext. P2 as follows:-