Kerala High Court
Manoj.J vs State Of Kerala on 6 January, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.NAGARESH
WEDNESDAY, THE 06TH DAY OF JANUARY 2020/16TH POUSHA, 1942
WP(C).No.23288 OF 2020(I)
PETITIONERS:
1 MANOJ.J,
AGED 43 YEARS,
ASSISTANT ENGINEER,
JnNURM(JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL URBAN
RENEWAL MISSION) PROJECT CIRCLE,
KERALA WATER AUTHORITY,
KOCHI-11.
2 SREEHARI.S,
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,
KERALA WATER AUTHORITY,
PROJECT DIVISION, CHITTUR,
PALAKKAD-678101.
3 MANOJKUMAR.K,
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,
WATER SUPPLY PROJECT DIVISION,
PALAKKAD.
4 JONA T.J.,
ASSISTANT ENGINEER,
KERALA WATER AUTHORITY,
W.W.SECTION NO.II,
THRISSUR-680020.
5 SHAJILA.A.S.,
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,
KERALA WATER AUTHORITY,
W.S.P SUB DIVISION,
PALA, KOTTAYAM-686575.
BY ADVS.
SRI.KALEESWARAM RAJ
SRI.VARUN C.VIJAY
KUM.A.ARUNA
KUM.THULASI K. RAJ
SMT.MAITREYI SACHIDANANDA HEGDE
WP(C) No.23288/2020
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RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS:
1 STATE OF KERALA,
REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT,
DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION,
SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695001.
2 DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION,
DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION,
PADMAVILASAM RD, FORT, NALUMUKKU,
PAZHAVANGADI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
KERALA-695023.
3 KERALA WATER AUTHORITY,
REPRESENTED BY THE CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING
DIRECTOR, KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, JALABHAVAN,
VELLAYAMBALAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695033.
4 CHIEF ENGINEER (HRD AND GL),
KERALA WATER AUTHORITY, JALABHAVAN,
VELLAYAMBALAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695033.
5 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL,
ENGINEERING COLLEGE P.O., SREEKARYAM,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695016.
6 GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE,
THRISSUR, REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL,
THRISSUR-680009.
R3-4 BY ADV. SMT.MARY BENJEMIN
R1,2,5&6 SPL. GOVT. PLEADER SRI. M.A.ASIF
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD
ON 06-01-2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
WP(C) No.23288/2020
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N. NAGARESH, J.
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W.P.(C) No.23288 of 2020
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Dated this the 6th day of January, 2021
JUDGMENT
~~~~~~~~~
The petitioners, who are Assistant Engineers and
Assistant Executive Engineers working under the Kerala
Water Authority, are aggrieved by non-allotment of seats for
Post-Graduation Courses set apart for the sponsored
employees of Kerala Water Authority in the College of
Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. The petitioners seek the
following reliefs:-
"i) To issue a writ of certiorari quashing Ext.P9
allotment list to the extent to which it does not allot 2
seats for M.Tech in Environmental Engineering to the
petitioner nos.3 and 5 and for M.Tech in Structural
Engineering to the petitioner no.2 in the College of
Engineering Thiruvananthapuram under the
sponsored candidates' quota working in the Kerala
Water Authority;
ii) To issue a writ of certiorari quashing Ext.P10 as
unjust, illegal and arbitrary;
WP(C) No.23288/2020
iii) To declare that the petitioners together are
entitled to get admission for 5 seats of M.Tech in total,
3 in the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram
and 2 in Government Engineering college, Thrissur
giving the benefit of Ext.P1 and Ext.P1(a) G.O.s
respectively under the sponsored candidates' quota
working in the Kerala Water Authority.
iv) To issue a writ of mandamus directing the first
and second respondents to revoke the allotments of
seats granted by denying the seats which are due to
the petitioners on account of Ext.P1;
v) To issue a writ of mandamus directing the first
and second respondents to rework Ext.P9 and to allot
5 seats of M.Tech in total, 3 in the College of
Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram and 2 in
Government Engineering College, Thrissur giving the
benefit of Ext.P1 and Ext.P1(a) G.O.s respectively
under the sponsored candidates' quota working in the
Kerala Water Authority."
2. The petitioners state that the 1st and 4th petitioner
are working as Assistant Engineers and petitioners 2, 3 and 5
are working as Assistant Executive Officers under the Kerala
Water Authority(KWA). According to the petitioners, each
year a maximum of 5 candidates are sponsored by the KWA
for undergoing Post-Graduate studies in Engineering. In the
College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET), two
seats of M.Tech are set apart in the branch of Environmental
Engineering and one seat in the branch of Structural
WP(C) No.23288/2020
Engineering. In the Government Engineering College,
Thrissur, two seats are set apart in the branch of
Environmental Engineering.
3. The petitioners state that the three seats in CET
were set apart pursuant to Ext.P1 Government of Kerala,
Public Health Engineering Department proceedings. Ext.P1
was issued before the formation of KWA, when the functions
now discharged by the KWA were being discharged by Public
Health Engineering Department of the Government of Kerala.
The two seats in Government Engineering College, Thrissur
were allocated to KWA pursuant to Ext.P1(a) Government
Order dated 28.12.2007.
4. The petitioners applied for sponsorship to pursue
the Post Graduation Course for the years 2020-'22. The KWA
issued Exts.P2 to P6 sponsorship certificates in favour of the
petitioners. The KWA forwarded Ext.P7 letter also to the 2 nd
respondent-Director of Technical Education along with a list of
candidates who are selected for admission to M.Tech Course
in Civil Engineering for the years 2020-'22 under the
WP(C) No.23288/2020
sponsorship quota of the KWA. The name of the petitioners
are included in Ext.P7. The petitioners' names were included
in Ext.P8 rank list also.
5. However, to the surprise of the petitioners, in the
first allotment list made by the 2 nd respondent for admission
made on 23.10.2020, petitioners 2, 3 and 5 were denied
allotments and only petitioners 1 and 4 were allotted seats in
Government Engineering College, Thrissur. Ext.P9 allotment
list is challenged by the petitioners. On enquiry, the petitioners
learnt that no allotment was made in respect of the three
seats in CET on the ground that Ext.P1 proceedings of the
Government of the year 1977 was with respect to reserving
seats for candidates working in the Public Health Engineering
Department and would not apply to employees working under
the KWA.
6. The petitioners would submit that KWA came into
existence in the year 1986 under the Kerala Water Supply
and Sewerage Act, 1986. All the benefits available to the
employees of the Public Health Engineering Department were
WP(C) No.23288/2020
extended to the employees recruited/deputed in the Kerala
Water Authority. Till the year 2019, the 2 nd respondent was
allotting seats to the sponsored candidates of the KWA
without any objection, as is evidenced by Exts.P11 and P12.
After adopting and following Ext.P1 proceedings from 1977 to
2019, the 2nd respondent is estopped from denying the
applicability of the same to the Kerala Water Authority. In the
circumstances, Exts.P9 and P10 are liable to be quashed and
the petitioners are entitled to get admission for five seats of
M.Tech, three in the CET and two in the Government
Engineering College, Thrissur.
7. The 2nd respondent resisted the writ petition filing a
statement. The 2nd respondent stated that admission to M.
Tech Courses are governed by the prospectus approved by
the Government of Kerala. In Annexure-1 Prospectus, there
is no provision for reservation for any sponsored candidates.
Clause VIII(g) of the prospectus states that sponsored
candidates, if any, will be admitted as per the relevant
Government Orders. The 2nd respondent stated that Ext.P1 is
WP(C) No.23288/2020
not a Government Order prescribing reservation to Engineers
of the Public Health Engineering Department/KWA. Ext.P1 is
an order which permits the employees of erstwhile Public
Health Engineering Department to avail the benefit of the
Government Order and treat such period of studies as
deputation. It only means that if got selected, such
candidates will be treated as on duty during the period of
studies and training and salary will be paid to them treating
them as on deputation.
8. According to the 2nd respondent, Ext.P1 only
means that if employees of Public Health Engineering
Department get sponsored for admission on their merits for
M.Tech Course at CET in Environmental or Structural
Engineering Courses, their studies can be treated as
deputation for service benefits and nothing beyond that. The
2nd respondent would further contend that if the claim of the
petitioners is allowed, the total reservation for sponsored
candidates would come to 22% which when added to
statutory/special reservations, would make the total
WP(C) No.23288/2020
reservation 67%.
9. The 2nd respondent further pointed out that working
professionals are getting opportunity to undergo their PG
studies as an evening M.Tech programme. At present, most
of the seats in the evening M. Tech programmes are vacant
due to insufficient applications. Admission for M.Tech
courses in each academic year is distinct and is governed by
the prospectus approved by the Government for that year.
The 2nd respondent conceded that reservations which were
granted on the basis of Ext.P1 during the previous academic
years were on a wrong understanding of Ext.P1.
10. The learned counsel for the petitioners argued that
the employees of the KWA were enjoying the benefit of
reservation of five seats in M.Tech pursuant to the orders
issued by the Government from 1977 to 2019. Now, by
Ext.P10 Order, reservation has been reduced and confined to
2 seats. As the KWA was formed for the purpose of
discharging the functions of Public Health Engineering
Department, the benefit of reservation provided to the
WP(C) No.23288/2020
erstwhile PHED was made available to employees of KWA.
This was an accepted practice and continued for a
considerably long time since the year 1977.
11. Relying on the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court
in M.P. Oil Extraction and another v. State of M.P. and
others [(1997) 7 SCC 592], the learned counsel for the
petitioners argued that the doctrine of long past practice would
come into play in the case of the petitioners and the
respondents are compellable to follow a practice continued for
considerably long period. The learned counsel for the
petitioners relied on the judgment of the Apex Court in M.G.B.
Gramin Bank v. Chakrawarti Singh [AIR 2013 SC 3365] and
the judgment in Manuelsons Hotels Private Limited (M/s.)
v. State of Kerala and others [2016 (3) KHC 206]. The
learned counsel for the petitioners also relied on Ext.P17 to
point out that sponsorship of candidates are contemplated by
the prospectus.
12. The learned Government Pleader, on the other
hand, argued that Ext.P1 envisages only deputation of
WP(C) No.23288/2020
employees and does not contemplate any reservation in
educational institutions. Ext.P1 would only show that if the
employees of PHED get admission to the said educational
institutions on their own, they can be deputed for studies. The
learned Government pleader further argued that reservation in
higher educational institutions can be made only by the
Department of Higher Education and not by any other
Department. The ranked list given by the KWA cannot be
treated as allotment letters. The learned Government pleader,
relying on the judgments of the Apex Court in Rajasthan
State Industrial Development and others v. Subhash
Sindhi Cooperative Housing Society Jaipur and others
[(2013) 5 SCC 427] and Bondu Ramaswamy and others v.
Bangalore Development Authority and others [(2010) 7
SCC 129] argued that even if an error is committed by the
government and continued for some time, such error cannot
be carried on indefinitely. The petitioners, by no stretch of
imagination, can have a right founded on an error committed
by the respondents.
WP(C) No.23288/2020
13. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and
learned Government pleader appearing for respondents.
14. The specific case of the petitioners is that three
seats are reserved for employees of PHED/KWA in the CET
and two seats are reserved in Government Engineering
College, Thrissur. To establish this point, the petitioners rely
on Ext.P1 order of the Public Health Engineering Department
issued in the year 1977. A plain reading of Ext.P1 would
show that the said Government Order provides only
deputation of employees of Public Health Engineering
Department for higher studies. It does not speak of or create
reservation of seats in the College of Engineering
Thiruvananthapuram.
15. Furthermore, the specific stand of the Government
of Kerala is that as of now any reservation/quota in courses of
higher education can be made only by the Higher Education
Department. It is also an admitted position that the prospectus
for admission does not contemplate such quota or
reservation for KWA employees in five seats, as claimed by
WP(C) No.23288/2020
the petitioners. If the practice of allotting employees of KWA
to the CET, Thiruvananthapuram was in vogue during earlier
years, it can only be treated as an erroneous practice. Such
an error committed by the Authorities cannot vest a
corresponding right on the petitioners under the doctrine of
long past practice or under the doctrine of estoppel.
This Court therefore finds that the writ petition filed
by the petitioners is without any merit and it is therefore
dismissed. It is made clear that respondents 2 and 3 will be
at liberty to pursue their claim for allotment in Government
Engineering College, Thrissur in accordance with law, if they
are otherwise eligible in all respects.
Sd/-
N. NAGARESH, JUDGE
aks/22.12.2020
WP(C) No.23288/2020
APPENDIX
PETITIONERS' EXHIBITS:
EXHIBIT P1 TRUE TYPED COPY OF G.O(MS)NO.332/
77/LWSD DATED 18.11.1977.
EXHIBIT P1(A) TRUE COPY OF G.O(RT)NO.2137/2017/H.EDN
DATED 28.12.2017.
EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE SPONSORSHIP
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE 1ST
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE SPONSORSHIP
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE 2ND
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE SPONSORSHIP
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE 3RD
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE SPONSORSHIP
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE 4TH
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE SPONSORSHIP
CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE 5TH
PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P7 TRUE COPY OF LETTER NO.8464/AE1/
(TC)/2020/KWA DATED 15.10.2020 ISSUED
BY THE 4TH RESPONDENT TO THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P8 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
RANKED LIST FOR ADMISSION TO
M.TECH/M.ARCH/PLANNING DEGREE COURSES
2020 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P9 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF
RANKED LIST OF THE 1ST ALLOTMENT FOR
ADMISSION TO M.TECH DEGREE COURSES IN
THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.
WP(C) No.23288/2020
EXHIBIT P10 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER
NO.T2/24269/2020/DTE DATED 23.10.2020.
EXHIBIT P11 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER NO.KWA/HO/TRG-
1/95/2015-16 DATED 10.06.2015.
EXHIBIT P12 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER NO.KW/HO/TRG-
1/2019-20 DATED 22.06.2019.
EXHIBIT P13 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER
NO.8464/HEL/TC/2020/KWA DATED
26.10.2020 ISSUED BY THE 4TH
RESPONDENT TO THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P14 TRUE COPY OF THE DETAILS OF THE
PROCESS OF ADMISSION ISSUED BY THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P15 TRUE COPY OF THE ADMISSION MEMO ISSUED
TO THE 1ST PETITIONER ON 22/10/2020
ISSUED BY 2ND RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P16 TRUE COPY OF THE ADMISSION MEMO ISSUED
TO THE 4TH PETITIONER ON 22/10/2020
ISSUED BY 2ND RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P17 TRUE COPY OF G.O.(MS) NO.235/2020/
H.EDN DATED 26/06/2020, PROPECTUS FOR
ADMISSION TO P.G.DEGREE COURT FOR
ENGINEERING FOR THE YEAR 2020-2021.
EXHIBIT P18 TRUE COPY OF THE ADMISSION MEMO DATED
17/07/2019 ISSUED TO AL SHAINY S DEEN
BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P19 TRUE COPY OF THE LIST OF CANDIDATES
WHO FAILED TO PAY THE FEES WITHIN THE
STIPULATED TIME DOWNLOADED FROM THE
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
RESPONDENTS' EXHIBITS:
ANNEXURE-I TRUE COPY OF THE PROSPECTUS ISSUED FOR
THE ADMISSION TO M.TECH COURSES FOR
THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-21.
WP(C) No.23288/2020
ANNEXURE-II TRUE COPY OF THE G.O.(Rt.)
No.1875/93/H.Edn DATED 08-12-1993.
ANNEXURE-III TRUE COPY OF THE G.O.(Rt)
No.1259/94/H.Edn DATED 16-08-1994.
ANNEXURE-IV TRUE COPY OF THE G.O.(Rt.)
No.595/2014/H.Edn DATED 19-03-2014.
