An appeal of the Travancore Devaswom Board against the stay order of a single judge on its appointments for the posts of assistant professors in colleges under it was dismissed by a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday.
The single judge had earlier stayed the appointments on a petition that the board failed to provide reservation in appointments as contemplated under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and relevant government orders. The court had also directed the board to proceed with the recruitment after considering the reservation for people with disabilities.
However, the board continued to make appointments disregarding the government order. Taking note of the developments, the single judge, in a writ petition, had directed the board to refrain from continuing with the selection process. It had also directed that the selections already made by the board would be subject to the result of the writ petition.
In its appeal before the Division Bench, the board challenged the interim order of the single judge .
Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench consisting of Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C.P. Mohammed Nias noted that the single judge was correct in law to prevent further appointments during the pendency of the writ petition. There was also a prima facie finding that the action of the board, in proceeding with the selection, was in violation of the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and also the relevant government orders, the Bench noted.
The court also directed to relegate the matter to the single judge for consideration of the writ petition.
