BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court upheld the Karnataka Housing Board (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Rules, 2022, which permitted diploma-holder assistant executive engineers also to compete for elevation to the cadre of executive engineer.
“Merely because degree-holders and diploma-holders were treated differently in the past does not create an immutable constitutional mandate that they must forever continue to be so treated,” the court observed.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order dismissing the petitions filed by Vijay Shankar Deshinge and others questioning the legality of the notification dated June 1, 2022, issued by the state to give effect to the Rules, 2022, for being devoid of merits. The impugned amendment heralds a significant departure from the existing service structure by carving out, for the first time, a promotional avenue enabling diploma-holder engineers to ascend to the cadre of executive engineer.
The petitioners, who joined the service of the Board as assistant engineers in 2010, by dint of merit and experience, earned promotion to the cadre of assistant executive engineers with effect from 2021; subsequently, they are eligible for the higher cadre of executive engineer.
However, the amendment of 2022 dismantled the hitherto prevailing scheme by creating an altogether new promotional channel, permitting diploma-holder assistant executive engineers also to compete for elevation to the cadre of executive engineer.
The petitioners submitted a series of representations to the authorities of the state, asserting that the creation of such a promotional avenue was contrary to the settled service structure governing engineering establishments, but they remained unanswered.