KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has held that a non-Keralite cannot claim community reservation in a pan-India selection process conducted by Kannur University. A division bench also set aside the selection of B Muhammed Ismail, a native of Karnataka, who secured first rank in the selection process for the post of associate professor in Information Technology in the Muslim category.
The court held that the candidature of the native of Karnataka in the reserved seat was impermissible and illegal. The bench directed the university to appoint the petitioner, Abdul Haleem P P of Malappuram, who got the second rank, within one month.
The bench issued the order on the appeal filed by Abdul Haleem of Pulikkal, challenging a single judge’s order upholding the appointment of Muhammed Ismail. The single judge had held that there was no bar for any applicant to submit an application and that there was no exclusion of non-Keralaites in the notification.
The petitioner argued that the application of Ismail could not have been entertained as he is a non-domicile hailing from the state of Karnataka and the principle of reservation envisaged under the provisions of the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules will not permit reservation in favour of non-domicile candidates.
The university justified Ismail’s selection saying that there was no bar for a candidate belonging to the Muslim community from any state of India to participate in the selection process.To this, the division bench said,
“We have no hesitation to hold that Muhammed Ismail was not entitled to stake his claim in a reserved seat on the basis of the certificate issued to him from the state of Karnataka.”
The High Court bench said the state’s right to provide reservation is unaffected by the regulations issued by the UGC which determines the qualifications for selection to a post which is binding on the universities.