KDRB cannot select candidates for appointment to Guruvayoor Devaswom: Kerala HC

Kochi, Jan 9 (PTI) The High Court here on Friday held that the Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board can no longer prepare the list of candidates to be appointed to various posts in the Guruvayoor Devaswom and aided

educational institutions under it.

A bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Syam Kumar V M declared as unconstitutional section 9 of the KDRB Act which empowered the recruitment board to prepare the list of candidates for appointment to the Guruvayoor Devaswom and institutions under it.

The bench said, “Henceforth, the KDRB shall not conduct any selection proceedings for appointments to various posts”.

“Any appointments already made by the KDRB shall remain undisturbed. The Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee shall initiate the appointment process afresh by issuing notifications inviting applications for various posts, in accordance with law forthwith.” To manage the transition and avoid administrative difficulties, the court constituted an independent committee to ensure a “free, fair, and transparent” selection process and to supervise and oversee the recruitment process undertaken in accordance with section 19 of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Act 1978.

The court said that section 19 of the 1978 Act expressly vests the statutory power of appointment of officers and employees in the Managing Committee.

“The Special Committee would supervise and control the process right from beginning till end,” it ordered.

It said that the three-member special panel shall comprise of Justice P N Ravindran (Retd.), who shall head it, the Administrator of the Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee, and advocate K Anand as a Member.

“The tenure of the Special Committee constituted to supervise and control the appointment process shall be for a period of one year,” it said.

The order came on an appeal by the Guruvayoor Devaswom Employees Union Congress, represented by senior advocate K Jaju Babu, challenging the May 30, 2025 order of a single judge who dismissed their petition seeking setting aside of section 9 of the KDRB Act.

Allowing the appeal, the bench said that under the constitutional framework governing conflict resolution and judicial precedent, section 19 of the Act of 1978 is the stronger provision and would prevail, thereby rendering section 9 of the KDRB Act “inoperative”.

“Accordingly, section 9 of the KDRB Act is struck down,” it held.

The bench also ordered that a copy of the judgement be forwarded to the Chief Secretary, Kerala government, for information and necessary action”. PTI HMP ADB