Karnataka HC Refuses Interim Waiver Of 10-Year Experience Rule For 53 Lecturers Seeking Principal Posts

The petitioners, Government Pre-University College lecturers, challenged before the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal the 2024 Cadre and Recruitment Rules insofar as they increased the experience required for in-service direct recruitment to Principal from five years to ten years.

The Tribunal rejected their application for interim relief seeking suspension of that requirement and permission to participate in the recruitment without it. The petitioners then sought relief under Articles 226 and 227, challenging the Tribunal’s interim order. The recruitment notification was issued on 3 September 2026, with 30 October 2026 as the application deadline.

Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution provide the basis for the High Court’s supervisory and writ jurisdiction.

The Court observed that prescription of qualifications for a post falls within the State’s domain, depending on the requirements of the post.

A rule is presumed valid unless and until it is declared otherwise; recruitment conducted in accordance with the prevailing Cadre and Recruitment Rules could therefore proceed while the challenge to those rules remained pending.

No precedent was cited.

The recruitment notification complied with the prevailing 2024 Rules, which required ten years’ experience. The petitioners’ challenge was to the validity of that requirement, including their contention that the increase from five to ten years lacked justification and excluded them from consideration.

The Court held that the requirement remained operative unless declared invalid and that its prescription was a matter for the State. It therefore found no basis to interfere with the Tribunal’s refusal of interim relief.

No interim permission to participate without the ten-year experience requirement was granted.