The Kerala High Court has restrained the six newly appointed members of the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights from functioning in their posts.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by Jasmine Alex from Kottayam challenging the appointment of T.B. Sureshkumar (Wayanad), N.Sreela Menon (Kozhikode), Syamala Devi (Kasaragod), M.P. Antony (Ernakulam), C.J. Antony (Kollam), and Biji Jose (Idukki).
The court on January 19, 2017 directed the government not to finalise the process initiated pursuant to a notification inviting applications for the posts of members for two months. It was later extended. Meanwhile, these new members had been appointed flouting the interim order, the petitioner said.
The explanation given by the government was that the extension of the interim order was not brought to the notice of the government by the Advocate General’s office. In an affidavit, the government also stated that the Supreme Court had issued a directive on April 5 to fill all the vacancies of members.
Refusing to accept the explanation, the court observed that the omission on the part of the office of the Advocate General in informing about the order was understandable. But, the same could not be the reason for making appointments flouting the interim order.
There were no impediments in correcting the mistakes when the interim order came to the notice of the government.