Kerala Service Rules retirement age governs allotted employee; unexercised option and prior cases did not justify service till 58.

An allottee to Kerala was governed by the Kerala Service Rules under Rule 2 Part I and could not claim service up to 58 years on the basis of an unexercised option to remain under the Madras rules. Rule 60 Part I fixed the retirement age at 55 years, and the earlier decisions cited were distinguishable because they involved employees who were not originally allotted to Kerala and had not been given a real opportunity to opt. The Court noted that any extension of service on policy grounds was for the Government, not for judicial direction, and the petitioner was held not entitled to continue in service up to 58 years.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, being an allottee to the State of Kerala and bound by the Kerala Service Rules, could claim continued service up to 58 years by relying on an unexercised option or on earlier decisions concerning differently placed employees.

Analysis: The petitioner had been allotted to Kerala on reorganization and, under Rule 2 Part I of the Kerala Service Rules, was governed by those Rules. He had not exercised the option contemplated by the relevant governmental orders to remain under the Madras rules. Rule 60 Part I of the Kerala Service Rules fixed the age of retirement at 55 years. The earlier decisions relied on concerned a different class of employees who were not originally allotted to Kerala and were later treated as allottees, and those decisions turned on the absence of a real opportunity to exercise an option. That reasoning did not apply to an allotted employee who was already governed by the Kerala Service Rules. The question of extending service on policy grounds was held to be for the Government, not for judicial direction.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to continue in service up to 58 years, and the Original Petition failed.

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