Judgment :- Kurian Joseph, J. Does the procedure presently followed by the Kerala Public Service Commission in the matter of application of R.15(c), with particular reference to forfeited turns, under the Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules (hereinafter referred to as 'the K.S.& S.S.R) fit in with the logical intendment of such statutory provision is the question that is raised in the Original Petition. 2. For a proper understanding of the legal provision it is necessary to extract R.15 of the K.S.& S.S.R. as such. "15(a). the integrated cycle combining the rotation in clause (c) of R.14 and the sub rotation in sub-r.(2) of R.17 shall be as specified in the Annexure to this Part. If a suitable candidate is not available for selection from any particular community or group of communities specified in the Annexure, the said community or group shall be passed over and the post shall be filled up by a suitable candidate from the community or group of communities immediately next to the passed over community or group in the said Annexure in the order of rotation. If no suitable candidate is available for selection in any of the above communities or group of communities, selection shall be made from open competition candidates. (b) If a suitable candidate is not available for selection from the group of communities classified as 'Scheduled Castes' in the turn allotted for such a group in the Annexure the said group shall be passed over and the post shall be filled up by a suitable candidate from the group of communities classified as "Scheduled Tribes" and vice-versa. If no suitable candidate is available for selection in any of the two groups classified as "Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes" selection shall be made from among the communities immediately next to the group of communities entitled to be appointed according to the turn allotted in the Annexure in the order of rotation. If no suitable candidate is available for selection in any of the communities or group of communities selection shall be made from open competition candidates. (c) The benefit of the turn forfeited to a particular community or to a group of community by reason of it being passed over under sub-rr. If no suitable candidate is available for selection in any of the communities or group of communities selection shall be made from open competition candidates. (c) The benefit of the turn forfeited to a particular community or to a group of community by reason of it being passed over under sub-rr. (a) and (b) shall be restored to it, at the earliest possible opportunity, if a suitable candidate from that particular community or group is available for selection by making adjustment against the claims of the particular community or group that derived the extra benefit by reason of such passing over: Provided that in no year reservations including carrying forward vacancies to a category of post shall exceed 50% of the total number of vacancies for which selection by direct recruitment to that category is resorted to in that year. Provided also that the said right of restoration shall not extend to a case where the selection has gone to an open competition candidate. Note:- For purposes of application of the proviso limiting the number of vacancies to be reserved in a year as 50 per cent in respect of recruitment to a category of post, the period of one year shall commence on and from the day on which the ranked list of candidates prepared by the Commission in respect of that post comes into force; Provided that in regard to ranked lists brought into force prior to 13.6.1975 and remaining valid the year of reservation shall continue to be one year from the 15th June, 1974." On a close reading of the said rule one has to reach at the following conclusions: (i) if a candidate is not available in the ranked list for selection from any particular community or group of communities in the integrated cycle, the community or group should be passed over and the post should be filled up by another candidate immediately following the passed over community in the order of rotation. (ii) If no suitable candidate is available in such an exercise, then the selection shall be made from open competition candidates, (iii) In the case of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes an attempt should be made first to find out the alternate from those communities and then alone the benefit of pass over should be extended to other reserved communities. (ii) If no suitable candidate is available in such an exercise, then the selection shall be made from open competition candidates, (iii) In the case of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes an attempt should be made first to find out the alternate from those communities and then alone the benefit of pass over should be extended to other reserved communities. (iv) The benefit lost to a particular community consequent on the pass over should be resorted to it at the earliest possible opportunity. (v) As and when a suitable candidate from a community, i.e., passed over, is available selection should be made from that community by making adjustment against the claims of a particular community or group that derived the extra benefit by reason of such pass over. 3. What is actually the real meaning and purport of the expression 'at the earliest possible opportunity' and 'by making adjustment against the claims of a particular community or group that derived the extra benefit' is to be considered in the Original Petition. Such an understanding can be made only on a proper appreciation of the facts involved in the case. 4. The Public Service Commission invited applications for the post of Lecturer in Electronics and Communication Engineering (Engineering Colleges) in the Technical Education Department. Ext. P1 is the rank list published on 23.7.1999. Petitioner is assigned rank No. 74. He belongs to OX (Other Christian). According to the Public Service Commission 22 candidates have been advised, but not the petitioner. In the cycle of hundred point turns the previous rotation ended at 56 and the rotation has now to be started from 57, open competition. Of the hundred point turns there is only one turn for OX, that is 48 and one for Dheevara, that is 50. As is discernible from the 'compensation register' turn No. 48 OX was passed over on 2.4.1991 as no candidate from OX community was available for recruitment against the said turn at that time. Hence the benefit was accrued to the next community in the order of rotation, namely at turn 50 Dheevara. Subsequently when the turn of Dheevara reached at turn 50 there was no candidate available from either OX or from Dheevara in the previous list and hence the turn was passed over to the next community in the order of rotation and the benefit accrued to the Ezhava Community. Subsequently when the turn of Dheevara reached at turn 50 there was no candidate available from either OX or from Dheevara in the previous list and hence the turn was passed over to the next community in the order of rotation and the benefit accrued to the Ezhava Community. That is the story as far as the previous list is concerned. Under Ext. P1 present rank list the turn starts at 57 and it went to open competition. Turn 58 is Ezhava. Since turn 58 Ezhava had already derived the benefit of pass over of the turn of Dheevara at 50, according to the Public Service Commission, the community that had to be compensated was Dheevara and hence the additional third respondent who belongs to Dheevara community was appointed. That is under challenge in the Original Petition. 5. It is the contention of the petitioner that the loss actually meted out in the hundred point cycle is to the OX community and that benefit having accrued on the Dheevara community in the same hundred point cycle, the benefit of pass over now given to Dheevara community at turn 50 is unjustifiable. The learned counsel would submit that the principle is no more res Integra since the question is decided in the Bench decision of this Court in Cochin University of Science & Technology v. Mohammed Aslam, 1996 (1) KLT 214. The facts of that case is available at paragraph 2 of the said judgment. It was a case regarding filling up one vacancy of Lecturer in Commerce in Cochin University, where the turn was that of Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian. "But the compensation register shows that the Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian community got extra benefits from Ezhavas, Thiyyas and Billavas; so the place has to go to that group. It so happened that Ezhavas, Thiyyas and Billavas had on earlier occasions derived extra benefits from Muslim community for want of qualified candidates belonging to Muslim community. "But the compensation register shows that the Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian community got extra benefits from Ezhavas, Thiyyas and Billavas; so the place has to go to that group. It so happened that Ezhavas, Thiyyas and Billavas had on earlier occasions derived extra benefits from Muslim community for want of qualified candidates belonging to Muslim community. Under such circumstances, petitioner candidate belonging to Muslim community approached this Court for getting the post filled up by a qualified candidate from among Muslims." In the said decision it was held after elaborately considering the statutory provisions contained in Rr.14 to 17 of the K.S.& S.S.R. thus: "At a particular point of time, if a suitable candidate is not available from a community as per the turn fixed by rules, that community should not lose that vacancy forever. At the earliest opportunity that community must get back the benefit from those communities which secured the extra benefit. In other words, the extra benefit that has been obtained by one community has to be surrendered to the community which lost the same at the earliest opportunity." Hence on the facts of the case the relief was moulded as follows: "It is seen that on previous occasions, the Muslim community forfeited their turn in favour of Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian and Ezhavas. That loss must be made good at the earliest possible opportunity. In the instant case, when it is admitted that candidates belonging to Ezhava community got additional benefit on account of the absence of qualified candidates belonging to Muslim community, the benefit that falls to Ezhava community on account of the absence of candidates in the Latin Catholic/Anglo Indian community must be passed on to the candidates belonging to the Muslim community." Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the very same principle squarely applies in the instant case also. 6. Learned counsel appearing for the additional third respondent however submits that once a turn is lost and the benefit is passed on to another community, the compensation of the turn lost can be made only against the turn of the community which derived the benefit. In other words, to understand the argument in the background of the instant case the contention is that the turn lost by OX is 48 and the benefit derived by Dheevara is turn 50. That turn 50 also was passed over and it went to Ezhava in turn 54. In other words, to understand the argument in the background of the instant case the contention is that the turn lost by OX is 48 and the benefit derived by Dheevara is turn 50. That turn 50 also was passed over and it went to Ezhava in turn 54. So the adjustment of extra benefit accrued to Ezhava community has to be compensated and that compensation is only against turn 50 Dheevara, on whose pass over Ezhava community is benefited. On a question put to the learned counsel as to when the OX community would put the compensation in terms of the rule position "at the earliest" it is submitted that OX community would have to wait in the next hundred point cycle and upto turn 50 of Dheevara. I am afraid, that is not the actual intention of the rule. Had it been so, there would not have been any relevance for a provision for compensating the opportunity lost to a particular community "by making adjustment against the claims of a particular community or group that derived the extra benefit by reason of such passing over", (emphasis supplied). Evidently it is the Dheevara community which derived the extra benefit of the passing over of turn 48. That community cannot again get the passing over benefit for the only reason that at its original turn of 50 there was no Dheerava community available and it went to Ezhava. It may bee seen that when once a turn is passed over and the benefit is accrued to that community, that community ceases to have a claim for another opportunity in the turn unless provided in the turn because that turn is meant for compensation. In other words once a claim for a community in the cycle is satisfied, then the original turn of that community is to be applied for compensation. It may be seen that in a hundred point cycle the rule contemplates that there could be one post of Dheevara and that is admittedly filled by passing over, whereas the one post contemplated for OX in the hundred point cycle is not filled up. It may not be seen from the facts of the instant case that the time lag between turns 48 and 57 is almost ten years. It may not be seen from the facts of the instant case that the time lag between turns 48 and 57 is almost ten years. If that be so, one could imagine what would be the period required for another hundred turns so as to come back to turn 50 in the next hundred point cycle and compensate the OX Community. Certainly such an interpretation is absolutely unreasonable. 7. It is significant in this context to note the stand of the Public Service Commission as is discernible from its counter affidavit dated 3.12.1999. On the interpretation of R.15(c) it is stated as follows: "As per R.15(c) of the General Rules, the turn of the community which was passed over to the next community in the order of rotation should be compensated at the earliest opportunity by making necessary adjustment in the turn of the community which got the extra benefit. Hence from the present ranked list, the turns of Dheevara and O.X. communities have to be got compensated in the present selection by making adjustment against the claims of Ezhava and Dheevara communities respectively, which derived extra benefit in the previous selection as per R.15(c) of the K.S.& S.S.R." One fails to understand how inspite of having correctly understood the principle behind R.15(c) the Public Service Commission ventures to make a somersault and contend thus: "Specific turns in the integrated cycle of rotation are allotted for each community entitled for reservation. Therefore, the turns allotted to a particular community in the integrated cycle of rotation is in fact the claim of that particular community. Apparently, the position under sub-r.(c) of R.15 is that the restoration of benefit to a passed over community is to be made, rather possible, only against the claim, ie., the turn in the cycle of rotation which denotes the claim of the community which derived the extra benefit. The extra benefit derived by a community under sub-rr. (a) and (b) of R.15, which is to be compensated under sub¬r.(c) is not at all the claim of the community which derived extra benefit with reference to the integrated cycle of the rotation. Also the rules do not contemplate any adjustment among the passed over communities for purposes of restoration of benefit". (a) and (b) of R.15, which is to be compensated under sub¬r.(c) is not at all the claim of the community which derived extra benefit with reference to the integrated cycle of the rotation. Also the rules do not contemplate any adjustment among the passed over communities for purposes of restoration of benefit". On the point of application it is the contention of the Public Service Commission that the adjustment can be made only against the turn passed over, in the instant case the Ezhava got the benefit of Dheevara, and hence the turn of Ezhava should go to Dheevara. The Public Service Commission should have understood the prudent reasoning behind the statutory provision that adjustment is to be made against the extra benefit derived by the community and the compensation is the community which lost its turn. In other words, the adjustment should go upto the point of compensating the community which lost the benefit in the cycle and that is the meaning of the expression at the earliest opportunity. 8. As a matter of fact the Recruitment Manual of the Public Service Commission at paragraph 23 clarifies the position as under: "It is therefore imperative that before filling up a turn reserved for any of the backward community or Scheduled Caste/Tribe it should be verified whether any adjustment has to be made against the turn by way of compensation to any other community or group. So much so, while working out the rotation for selection of the turns reserved for Backward Community. Scheduled Caste/Tribe, they can be filled up by the particular community or group, only if that particular community or group has not derived extra benefit in an earlier selection. If there is any compensation already, due, the turn has to be filled up by a candidate from the community or group to which compensation is due". Thus the position is crystal clear that adjustments are to be made before selection of turns for the purpose of compensating the turn passed over by a community. A turn in the cycle is correctly understood in a Manual as the claim of a community. To put it on clearer terms the expression'claim' used under R.15(c) of the K.S.&S.S.R. has to be understood as a claim for the benefit to a community at the turn in the cycle and not merely as a claim against its turn. A turn in the cycle is correctly understood in a Manual as the claim of a community. To put it on clearer terms the expression'claim' used under R.15(c) of the K.S.&S.S.R. has to be understood as a claim for the benefit to a community at the turn in the cycle and not merely as a claim against its turn. That is the reason why the rule making authority used the expression'by making adjustment against the claims of the particular community'; as otherwise the expression would have been by making adjustment against the 'turn' of the particular community. 9. In the instant case, in the cycle, the Dheevara community has already got its benefit of a turn in the hundred point cycle and the community which lost its benefit of turn in the cycle is the OX. Hence the compensation should be only to the community OX to which admittedly the petitioner belongs. Accordingly the Original Petition is allowed. It is declared that the turn 58 is,to be adjusted to turn 48 since the benefit of that turn 48 had already been derived by turn 50. The Public Service Commission will issue appropriate orders in the light of what is held above within a period of one month from today.