MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY Vs. RAM MANGARAM MIRCHANDANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present Special Civil Application is filed by the petitioner-University challenging the order passed by the Gujarat Services Tribunal in Application No.98 of 1993 dated 28th December, 1999. The respondent approached the Tribunal by way of the aforesaid application, challenging the decision of the University by which his services were put to an end.

(2.) The respondent applied for the post of Lecturer in Archaeology in response to the advertisement which was published in the daily newspaper. The respondent was interviewed by the Interview Committee and was appointed on probation for a period of two years on the post of Lecturer of Archaeology. It is the case of the original applicant before the Tribunal that after appointment, he secured Ph.D. in Archaeology subject. It is also his case that he was also teaching Sindhi subject in the Arts Faculty and accordingly, he was discharging additional work. It is further the say of the applicant that he was also appointed as Chairman of Sindhi Subject and was also appointed as Examiner in the Sindhi Subject by the University. Initially, one Shri R.N. Mehta was the Head of the Department, but as soon as he retired in December, 1982, one Mr.Hegde came to be appointed as Head of the Department in the Archaeology Department. However, said Mr.Hegde was keeping bias against the respondent-original applicant and because of the said aspect, his services came to be terminated by an order dated 23.4.1983. The said order, by which his services were terminated, was communicated to the respondent by the Registrar of the University. The respondent herein initially approached the Civil Court by filing Regular Civil Suit No.198 of 1986. However, the said suit was subsequently withdrawn on 9.3.1989 as the respondent wanted to appear in the fresh interview. Liberty was, however, reserved in favour of the plaintiff, i.e. the respondent herein, to file fresh suit on the same cause of action, if he so desired. It seems that the respondent was not selected even in the fresh interview and he again filed a suit, being Civil Suit No.1111 of 1989 on 28.6.1989. It seems that, during the pendency of the aforesaid subsequent suit, Gujarat Universities Services Tribunal came to be established in the year 1993 and, therefore, the said suit was transferred to the Tribunal under the provisions of Section 13(2) of the Gujarat Universities Services Tribunal Act, 1993. After such transfer, the said proceedings were renumbered as Application No.98 of 1993.

(3.) The Tribunal, after recording the evidence of the parties and after hearing the arguments of the respective Advocates, by its order dated 28th December, 1999, came to the conclusion that the order of termination was passed by way of penalty and that, since the same was passed without holding regular enquiry, the same was treated as unjustified and unlawful. The University was accordingly directed to reinstate the respondent-original applicant on the original post with continuity of service and with all other consequential benefits. It is required to be noted that while the aforesaid matter was pending before the Tribunal, on behalf of the petitioner-University, applications at Exhibits 69 and 70 were filed for the purpose of production of documents. However, by order dated 16.7.1999, the Tribunal had rejected the said application and refused the production of the documents. Having been dissatisfied with the final order of the Tribunal, the University has filed this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India on various grounds.