SANJAYSINH HEMANTSANGH CHAVDA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has challenged the appointment order dtd. 24/7/2019 of the respondent no. 3 appointing him as Assistant Director of Information (Editorial), Class-II.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that he has done his graduation in Arts. The petitioner was selected and appointed as Information Assistant Class-III on 21/5/2010. He was promoted as Senior Sub-Editor on 26/12/2018. An advertisement was issued on 5/11/2015 for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Director of Information (Editorial), Class-II. The name of the petitioner was shown in waiting list of SEBC category whereas that of the respondent no. 3 was shown on select list and the appointment order dtd. 24/7/2019 was issued appointing respondent no. 3 on such post.

(3.) Ms. Harshal Pandya, learned counsel for the petitioner has challenged the appointment of respondent no.3 on the ground that respondent no. 3 does not possess requisite experience. According to her experience gained after obtaining qualification has to be counted and not prior thereto. The respondent no. 3 had served as copy editor in TV9 and obtained a degree in July 2008. His experience is therefore two years and 3 months. He was also publishing weekly newspaper in the name of 'Anjar Today' in the capacity as editor. A weekly newspaper cannot be considered as a daily publication and was also not in the government or local body. The result of the journalism degree came in July 2008 and therefore the experience of respondent no. 3 cannot be counted from 10/1/2008. She would rely upon RTI communications which after thoughtful consideration removed the word 'weekly newspaper' from the rules for considering experience and therefore on this ground also the respondent no. 3 is not entitled for appointment. She relies on the following decisions: