P JOSEPH Vs. NORTH EASTERN HILL UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In (his application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has, inter alia, prayed for directions on the respondents to indlude his name in the seniority list of Assistants of North Eastern Hill University (for short, "'the NEHU"), and to consider him for promotion to the rank of Section Officer from the date when his immediate junior was so promoted and to grant him all consequential service benefits.

(2.) The facts briefly are that Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre, (for short, "RSIC") was set up in NEHU at Shillong in 1982. Under the terms and conditions for setting up of RSIC contained in the letter dated 25/29.6.82 of the Government of India, Department of Science & Technology to the Vice Chancellor, NEHU, the RSIC was to be functionally a separate and identifiable unit located in the NEHU, Shillong and the recruitment of staff for RSIC was to be made an accordance with the usual practices, the Rules and the Regulations being followed by NEHU, and additions of staff were to take place with the approval of Advisory Committee. The said terms and conditions further provided that staff recruited for the RSIC would be treated as employees of the NEHU exclusively for the purpose of working at RSIC and would thus be governed by the Rules and the Regulations of NEHU. The petitioner was initially appointed as store in- charge in the RSIC on an initial pay of Rs.425/ - p.m. plus other allowances admissible to any employee of the NEHU of the same rank on the recommendation of the Head, RSIC, by order dated 7.12.84. Thereafter, a post of Assistant for the RSIC was sanctioned by the Vice Chancellor of NEHU, who was also the Chairman of RSIC Advisory Committee, subject to sanction of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in February, 1989, and the petitioner was appointed in the said post of Assistant on ad hoc basis by order dated 24.2.89. The petitioner joined the said post. The Head, RSIC, then wrote to the Vice Chancellor, NEHU in September 1989 for regularisation of services of the petitioner as Senior Assistant by the Selection Committee of NEHU. On 13.11.89, the Advisory Committee of RSIC met, but the consideration for regularisation of the services of the petitioner was deferred to the next Advisory Committee meeting as the Chairman wanted some time to study the case of the petitioner. The next meeting of the Advisory Committee of RSIC was held on 18.5.90, and in the said meeting the Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the petitioner be regularised in the post of Senior Assistant, RSIC. Notwithstanding the said recommendation, the services of the petitioner were terminated with effect from 25.8.90 by the Assistant Registrar (Admn.), NRHU by order dated 22.8.90. On the intervention of the Vice Chancellor, NEHU, and the Chairman of RSIC, however, the petitioner was allowed to continue as Senior Assistant in the RSIC from 24.8.80 without any break in service till the matter relating to regularisation of his service was settled. Thereafter, the petitioner was appointed as Assistant in RSIC, Shillong with effect from 10.7.90 and until further orders by the Vice Chancellor, NEHU and the Chairman of RSIC. The appointment order dated 19.12.90 was issued by the Assistant Registrar, NEHU. Pursuant to his said appointment, the petitioner continued as an Assistant in RSIC.

(3.) In the meanwhile, the Executive Council of NEHU took decision on 30.3.90 that the RSIC staff would be treated at par with other NEHU staff in terms of salary structures, service conditions, permanency of posts, leave rules medical benefits, retirement benefits, gratuity, etc. and that the non- technical staff may be transferred within NEHU but such transferability would not apply to technical staff. Further, on 12.7.94, the Vice Chancellor ofNEHU and the Director, Department of Science & Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding which, inter alia, provided that the NEHU would provide adequate and competent staff as recommended by the Management Committee and as approved by the Department of Science & Technology for running the RSIC efficiently and the staff would belong to NEHU. It appears that on 26.10.96 a meeting of a Selection Committee took place in which the Selection Committee took a view that the regular appointment given to the petitioner as Assistant with effect- from 10.7.90 on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee of the RSIC was improper since after the decision of Executive Committee dated 30.3.90 for treating the employees ofRSIC at par with those of NEHU employees for all practicable purpose it would have been proper to follow the normal recruitment procedure for such regularisation in terms of the Executive Council's decision. The said view of the Selection Committee was placed before the Executive Council and on 21.3.97 the Executive Council of NEHU in its 92nd meeting considered the absorption of staff of the RSIC in the non-teaching staff cadre of NEHU and resolved to absorb such staff as and when the RSIC came under NEHU, but did not consider the case of the petitioner on the ground that he was not appointed through a Selection Committee in accordance with the recruitment policy of NEHU, and further decided that his case may be considered as and when he qualifies in the test as laid down by the University (NEHU). On 15.7.97, the Executive Council decided that the existing regular staff of RSIC who were appointed in accordance with the recruitment procedure of NEHU would be deemed to be regular staff of NEHU from the date of appointment, joining, with their service conditions/service benefits deemed to be regulated in accordance with the Rules and the Regulations as applicable to the staff of NEHU on the same cadre and grade.