PREM CHAND MITTAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who is working as a Research Assistant in the Haryana P.W.D. (B&R) Branch, is aggrieved by the promotion of respondent No. 3 to the post of Assistant Director.

(2.) A few facts may be noticed. The petitioner, who possesses the qualifications of B.Sc. (Non-Medical Group), was initially appointed as a Research Assistant in the erstwhile State of Punjab on October 30, 1964 in work-charged capacity. He claims to have been allocated to the State of Haryana and his services were regularised w.e.f. August 5, 1974. Respondent No. 3 possesses the qualifications of B.Sc. (Medical Group) and M.Sc. in Chemistry. According to the petitioner, he was appointed as a Research Assistant on ad hoc basis on August 23, 1973 and in regular capacity on October 6, 1975. The petitioner claims that on account of his good work and devotion to duty, his name had been recommended for promotion to Class-II post of Assistant Director on a number of occasions since 1973. He also claims to be senior to respondent No. 3. In spite of these facts, the petitioner avers that respondent No. 3 approached respondent No. 1 and surreptitiously obtained an order promoting him to the post of Assistant Director. A copy of this order has been produced as Annexure P.9. The petitioner has also averred that even though there are no rules governing the services, yet by consistent practice B.Sc. (Non-Medical) has come to be accepted as the qualification for the post of Research Assistant. The order promoting respondent No. 3 has been challenged on the ground that it did not spell out any reason for the invidious treatment and ignore the fact that respondent No. 3 did not satisfy even the basic requirement of possessing the qualification of B.Sc. (Non-Medical).

(3.) A written statement has been filed only on behalf of respondent No. 3. Various averments made by the petitioner have been seriously disputed. It has been averred that the petitioner was appointed as Work-charged Research Assistant in the scale of Rs. 100-7-275 on October 30, 1964. Thereafter, he was given a afresh regular appointment vide letter dated August 20, 1968, in pursuance to which the petitioner had actually joined on March 24, 1969. This appointment, the respondent avers, could have been made on the recommendations of the Subordinate Services Selection Board only. Since the Board had not even been consulted, the services of the petitioner are stated to have been terminated on September 20, 1969. Thereafter vide order of September 23, 1969 the petitioner was appointed as Assistant in the scale of Rs. 100-7-135/10-185/15-275 on work-charged basis. Thereafter, he was brought on regular cadre vide order dated March 26, 1976. It has also been averred that the qualification for the post of Research Assistant was B.Sc. with Chemistry or Physics. As for the recommendations for further promotion mentioned by the petitioner, the respondent has averred that the petitioner has manipulated these recommendations and in fact an enquiry for tampering with the original service record is going to be initiated against the petitioner. The respondent has further averred that under the Draft Rules governing recruitment/Promotion to the post of Assistant Director, a qualification of M.Sc./B.E. or B.Tech. with five years experience has been prescribed. The claim of the petitioner regarding his seniority above respondent No. 3 has also been disputed. In view of this factual position, the claim of the petitioner for the issue of a writ has been contested.