SUMAN Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) REPLY on behalf of respondents No.4 to 6, 8 to 13, 15 and 17 filed in Court, taken on record. Petitioner has approached this Court challenging the selection and appointment of private respondents 5 to 17 on the post of Nursing Sister. It is the contention of the counsel for the petitioner that an advertisement inviting the applications for various posts including 27 posts of Nursing Sister was issued by the Director, Health Education and Research, Haryana (respondent No.2). The qualifications prescribed for the said posts were that a candidate should be A -Grade Nurse with Mid Wifery Training and registered with the Haryana Nursing Registered Council (hereinafter referred to as 'HNRC') or B.Sc. Nursing (Honour/Post Basic). Further condition was that the candidate would have passed Hindi/Sanskrit upto Matric Standard and five years' experience as Staff Nurse.

(2.) PETITIONER applied for the said post being fully eligible. Interviews were held on 4th and 5th of December, 2012. The result was declared in the month of January, 2013 and the appointment letters were issued on 1st of February, 2013 to the selected candidates. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the private respondents are not registered with the HNRC and, therefore, are not eligible for appointment to the post of Nursing Sister. Prior to issuance of the advertisement, a decision was taken on 08.08.2012 by the Government that for appointment to the post of Staff Nurse relaxation under the condition of registration with the HNRC would be available for six months after the date of joining of service. Because of this condition, in the advertisement for the post of Staff Nurse, registration with the HNRC has not been made mandatory. The same relaxation cannot be stretched and made applicable to the candidates who had applied for the posts of Nursing Sister. He, therefore, contends that the selection and appointment of the private respondents made is not in consonance with the qualifications prescribed under the advertisement and the same deserves to be set aside. In response to this submission made by the counsel for the petitioner, counsel for the State submits that the Government of Haryana had relaxed the rule governing the service condition for the post of Nursing Staff prior to the date of advertisement vide letter dated 08.08.2012 (Annexure R -3/1) qua the post of Staff Nurses. Thereafter a clarification was issued on 12.12.2012 (Annexure R -3/2) by the State that the words 'Staff Nurses' may be replaced with words 'Nursing Staff'. On this basis, he contends that relaxation from registration with the HNRC would apply to the case of private respondents as well. The replacement of the words by letter dated 12.12.2012 would relate back to the initial decision taken by the Government dated 08.08.2013 (Anneuxre R -3/1). This decision would, therefore, apply to the selection and appointment of the private respondents being in consonance with the decision of the Government. He contends that the writ petition deserves dismissal.

(3.) AS regards the other private respondents, learned Senior counsel submits that they are all registered with different Registered Councils of the State. Referring to Section 11 of the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as '1947 Act'), he contends that the remaining private respondents possessed the requisite recognized qualifications by the Indian Nursing Council and are entitled to enrollment in the Indian Nurses Register and in pursuance thereto, they have registered themselves with the respective States. Adverting to Section 15 -A of the 1947 Act, learned Senior counsel states that the register has to be maintained by the Indian Nursing Council of the Nurses, Midwives, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives and Health Visitor to be known as The Indian Nurses Register which shall contain the names of all persons who are for the time being enrolled on any State Register and it is the responsibility of the Secretary of the Council to keep the Indian Nurses Register according to the provisions of this Act. It is a document which is admissible under the Indian Evidence Act and, therefore, the registration of the private respondents with the State Council automatically be treated as registered, keeping in view their registration under the Indian Nurses Register which entitles them to practise in any part of the country. He, on this basis, contends that the requirement for registration with the HNRC cannot be stress upon as a precedent for consideration for appointment to any nursing post. I have considered the submissions made by the counsel for the parties and with their able assistance have gone through the records of the case.