AJAY KUMAR UTTAM Vs. STATE OF JAND K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner had applied seeking consideration for selection against the post of Drawing Instructor in the pay scale of 5000- 8000 notified vide Advertisement Notice No. 04 of 1999 dated 27.12.1999 by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board, Jammu minimum qualification where for was indicated as 3 years Diploma/2 years Draftsmanship in any Branch of Engineering.

(2.) He participated in the selection process, but could not find place in the Select List. He has filed this Petition questioning the selection of respondent Nos. 7 to 17 on various grounds. At the time of consideration of the Writ Petition, his learned Counsel restricted the petitioner's challenge to the selection of the respondents on the sole ground that they were ineligible to compete for the posts because the qualification of Bachelor of Engineering, possessed by them was neither the prescribed qualification nor otherwise equivalent to the prescribed qualification of 3 years Diploma/2 years Draftsmanship in any Branch of Engineering.

(3.) Reliance is placed on P.M. Latha and Anr. v. State of Kerala and Ors., 2003 3 SCC 541. Per contra, M/s Shukla & Nitin Bhasin, Advocates, submitted that Degree of Bachelor in Engineering, being a higher qualification in the field, to the one prescribed by the Board in Notification No. 04 of 1999, the respondents selection by the Board was justified and that the respondents were not in any way ineligible to compete for the post merely because they possessed qualification higher than the one prescribed in the Notification. Learned Counsel rely on the judgment delivered by this Court in S. Gurmeet Singh and Anr. v. State of J&K and Ors. decided on 13.12.2007.