TASNEEM KOUNSAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPOINTMENT of respondents 5, 6 and 7 in the writ petition who now figure as appellants in this Appeal was found to be not in accordance with the law as they had not submitted the certificates indicating that they are residents of Actual Line of Control. What is said by the learned Single Judge in this regard is being reproduced below: - "Since the respondents 5 to 7 were not possessed of the requisite certificates, therefore, they were not entitled to seek selection against the posts reserved to be filled up by the candidates possessed of Actual Line of Act Control certificate. Thus this stipulation is uncalled for and unsustainable. The selection of respondents 5 to 7 against the posts reserved for IAC category, cannot be maintained as the respondents 5 to 7 were not eligible to seek selection against the said category for the aforesaid reasons. Therefore. the selection of said respondents deserves to be quashed, Consequent thereto appointments made pursuant to the selection also deserves to be quashed.

(2.) THE above respondents, who as indicated above, now figure as appellants have preferred this Appeal under Clause 12 of Letters Patent

(3.) THERE can be no dispute with the proposition that a candidate must possess the requisite qualification on the cut off date as indicated in the advertisement notice inviting applications. However, a distinction has to be drawn between the qualifications which are required to be possessed by an applicant by effort and other qualifications which are inherited by a person or which become available to a person on account of his being a resident of a particular area. When a qualification is acquired by effort such as educational qualification, then the same would be deemed to be possessed on the Date it is acquired. The other qualifications such as member of being a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category or resident of a backward area is something which is already possessed but is required to be demonstrated by producing the relevant documents. The fact that there is some distinction between the acquired qualifications and qualifications which are inherited is apparent from a Full Bench decision of this Court in LPA 29/1979 titled Stale of Jammu and Kashmir Vs. Dr. Susheela Sawhney and other connected matters decided on 7th Oct. 2002. V.K. Jhanji. J. while dealing with the meaning of word "acquire has made following meaningful observations: - "The word acquireâ„¢ used in Note -III is very significant. According to Concise Oxford Dictionary, New Seventh Edition the word acquireâ„¢ means, gain by and for oneself. According to Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition, acquireâ„¢ means come to possessâ„¢, and in Readerâ„¢s Digest Universal Dictionary, the word "acquire" means - (i) to gain possession of; (ii) to get, especially by oneâ„¢s own efforts or qualities. Use of the word acquireâ„¢ in Note -Hi necessarily means a change of relationship vis -a -vis Status of permanent resident of the State, which is said to be acquired for the first time and which was not existing before."