UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU Vs. DHARAM VIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a Letters Patent appeal directed against the judgment and order of Jalal -ud -Din J. dated 20 -1 -72 by which he quashed the order of appointment of appellant No. 3, P. S. Sahi as Asstt. Registrar, University of Jammu.

(2.) THE facts and circumstances giving rise to the writ peti ­tion before the learned Judge have been clearly set out in his judgment and need not be detailed here. In order, however, to understand the case it will be necessary to refer briefly to the claim put forward by the respondent before the learned Single Judge.

(3.) IT appears that the respondent who is a M.Sc. started his career in the University of Jammu and Kashmir in the grade of Head Asstt. as lecturer Assistant and was then appointed as Es ­tates Officer of the University on 8 -9 -65 in the grade of 200 -400 (revised to Rs. 250 -600 w.e.f. 14 -7 -70). Appellant No. 3, P. S. Sahi, however, joined the University as Junior Assistant on 30 -5 -59, became senior Asstt. on 1 -4 -62, Head Asstt. on 28 -3 -63, offg. Superintendent on 6 -9 -65, PA to the Pro Vice -Chancellor in the scale of Rs. 250 -500 on 1 -9 -67 and PA to the Registrar in the same grade on 1 -9 -69. On the representation of the respondent the appellants appointment to these posts was made without prejudice to the seniority of others. The case of the University, however, was that appellant 3 and the respondent were appointed to different categories and were holding different kinds of posts; so there could be no question of a combined seniority. The claim of the respondent that he was senior to appellant 3 was emphatically denied by the Uni ­versity in their counter -affidavit. Appellant 3 was a simple graduate but had obtained proficiency in stenography and had some other qualifications to his credit. By virtue of Notifica ­tion No. ADM/12833 the University invited applications for filling up the post of an Asstt. Registrar (Secrecy) in response to which appellant 3 and the respondent applied for the said post. Under S. 22 proviso 2 of the Jammu and Kashmir Universities Act of 1969 all appointments, permanent or temporary, of offi ­cers or teachers referred to in that section are to be made by the University Council on the recommendation of the selection committee constituted under S, 36, In compliance with the provisions of this section a selection committee was constituted by the University comprising the Vice -Chancellor, the Finan ­cial Advisor (Mr. Noor Mohd). Prof. Mr. Puri, a member of the Syndicate and Dean of the Faculty of Science, and the Regis ­trar of the University. This committee called the candidates for the interview which was conducted on 20 -7 -70, After the interview the selection committee could not make the recommendation to the Syndicate because the old records pertaining to the resolution passed by the Syndicate of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir University were not made available to the committee and by the time these records were traced out the Financial Adviser was not available at Jammu. The selection committee therefore recommended to the Syndicate that the Vice -Chancellor be authorised to make an ad -hoc appointment but the Syndicate at its meeting held on 7 -10 -70 resolved that minimum qualifications for the post of Asstt. Registrar be pres ­cribed, and ultimately by resolution of the University Council the minimum qualifications for the post of an Asstt. Registrar were fixed as a Bachelors degree plus service not less than ten years in any University. In view of these qualifications except ­ing the appellant 3 and the respondent no other persons who had been called for interview fulfilled these qualifications and accordingly appellant 3 and the respondent were called for interview. Thereafter a fresh notice was issued to the respon ­dent and appellant 3 to appear on 1 -8 -71 but then this inter ­view was subsequently cancelled and the Selection Committee on the materials before it recommended the appointment of appellant No. 3 in preference to the respondent. The Univer ­sity accepted the recommendation of the selection committee and appointed appellant No. 3 as Asstt. Registrar (Secrecy) by its order dated 27 -9 -71.