POOJA KUMARI Vs. STATE OF J&K AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Advertisement Notice for filling up the position of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) in Government Middle School, Bassani, Tikri, Udhampur, was issued. Petitioner and respondent applied thereto.

(2.) Panel was prepared. Petitioner was shown in the Panel at serial no. 1 and respondent No. 5 at serial no. 2. However, petitioner's candidature was rejected. Aggrieved, she has knocked at portals of this Court with writ petition on hand, seeking quashment of selection of respondent No. 5 as ReT, with a further direction to respondents to consider her selection and appointment as ReT.

(3.) The case set up by petitioner is that being meritorious she figured at serial no. 1 in Panel, but her candidature was rejected by respondent No. 4 on the ground that she was not resident of village West Mand. It is averred that with application, submitted by petitioner for selection and engagement ReT in aforesaid school, various documents were annexed, depicting her residence as village West Mand. To strengthen her claim, petitioner has also placed on record resident certificate of village West Mand and a copy of category certificate to depict that she is resident of village West Mand, Udhampur. It is claimed that petitioner is very much resident of said village and official respondents have arbitrarily and without application of mind rejected name of petitioner and the proof qua petitioner being resident of West Mand (Manthal) cannot be out rightly rejected without first looking to genuineness, authenticity and veracity of the documents; and the act of respondent No. 4, rejecting petitioner's claim for selection is fraught with oblique motives and actuated by extraneous consideration, which has adversely affected and greatly prejudiced her rights. It is submitted that temporarily residing out in pursuit of livelihood or otherwise for compelling circumstances, does not mean not actually residing in the village; and Village Level Committee, since not constituted in accordance with law, is incompetent and without jurisdiction and such recommendations of the Committee are non-est and void ab initio and cannot be acted upon or given effect to.