(1.) IN CWJC No. 3311/96 the petitioners are aggrieved by the order dated 13.3.1993 as contained in Annexure 2 series by which they have been reverted from the post of Reader to the post of Lecturer. In CWJC 548/97 the sole petitioner is aggrieved by the notification dated 10.1.1997 by which he has been reverted from the post of University Professor to the post of Reader.
(2.) THE petitioners of CWJC 3311/96 were appointed on the post of Lecturers. Petitioner No. 1 was appointed on 16.11.1978, petitioner No. 2 on 12.8.1978, petitioner No. 3 on 9.1.1978, petitioner No. 4, on 2.9.1977, petitioner No. 5 on 23.2.1978 and petitioner No. 6 on 13,11.1992. In 1989 since the petitioners completed 10 years of continuous service as Lecturers, they were promoted to the post of Reader vide notification dated 1.9.1989. The said promotion was purely provisional subject to concurrence and approval of the Commission. However, the Commission considered the cases of all the petitioners and found that they were not possessing the requisite qualification for promotion to the post of Readers from the post of Lecturers or to the post of Professor from the post of Reader. Accordingly, by the impugned notification they have been reverted to their substantive post of Lecturer. In CWJC No. 548/97 according to the submission of Mrs. I. Sen Choudhary, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Vinobha Bhave University, the case of the petitioner was reconsidered by the Screening Committee and was rejected as the petitioner did not fulfil the eligibility criteria for promotion. Accordingly, the petitioner of CWJC 548/97 was reverted from the post of Professor to the post of Reader.
(3.) MR . Abhisekh Kumar, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted that the Screening Committee did not find the petitioners eligible for promotion solely on the ground that they did not possess Ph.D degree although the Statute to that effect was amended by the State Government vide notification dated 12.10.1990 and according to that amendment Ph.D degree was not the eligibility criteria for time bound promotion to the persons who had completed 10 years of service as Lecturers and Reader.