Madras High Court
A.Anandha Kumar vs Teachers Recruitment Board on 12 October, 2018
Author: G.Jayachandran
Bench: G.Jayachandran
1
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
RESERVED ON : 27.11.2018
DELIVERED ON : 07.12.2018
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE DR.JUSTICE G.JAYACHANDRAN
W.P(MD)Nos.21639 and 21666 of 2018
and
W.M.P(MD)Nos.19544, 19576 and 19577 of 2018
W.P(MD)No.21639 of 2018:
A.Anandha Kumar .. Petitioner
Vs.
1.Teachers Recruitment Board
rep. by its Chairman,
4th Floor, E.V.K.Sampath Maligai,
D.P.I. Compound, College Road,
Chennai – 600 006.
2.The Director of School Education,
O/o. The Directorate of School Education,
College Road, Nungambakkam,
Chennai – 6.
3.The Regional Director,
National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE),
Jnanabharathi Campus Main Road,
Nagarabhavi, Bangaluru – 560 072.
.. Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India praying for the issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus
to call for the records pertaining to the impugned order of Tentative
Provisional Selection List for appointment to the post of Special
Teacher (Physical Education) in the Department of School Education
published on 12.10.2018 on the file of the first respondent and
http://www.judis.nic.in
2
quash the same as illegal to the extent non-inclusion of the
petitioner and consequently to direct the first respondent to select
and appoint the petitioner to the post of Special Teacher (Physical
Education) by calling the petitioner for counseling within the time
stipulated by this Court and pass such further or other orders.
For Petitioner : Mr.S.Louis
For Respondent No.1 : Mr.VR.Shanmuganathan,
Special Government Pleader.
For Respondent No.2 : Mrs.S.Srimathy,
Special Government Pleader.
For Respondent No.3 : Mr.SU.Srinivasan
W.P(MD)No.21666 of 2018:
S.Malarvizhi .. Petitioner
Vs.
1.The Teachers Recruitment Board
rep. by the Chairman,
4th Floor, E.V.K.Sampath Maligai,
D.P.I. Compound, College Road,
Chennai – 600 006.
2.The Director of School Education,
DPI Campus, College Road,
Chennai – 600 006. .. Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India praying for the issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus
to call for the records pertaining to the impugned provisional
selection list for direct recruitment of Special Teachers for the year
2012-16 in respect of Physical Education Teachers published by the
first respondent dated 12.10.2018 and consequential order of
rejection of the candidature of the petitioner with remarks as “Does
not possess required qualification” published in the website of the
http://www.judis.nic.in
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first respondent on 12.10.2018 as illegal and consequently to direct
the first respondent to select and appoint the petitioner to the post
of Special Teacher (Physical Education) by calling the petitioner for
counseling within the time stipulated by this Court and pass such
further or other orders.
For Petitioner : Mr.J.Lawrance
For Respondent No.1 : Mr.VR.Shanmuganathan,
Special Government Pleader.
For Respondent No.2 : Mrs.S.Srimathy,
Special Government Pleader.
COMMON ORDER
These two writ petitions are filed by the candidates who have participated in the Selection Process for appointment to the post of Special Teacher [Physical Education] in the Department of School Education with Bachelor in Physical Education (B.P.E.) qualification. Since their names were not included in the Tentative Provisional Selection List for appointment, they have challenged the Tentative Provisional Selection List as illegal and sought direction to the first respondent Teachers Recruitment Board, to select them and appoint them in the post of Special Teacher [Physical Education].
2.From the counter filed by the first respondent which is the Nodal Agency for recruiting Special Teacher [Physical Education], it appears that the writ petitioners are either not in possession of the qualification prescribed under the notification or http://www.judis.nic.in 4 not secured mark above the cut-off mark under the respective category.
3.Since the issue centres around the notification which has prescribed the educational qualification and technical qualification for the post of Special Teacher [Physical Education] and when the claim of the petitioners is that they possessed the requisite qualification as prescribed under the notification, which is now disputed by the first respondent, it is necessary to record the background of the Notification No.05 of 2017, dated 26.07.2017 which is the genesis for the present spate of litigation.
4.The first respondent has placed notification in the public domain on 26.07.2017 inviting applications through online mode from eligible candidates upto 11.59 p.m. on 18.08.2017 for direct recruitment of Special Teachers [Physical Education, Drawing, Music, Sewing] in School Education and other Departments for the years 2012 to 2016. They fall under the Tamil Nadu Educational Subordinate Service. The total number of vacancy was approximately shown as 1325, which includes backlog vacancies and current vacancy in the Directorate of School Education, Directorate of Elementary Education, Corporations, State Council for Educational Research and Training and Social Defence Department. http://www.judis.nic.in 5
5.The portions of the notification which are relevant for the issue in hand are extracted below:
PHYSICAL 1.General Educational Qualification: S.S.L.C./ EDUCATIO Higher Secondary N TEACHER
2.Technical qualification
(i) a) Pass in Pre University: or Higher Secondary: or Teachers School Leaving Certificate (secondary Grade or Senior Basic) and
b) Government Teachers Certificate of Higher Grade in Physical Education or
(ii) a) Pass in Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) and
b) Government Teachers Certificate of Lower Grade in Physical Education.
or
(iii) A Bachelor degree in Physical Education (B.P.Ed) or I(iv) A Bachelor degree in Physical Education and Sports (B.P.E.S) offered by the YMCA College of physical Education, Chennai or a qualification equivalent thereto or
(v) A Master Degree in Physical Education and Sports offered by Annamal-- University (directly acquired M.P.E.S without the degree of B.P.E.S) or
(vi) A Bachelor degree in Mobility Science for the Disabled (B.M.S) offered by the YMCA College of Physical Education, Chennai and other similar colleges teaching Physical Education.
or
vii) A Master degree in Physical Education (M.P.Ed) whether acquired through regular course or directly acquired without acquiring a Bachelor degree in http://www.judis.nic.in Physical Education (B.P.Ed) 6 The candidates not having prescribed qualifications, as on the last date of submission of filled-in online application, shall not be eligible to apply for the examination. The candidates should satisfy themselves about their eligibility before applying. It is to be noted that if a candidate is allowed to appear for the examination it does not imply that the eligibility of the candidate is verified. The eligibility shall be verified by the Board only at the time of Certificate Verification.
Note: All qualifying certificates should have been obtained prior to the last date (18.08.2017) for submission of filled-in online applications, announced in the recruitment notification.
c) Equivalent Qualification:If a candidate claims that the educational qualification in the subject possessed by him/her is equivalent to, though not the same, as those prescribed for the appointment, he/she has to produce the subject equivalence G.O issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu at the time of Certificate Verification.
8.(b)Certificate Verification:
The Board will prepare the list of Candidates for Certificate Verification in the ratio of 1:2 based on the Written Examination Marks duly following the communal rotation, vacancy position and other relevant rules in vogue. Note:
If more than one candidate secures the lowest or same cut-off mark for a particular communal turn, all such candidates will be called for CV. Certificate Verification List and C.V Call letter will be published in the Official Website of TRB WWW.trb.tn.nic.in only.
http://www.judis.nic.in 7
9.The following certificates obtained prior to the cut-off dated (18.08.2017-last date for the submission of filled-in online application) have to be produced at the time of Certificate Verification, if called for:
a). Original Certificates and Mark statements pertaining to the following Educational qualifications.
i. 10th /SSLC ii. H.S.C or its equivalent iii. Technical qualification (as mentioned in the paragraph No.4 Qualification) iv. Employment Registration Card (Registered full qualification and renewed till date)
11.General Information:
a)The number of vacancies notified is only approximate and is liable for modification with reference to vacancy position of User Departments at the time before finalization of selection.
b)Evidence of Claims made in the online application should be submitted in time at the time of Certificate Verification, if called for. Any subsequent claim made thereafter on submission of online application will not be entertained at any cost.
c) Incomplete applications and applications containing false claims or incorrect particulars relating to category of reservation, basic qualifications, communal category and other eligibility criteria will be liable for rejection”.
6.The petitioner in W.P(MD)No.21639 of 2018, Mr.A.Anandha Kumar and petitioner in W.P(MD)No.21666/2018, http://www.judis.nic.inS.S.Malarvhizhi are the candidates who have in possession of B.P.E. 8 Certificate. In addition, Anandha Kumar has also secured M.P.Ed. Certificate.
7.The main contention of these two petitioners is that though they have secured sufficient mark to be short-listed for certificate verification in the ratio of 1:2, at the time of certificate verification which held on 13.08.2018, their candidature was not considered by the panel, since they did not have H.P.Ed. Certificate [Certificate of Higher Grade in Physical Education]. When it was explained to the panel that B.P.E. course was re-designated as B.P.E. in the year 2015 itself pursuant to the UGC direction and candidates who have undergone the three years Bachelor Degree in Physical Education were conferred only B.P.E. certificate till 2015. The panel was satisfied with this explanation. However, when the Tentative Provisional Selection List was published on 12.10.2018, containing 623 names, the names of the petitioners were not found. The candidates who have secured upto 61 marks were included in the list, whereas the petitioners who have secured more than 61 marks were not included on the ground that they do not possess the required qualification.
http://www.judis.nic.in 9
8.The specific contention of these two petitioners is that there was no B.P.E. course after 2015 and the equivalent course to B.P.E. is B.P.ES.
9.In the counter apart from adverting to the individual score of the respective writ petitioners, the first respondent has contended that the qualification acquired by these two petitioners [B.P.E.] is not incorporated in the notification. The User Department is the competent authority to fix the requisite qualification for the said post. On the approval of the User Department namely, the Directorate of School Education, the first respondent being the Nodal Agency for recruitment of teachers, have placed the notification in the public domain on 26.07.2017. The petitioners herein who possessed B.P.E. degree ought to have produced equivalency certificate issued by the competent person or any Government Order treating B.P.E. as B.P.ES. While applying online, the petitioners have not mentioned the technical qualification what they actually possessed, but have quoted a qualification which they do not possess. If they have disclosed that they possessed only B.P.E. degree and not B.P.ES. or B.P.Ed. Degree, their application itself could have been rejected and they would not have been found eligible for written examination. As stated in the notification for http://www.judis.nic.in 10 suppression of fact in their online applications per se make them ineligible to participate in the selection process and question the selection process.
10.In the counter, it is also submitted that the contention of the writ petitioners that they possessed B.P.E. degree, which is equivalent to the qualification prescribed in the notification is incorrect. There is no equivalency certificate produced by them to substantiate the said contention. In G.O.Ms.No.441, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, dated 20.12.1993, the Government has prescribed the manner in which Equivalency Committee has to be constituted and the manner in which the equivalency must be declared. The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission time to time constituted Equivalency Committee for the said purpose and declared the equivalency. As far as the B.P.E. degree is concerned, there is no such declaration. When the first respondent has not notified B.P.E. as a technical qualification for the post, non-possession of the required qualification has disentitled them from getting selected.
11.The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the first respondent has also submitted the gist of his defence of these two cases as below:
http://www.judis.nic.in 11 “(i)W.P(MD) No.21639 of 2018 - A.Anandha Kumar – Petitioner applied for post of Special Teacher (Physical Education) under Schedule Caste Category and secured 73 Marks in the written examination and attended the certificate verification – Application under technical qualification petitioner claimed as A Bachelor Degree in Physical Education and Sports (B.P.E.S) – Petitioner produced only B.P.E. Certificate at the time of certificate verification even though he possess M.PEd. – His candidature was not considered on the ground that he does not possess required qualification.
(ii)W.P(MD)No.21666 of 2018 – S.Malarvizhi – Petitioner applied for post of Special Teacher (Physical Education) under Backward Class Category and secured 61 Marks in the written examination and attended the certificate verification - Application under technical qualification petitioner claimed as A Bechelor Degree in Physical Education and Sports (B.P.E.S) – Petitioner produced only B.P.E. certificate at the time of certificate verification, which is not prescribed in the notification – Her candidature was not considered on the ground that he does not possess required qualification”.
12.In the course of argument, the learned Special Government Pleader would submit that when the petitioners not having the requisite qualification of B.P.ES. or B.P.Ed., in the online application they have suppressed the same and they have stated that their technical qualification is Bachelor Degree in Physical http://www.judis.nic.in 12 Education and Sports [B.P.E.S], when in fact their qualification was only Bachelor of Physical Education [B.P.E.].
13.To counter the said submissions, the learned counsels appearing for these two petitioners would submit that as early as 1997, the Government of Tamil Nadu vide G.O.Ms.No.273, Personnel and Administrative Reforms ((R) Department, dated 18.11.1997 has clarified that the B.P.E. degree of Qwalior and Trivandrum Lakshmi Bai National Physical Education College is to be treated as equivalent to B.P.Ed. degree of Madras University and thereafter the University Grants Commission vide its notification dated 02.05.2016, has directed the Universities which are offering B.P.E. and M.P.E. Programmes shall restructure their programmes and award a degree as B.P.ES. and M.P.ES. and the same was gazetted in the Gazette of India dated 02.05.2016.
14.In the notification, the technical qualification is prescribed as M.P.Ed. or B.P.ES. offered by YMCA College of Physical Education, Chennai or a qualification equivalent thereto. Since it has already been made clear B.P.E. degree is equivalent to B.P.ES. Degree and the earlier B.P.E. and M.P.E. Programmes were restructured to B.P.ES. and M.P.ES. by virtue of UGC notification, http://www.judis.nic.in 13 their possession of B.P.E. degree which was in vogue prior to the notification of the UGC is equivalent to B.P.ES. Degree. The failure of the requiring agency and the Nodal Agency not mentioning B.P.ES. as one of the option cannot disentitle them to compete with the others when the notification itself has made very clear that the technical qualification shall be B.P.ES. or a qualification equivalent thereto.
15.Further the specific case of the petitioner in W.P(MD)No.21639 of 2018 [Mr.A.Anandha Kumar] is that besides B.P.E. degree, he has also passed M.P.Ed. Degree which is the Master Degree in Physical Education. While so, in the technical qualification prescribed under the notification, possession of M.P.Ed. degree whether acquired through regular course or directly without acquiring Bachelor Degree is one of the prescribed technical qualification. While so, his candidature cannot be rejected for want of technical qualification.
16.On considering these facts, when the notification is very clear that possession of B.P.Ed. degree or B.P.ES. degree or an equivalent certificate is prescribed as qualification, just because the petitioners were in possession of B.P.E. degree and not B.P.ES. http://www.judis.nic.in 14 degree, they cannot be considered as person without qualification. Furthermore, the nomenclature of B.P.E. degree has been done away as per the instruction of UGC. Before that, UGC has recognised B.P.E. degree. The State Government also had recognised that the B.P.E. degree issued by Qwalior and Trivandrum Lakshmi Bai National Physical Education College, as equivalent to the B.P.Ed. degree issued by the Madras University. Therefore, there is no need for further Equivalency Certificate by the Committee, because the B.P.E. degree which the petitioners herein possess is from the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, which was bifurcated from the Madras University much after passing of G.O.Ms.No.273, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, dated 18.11.1997. Therefore, this Court finds no merit in the submission made by the first respondent for rejecting the candidature of the petitioners as not possessing the required technical qualification.
17.Apart from the facts canvassed in the writ petitions pointing out the illegality of rejecting the candidature of the petitioners herein, this Court while dealing with the connected batch of writ petitions challenging the recruitment of Special Teachers [Physical Education] has found inherent infirmity in prescribing the http://www.judis.nic.in 15 eligible qualification for the post and has struck down as it is apparently based on outdated Service Rules of the year 1985. Therefore, in the light of the order passed in the batch of writ petitions in W.P(MD)Nos.21650 to 21655, 21665, 21667, 21850 to 21852 and 23003 of 2018, no specific order is required in these two writ petitions in respect of the relief sought for. Accordingly, these writ petitions are disposed of. No orders as to costs. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.
07.12.2018
Index : Yes / No [2/2]
Internet : Yes / No
smn
To
1.The Chairman,
Teachers Recruitment Board,
4th Floor, E.V.K.Sampath Maligai,
D.P.I. Compound, College Road,
Chennai – 600 006.
2.The Director of School Education,
O/o. The Directorate of School Education, College Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai – 6.
http://www.judis.nic.in 16 DR.G.JAYACHANDRAN, J.
smn COMMON ORDER MADE IN W.P(MD)Nos.21639 and 21666 of 2018 and W.M.P(MD)Nos.19544, 19576 and 19577 of 2018 [2/2] 07.12.2018 http://www.judis.nic.in