Punjab-Haryana High Court
Kulbir Singh & Ors vs State Of Haryana & Anr on 9 October, 2014
Author: Deepak Sibal
Bench: Satish Kumar Mittal, Deepak Sibal
CWP No.10174 of 2013 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CWP No.10174 of 2013
Date of decision : 09.10.2014
Kulbir Singh and others
...... Petitioners
Versus
State of Haryana and others
...... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SATISH KUMAR MITTAL
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK SIBAL
***
Present : Mr. Jasbir Mor, Advocates, for the petitioners.
Mr. Ravi Dutt Sharma, DAG, Haryana.
Mr. Chand Ram Olla, Advocate, for respondent No.3.
*** DEEPAK SIBAL, .J. Through the present petition, the petitioners challenge the vires of Rule 7 of the Haryana State Education School Cadre (Group-B) Service Rules 2012 (hereinafter to be referred as 'Rules') wherein qualifications have been prescribed for appointment to the post of Post Graduate Teacher (for short 'PGT') in Mathematics. The case of the petitioners is that since the Rules do not prescribe M.Sc Statistics as one of the qualifications for appointment as PGT in Mathematics while making holders of M.A./M.Sc Mathematics/Applied Mathematics with Mathematics as one of the subject at Graduation level eligible, therefore, the Rule itself is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and thus liable to be quashed.
The petitioners are Post Graduates and have done their Post Graduation in M.Sc Statistics. According to them, Rule 7 of the Rules JYOTI SHARMA 2014.10.14 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh CWP No.10174 of 2013 -2- which excludes M.Sc Statistics as one of the qualification for appointment to PGT Mathematics is liable to be set aside being contrary to law, particularly Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The relevant portion of the Rules wherein the requisite qualification for the post of PGT Mathematics is prescribed is reproduced as under:-
Sr. Designations Academic qualification Academic qualification and No. of Posts and experience, if any, experience, if any, for for direct recruitment on appointment other than by contract basis direct recruitment on contract basis
14. PGT By promotion:-
Mathematics
(i) M.A./ M.Sc. (i) M.A./ M.Sc.
Mathematics/Applied Mathematics/Applied Mathematics with Mathematics with Mathematics as one of the Mathematics as one of the subject at Graduation level subject at Graduation level with atleast 50% marks with atleast 50% marks and and B.Ed from recognized B.Ed from recognized university; university;
(ii) Matric with (ii) 2 years teaching
Hindi/Sanskrit or experience as TGT
10+2/B.A./M.A. With Mathematics;
Hindi as one of the subject
(iii) Certificate of having (iii) Certificate of having qualified Haryana Teacher qualified Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test (HTET)/ Eligibility Test (HTET)/ School Teachers School Teachers Eligibility Eligibility Test (STET) Test (STET)
(iv) Consistent good By transfer or deputation:-
academic record.
(i) M.A./ M.Sc.
Mathematics/Applied
Mathematics with
Mathematics as one of the
subject at Graduation level
with atleast 50% marks and
B.Ed from recognized
university.
(ii) 5 years teaching
experience as PGT
Mathematics;
(iii) Matric with
Hindi/Sanskrit or
10+2/B.A./M.A. with Hindi as
one of the subject.
(iv) Certificate of having
qualified Haryana Teacher
Eligibility Test (HTET)/
School Teachers Eligibility
Test (STET)
From a perusal of the above, it is clear that as per the JYOTI SHARMA 2014.10.14 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh CWP No.10174 of 2013 -3- qualifications prescribed for appointment as PGT Mathematics, persons who have done their M.A./M.Sc Mathematics/Applied Mathematics with Mathematics as one of the subject at Graduation level with atleast 50% marks, are eligible. The petitioners say that M.Sc Statistics should be considered equivalent to the above prescribed qualifications as in M.Sc Statistics, Mathematics is also a subject. The petitioners further submit that earlier in the year 2012 the State of Haryana had made a concession through corrigendum dated 03.07.2014 (Annexure P-6) whereby candidates with M.Sc Statistics were considered eligible for appointment to the post of PGT Mathematics and therefore, if once the State of Haryana had considered candidates with M.Sc Statistics for appointment to the post of PGT Mathematics, there was no reason in law not to do so in the future.
Upon notice, the State of Haryana has filed a written statement, wherein it is stated that to determine whether M.Sc Statistics should be one of the qualifications for appointment to the post of PGT Mathematics, a Committee under the Chairmanship of Director Elementary Education Haryana, was constituted on 24.07.2014. Additional Director Administration, Professor and Head Department of Mathematics, Kurukshetra University and Professor and Head Department of M.D. University, Rohtak were the other members of the Committee. The committee met on 25.07.2014 and after due deliberations came to a categoric opinion that Mathematics and Statistics were two different subjects at Graduation and Post Graduation level. This conclusion was arrived at after perusing the scheme and syllabi of both the subjects. The Committee was of the opinion that M.Sc Mathematics and M.Sc Statistics could not be considered as equivalent to M.A./M.Sc Mathematics for the JYOTI SHARMA 2014.10.14 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh CWP No.10174 of 2013 -4- purpose of essential qualification for the post of PGT Mathematics.
The Board of School Education Haryana has also presented its stand before this Court wherein it has been stated that M.Sc Statistics does not cover the entire syllabi of Mathematics and therefore, M.Sc Statistics cannot be equated with M.A. Mathematics/M.Sc Mathematics/Applied Mathematics.
From the above, it is clear that the experts in the field from their experience have given a firm opinion to the effect that M.Sc. Statistics cannot be considered equivalent to M.A. Mathematics/M.Sc Mathematics/ M.Sc Applied Mathematics. That being the position, as per the settled position of law, we refrain ourselves from entering into this issue any further. According to us, this issue is better left to the experts. It is equally well settled that it is prerogative of the employer to prescribe the qualifications to a particular post depending upon the needs and requirements of that post. Further, in the case in hand, statutory Rules under Article 309 of the Constitution of India have been framed by the State of Haryana prescribing qualifications for appointment to various posts including PGT Mathematics wherein the qualification of M.Sc Statistics is specifically excluded. We find nothing unreasonable or arbitrary in the same.
A similar issue, came up for consideration before this Court in CWP No.6704 of 2011 titled as 'Narender Kumar and another versus Haryana Public Service Commission', decided on 24.04.2012. The issue in that case was whether M.Sc Mathematics and M.Sc Applied Mathematics could be considered equivalent for appointment to the post of Lecturer in Maths in the School Cadre. After considering the facts of the case and the JYOTI SHARMA 2014.10.14 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh CWP No.10174 of 2013 -5- law on the subject it was held therein as under:-
"From the above judgments it is clear that (i) the employer has a prerogative to prescribe the qualification for a particular post or service which is either prescribed under the rules and if not depending upon the needs and requirement of the post the employer can accordingly prescribe the same, if such a qualification has been prescribed and has been advertised the employer can insist upon strict adherence thereto.
(ii) If the employer prescribes the essential qualification for appointment to a particular post and where it is not mentioned about the eligibility of the equivalent course to the prescribed qualifications either in the statutory rules or in the advertisement, absence of such a clause clearly indicates that the employer did not desire to appoint a person possessing equivalent qualification. (iii) A Court should not generally delve into determining as to whether a particular qualification is an exact equivalent to the one prescribed in the advertisement/statutory rules and leave the same to the employer to determine. (iv) Insistence on the advertisement, qualifications is also essential for the reason that if there is any deviation from the qualifications mentioned in the advertisement it would give rise to a grievance for all those who had some or even better qualifications than the appointee or appointees but who had not applied for the post because they did not possess the qualifications mentioned in the advertisement. This would amount to a fraud on public as public posts are to be filled in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and any violation thereof cannot permitted by the Court nor can the Court be a party to such illegal process of appointment.
In the light of the above, challenge of the petitioners to the order of rejection of their candidature cannot be accepted.
Petitioners have placed on record documents, communications and extracts of book of equivalence of recognized examination of the Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Guru Jambheswar University, Hisar and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak which do indicate that degree of M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics) possessed from Guru Jambheswar University, Hisar is equivalent to M.Sc. (Mathematics) of Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Reference has been made to already appointed Lecturers in Mathematics who possess the degree of M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics) and by treating them to be eligible they were recommended by the Commission and appointed by the Department of JYOTI SHARMA Education. Communications do indicate that there has been acceptance 2014.10.14 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh CWP No.10174 of 2013 -6- in principle by the State of Haryana with regard to the equivalence of the degree of M.Sc. (Applied Mathematics) obtained from the Guru Jambheswar University, Hisar to that of M.Sc. (Mathematics) obtained from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Since it has been held that the employer has a prerogative to prescribe the qualifications for a post and the Court should not delve into the issue of whether a particular qualification is an exact equivalent to the qualifications prescribed by the employer the said prerogative should therefore be left to the sole discretion of the employer."
In view of the above, we find no merit in the present petition and the same is dismissed but with no order as to costs.
(SATISH KUMAR MITTAL) (DEEPAK SIBAL)
JUDGE JUDGE
09.10.2014
Jyoti 1
JYOTI SHARMA
2014.10.14 18:03
I attest to the accuracy and
authenticity of this document
Chandigarh