Rajasthan High Court - Jaipur
State Of Raj And Ors vs Surender Singh Maharia on 6 April, 2017
Author: K.S. Jhaveri
Bench: K.S. Jhaveri
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT
JAIPUR
D.B. Special Appeal Writ No. 850 / 2006
1. State of Rajasthan Through Its Secretary, Department of
Education, Rajasthan, Jaipur.
2. Director, Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Bikaner.
3. District Education Officer, Secondary Education, Churu.
----Appellants
Versus
Surender Kumar Mahafia Son of Shri Narain Lal Maharia, Aged
About 27 Years, Village and Post Jairampura, Tehsil Shrimadhopur,
District Sikar.
----Respondent
_____________________________________________________
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Anurag Sharma, AAG
_____________________________________________________
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.S. JHAVERI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAY KUMAR VYAS
Judgment
Per Hon'ble Jhaveri, J.
06/04/2017
1. By way of this appeal, the appellant has challenged the
judgment and order of the learned Single Judge passed on
03.04.2006 whereby the learned Single Judge relying upon the
decision in the case of State of Rajasthan & Ors. vs. Umesh
Jangid 1998 (1) WLC 287 has allowed the writ petition which
was subsequently diluted by the Division Bench in the case of
State of Rajasthan & Ors. vs. Raees Ahmed Qureshi DB Civil
Special Appeal No.450/2006, decided on 14.11.2016 which reads
as under:
"These three special appeals involve a
common dispute and as such they were
(2 of 7)
[SAW-850/2006]
heard together and are disposed of by this
common order. The appeals are directed
against the orders of the learned Single
Judge in different writ petitions allowing
the petitions of the respondents. The
respondents had filed writ petitions for
direction to allow them bonus marks for
their participation in sports tournaments
for the purpose of recruitment on the post
of Physical Teacher Gr.III. As per the
advertisement issued on 28.7.2003, merit
of the candidate was to be assessed on the
basis of marks awarded for the secondary
examination, senior secondary
examination, C.P.Ed/D.P.Ed./B.P.Ed./B.P.E.
examination and domicile. The total value
of marks for these examinations and
domicile was 100 allocated in the ratio
mentioned in the advertisement. The
advertisement provided that for extra
curricular achievements in
NCC/Scout/Guide/Sports, Dance, Music
etc. bonus marks "as prescribed" will be
awarded on production of the certificate.
The case of the respondent in D.B.Civil
Special Appeal no.450/2006 is that he had
participated in the inter college Kho-kho
tournament held by Maharshi Dayanand
Saraswati University, Ajmer. According to
him the tournament in question was state
level tournament for which he is entitled to
10 bonus marks. In D.B.Civil Special
Appeal no. 558/2006, the respondent
claims to have participated in the inter
university west zone Hockey tournament
held at Jiwaji University, Gwalior. In
D.B.Civil Special Appeal no.751/2006 the
respondent claims to have participated in
the inter university south/west zone Kho-
kho tournament at Gulbarga University,
Gulbarga. According to them the
tournaments were national level
tournament and for such participation they
are entitled to 15 bonus marks but they
have been allowed only 10 bonus marks
treating the tournaments as state level
tournaments. It is relevant to mention here
that selections were made in terms
of a circular dated 31.7.2003. The circular
laid down instructions/guidelines for
appointment on the post of Physical
Training Instructor Gr.III. The circular inter
alia provided for 10 bonus marks for sports
competitions held at the State level and 15
(3 of 7)
[SAW-850/2006]
bonus marks for sports competitions held
at national level. The State level
competition was described to mean (a)
'Rajya Stariya Khel-kood Pratiyogita' state
level sports competition and (b) 'Vishwa
Vidyalaya Zonal Khel-kood Pratiyogita' i.e.
university level sports competition.
The national level competition was
described to mean (a) national level
universities sports competition, (b)
university inter-zone competition and (c)
all India international Universities
competition in events in which zonal sports
competitions are not held.
According to the respondent of D.B.Civil
Special Appeal no.450/2006 inter college
Kho-kho tournament having been held at
the university level it was a university level
competition and therefore, he was entitled
to 10 bonus marks but the same was
denied to him.
Similarly, the case of respondent of
D.B.Civil Special Appeal nos.558/2006 and
751/2006 is that competitions in which
they participated were inter - university
zonal competitions for which they were
entitled to 15 bonus marks but they were
allowed only 10 bonus marks treating the
same as state level competition. A similar
controversy arose for consideration before
this Court in D.B.Civil Special Appeal no.
195/2004 (Ganesha Ram v. State of
Rajasthan & ors.). Interpreting the circular
in question it was observed -
"tournaments are organized by different
universities some of which are held within
the zone itself such as North Zone, East
Zone, West Zone, South Zone while others
are held between universities of different
zones. Tournaments held between
universities of the same zone qualify as
"state level competition" for which 10
bonus marks are awarded and
tournaments held between different
universities of different zones qualify as
"national level competition" and 15 bonus
marks are awarded for the same."
The Court held as under -
"to qualify for bonus marks, the
tournament must be one in which different
universities participate- either within the
same zone or different zones. Participation
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[SAW-850/2006]
in any competition between different
universities within the same zone would
fetch 10 bonus marks. Participation in any
competition between universities of
different zones will make the person
eligible for award of 15 bonus marks."
That was a case of inter-college
tournament and this Court rejected the
claim of the petitioner observing that in the
absence of any mention of inter-college
tournament / competition in the circular
dated 31.7.2003, he can not claim any
bonus marks for participation in the
concerned sports event. The case of the
respondent of D.B.Civil Special Appeal no.
450/2006 on his own saying that he
participated in an inter-college tournament
is squarely covered by the said judgment
and therefore must to be rejected. Coming
to the case of respondent of D.B.Civil
Special Appeal no. 558/2006, as
mentioned above, the respondent claims to
have participated in the inter - university
west zone Hockey tournament held at
Jiwaji University, Gwalior. As held in the
case of Ganesha Ram (supra) participation
in any competition between universities of
different zones makes the person eligible
for award of 15 bonus marks. It is not the
case of the respondent that the
tournament in question was between
universities of different zones and
therefore, we do not think, the respondent
was entitled to 15 bonus marks. He has
been awarded 10 bonus marks for such
participation treating the tournament as
state level tournament, and in our opinion
rightly. As the tournament was between
the universities but of the same zone i.e.
west zone, the case of this respondent also
therefore must be rejected. Now coming to
D.B.Civil Special Appeal no. 751/2006, the
case of the respondent is that tournament
in question was between universities of
different zones, namely, south west zone
held at Gulbarga University, Gulbarga and
being an inter- university/ zonal
tournament it should be treated as national
level tournament for which he was entitled
to 15 bonus marks. It was submitted that
the respondent participated in the event as
Captain of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati
University,Ajmer team. The said university
(5 of 7)
[SAW-850/2006]
falls in west zone and the fact that the
tournament was held at Gulbarga
University, Gulbarga falling within the
south zone shows that it was an inter-zonal
tournament. Counsel for the respondent
referred to the certificate issued by the Sports Board of the University i.e. Mahrishi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer. The certificate after omitting the words scored out reads as under :
"This is to certify that Vijay Kumar Pareek of S.D.Physical Training College, Kekri was selected to represent as Captain of the Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer Kho-kho team in the inter University South Zone Kho-kho tournament held at Gulbarga Univ. Gulbarga in the year 2001-
02."
It is pertinent to mention here that the certificate is in a printed proforma in which the names of the participant, the college, sports event and the university have been written by hand - in the blank portions as shown in the printed proforma. The certificate omitting the hand-written words but indicating the blanks runs as under :-
"This is to certify that ___________of _____________ was selected to represent as ________of the Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer ________team in the Inter University South/West Zone/Inter Zonal/All India ___________ tournament held at _________________in the year 19___."
It would appear that the words "south" and "west" are interjected by an oblique ( / ) mark. Indeed, it would appear from the proforma that words "Inter Zonal" and "All India" too are interjected by oblique ( / ) mark but they were scored out. It is relevant to point out the words "South" and "Zone" were given a tick mark ( ) which shows that the event was a South zone event. By scoring out the words "Inter Zonal", the doubt, if any, about the level of tournament -whether it was an intra or inter zonal tournament - stands removed. We have observed above that to qualify for 15 bonus marks the event must be between different universities of different zones. The submission that the (6 of 7) [SAW-850/2006] respondent represented the Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, a university falling within west zone and the event being at Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, the tournament therefore should be held to be inter zonal tournament appears to be attractive but it is not possible to go behind the certificate. As mentioned at the outset, in terms of the advertisement dated 28.7.2003 bonus marks were to be awarded "on production of certificate". The certificate therefore has to be taken on its face value. There is no averment in the writ petition that entries in the certificate are not correct. We are of the view that if the entries were not correctly made, the respondent should have taken steps to get the certificate corrected/amended. At this stage, without any pleading - muchless evidence on the point, it is not possible to accept the respondent's case that the tournament was inter - zonal tournament and award him 15 bonus marks on that basis. Case of this respondent also therefore has to be rejected.
Before we conclude, we would like to observe that where the selection is made mainly on the basis of academic qualifications by awarding marks for the concerned qualifications/examinations (besides domicile) any provision for bonus marks which accounts for 10% or 15% of the total marks - the total value of marks being 100 -should be strictly construed. Such bonus mark is likely to materially affect the selection and prospects of other candidates. The object underlying such a provision no doubt is to give some advantage to bona fide sports-persons of standing but it is not an essential qualification though it may be additional qualification. In the above premises, the direction of the learned Single Judge to award 10/15 bonus marks, as the case may be, to the respondents does not appear to be in accordance with law, which is accordingly set aside. The appeals are thus allowed."
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2. Taking into consideration the view taken by the Division Bench, the view taken by the learned Single Judge is required to be quashed and set aside since the SLP against the said judgment was dismissed.
3. In that view of the matter, the appeal deserves to be allowed and the order of the learned Single Judge is quashed and set aside.
4. The appeal stands allowed.
(VIJAY KUMAR VYAS),J. (K.S. JHAVERI),J.
Asheesh kr. Yadav/43