Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Dr. T.Neeraja vs The Selection Committee For The Post Of ... on 7 January, 2021
Author: R. Raghunandan Rao
Bench: R. Raghunandan Rao
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO
W.P.No.26121 of 2018
ORDER:
The petitioner, who was working in Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), at the time of bifurcation of the State opted for Andhra Pradesh and joined as professor in the college of Home Science, Guntur on 13.08.2015. She was temporarily appointed as in- charge Dean of Home Science on 09.11.2015 and worked in that capacity up to 24.03.2018. While she was working as the In-charge Dean, the 3rd respondent-University had invited applications for various posts including the post of Dean on Home Science, by a notification dated 23.09.2016. As the initial process of selection was not completed within the stipulated time a re-notification of the earlier notification was done on 15.10.2017. Thereafter, interviews for all these posts including the post of Dean of Home Science, was held for five days from 19.03.2018 to 23.03.2018. The interview for the post of Dean was conducted for four applicants including the petitioner and respondent No.4 herein. After the interviews had been conducted, the Board of Management passed a resolution No.98, dated 24.03.2018 approving the appointment of the 4th respondent as Dean of Home Science. On the basis of this resolution, proceeding No.1541/OP/A1/2018, dated 24.03.2018 was issued by the Vice- Chancellor appointing the 4th respondent as Dean of Home Science.
2. The petitioner being aggrieved by these proceedings has approached this Court by way of the present writ petition.
3. It is the case of the petitioner that even though she is better qualified for the post of Dean of Home Science, the respondents caused injustice to the petitioner by appointing the 4th respondent as Dean of 2 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 Home Science. The petitioner by application dated 05.04.2018 requested for information relating to the evaluation of the candidates done in the selection process for the post of Dean of Home Science. The information sought by the petitioner was furnished to the petitioner under cover of letter dated 24.05.2018. The details of the marks awarded for the candidates who appeared for the interview were not initially furnished under the letter dated 24.05.2018. They were furnished later under letter dated 12.06.2018. The petitioner also submits that the details of the members who evaluated the applications and other details sought by her have not been given to the petitioner.
4. The scores awarded to the petitioner and the 4th respondent, are set out in the following manner in the affidavit.
Marks awarded to Sl.No. Description Total marks 4th respondent allotted in the Petitioner score card 1 Academic qualification 2 1 0 2 Service experience in the 13 9.5 7.5 relevant field 3 Significant Achievements 35 21 24 and their Socio economic impact 4 Publications and IPRs 12 10 10 5 Recognitions and Rewards 8 4 1 6 Managerial Capability 5 4 4 Leadership qualities Sub-Total 75 49.5 46.5 Viva-voce/Interview 25 14 18 Total 100 63.5 64.5
5. On the basis of this score card, the petitioner has complained against the marks awarded in Sl.No.3 relating to "significant achievements and their socio economic impact" and in relation to the marks awarded for the interview.
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6. It is the case of the petitioner that the score card under Sl.No.3 is further split into various categories and marks are required to be awarded under each sub-category separately. The University guidelines provided for allotment of marks under the following heads:
S.No.3 Significant Achievements & their Socio-Economic impact Total Marks (Five most Significant Achievements in the relevant field in marks under 250 words supported by documents) sub heads Research & Teaching
(i) Development of technologies of applied value 20 a. Technologies developed, validated and popularized like food, Nutrition & livelihood security;
Innovative programmes (child Health care, etc) developed; formulation of standards for food Quality/safety; Economic/knowledge empowerment programmes developed for rural/semi urban women folk and monitored (2 Marks/technology) - to a maximum of (10) b. Development/major revision of curriculum of UG and PG and 4 year degree programmes;
Courses taught (>2 credit courses for More than 5 years); Involvement in experimental learning;
Summer-winter schools organized;
Establishment of teaching Facilities;
Development of innovative teaching methods/courses (2 Marks/course)-to a maximum of (10)
(ii) Other Research and Academic Accomplishments: 15
a) Special Trainers' Training, women farmers' training and Development of commodity oriented SHGs (1 mark/course)- to a Maximum of (4)
b) Number of projects awarded through competitive research grant (grants exceeding Rs.10 lakhs/projects of 3-5 years (1 Mark/project for PI and ½ mark for Co-PI)- to a maximum of (4)
c) Post Graduate students supervised (Ph.D: major advisor 1 mark/student and co-chairman ½ Mark/student, M.Sc: major advisor ½ mark/student -
to a maximum of (4)
d) Served as Chairman/Member of
Research/Academic/Extension Councils/Review Committees / Task Forces/Govt. Commissioned Missions; Consultant at national, international and state levels (1/2 Mark/committee) - to a maximum of (3)
7. However, no such exercise was conducted and lump sum marks were awarded under Sl.No.3 of the score card. The petitioner 4 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 submits that this lump sum award of marks under Sl.No.3 is not in accordance with the procedure prescribed and as such the selection process is vitiated. The petitioner also submits that the petitioner could not have got less marks than the 4th respondent in Sl.No.3 as her achievements and their socio economic impact is much more than the 4th respondent. The Petitioner contends that the award of lower marks to the petitioner appears to have been done to favour the 4th respondent. The petitioner submits that a third party expert, who evaluated her application and the application of the 4th respondent, expressed the opinion that she was denied the marks which she was supposed to get and the marks awarded to the 4th respondent were magnified.
8. The 3rd respondent filed its counter affidavit. In the said counter affidavit, the 3rd respondent took the stand that the process of selection was done impartially and scrupulously following the selection procedure laid down in the statute of the university. The contention of the petitioner that sub-division of marks in each section of Sl.No.3 should have been done separately and should have been furnished to the petitioner is denied on the ground that the sub-division was done only for the purposes of assisting the interview members to evaluate impartially and that the sub-division was not for the purposes of awarding marks under each sub-category. The 3rd respondent took the stand that the reason why the petitioner scored low in Sl.No.3 is that the petitioner had resorted to plagiarism and in view of the said plagiarism the petitioner was awarded marks lower than the 4th respondent. The details of the plagiarism as given in the counter affidavit, are as follows:
i) Designing and fabrication of briquetting machine suitable for the manufacturing of biomass and charcoal briquettes which is highly impossible, since she is neither qualified nor experienced in that field.
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ii) She has also claimed that she has developed ergonomic technologies for manual material handling which is copied from the article Ergonomic guideline for manual material handling, published by California Department of Industrial Relations USA, 2007.
iii) The petitioners' claim of technology development of Ergonomic Interventions for safety in construction work"
is nothing but a copy from an article published by Ohio Bureau of workers compensation titled ergonomic best practices for construction industry.
iv) Credit in developing adulteration testing kit is false because she neither developed any new method of testing nor identified any reagent.
v) She has falsely claimed that she has developed measuring instruments.
9. As far as the marks awarded to the petitioner in the interview are concerned, the 3rd respondent submits that the interview board had done their job without any favours being done to the 4th respondent and in any event none of the members had any reason to have any bias against the petitioner herein.
10. The 4th respondent has also filed a counter affidavit setting out her qualifications. She also raised questions of plagiarism against the petitioner. The petitioner filed a reply affidavit countering the allegations made by the 3rd and 4th respondents.
11. Heard Sri J. Sudheer, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri N. Sriram Murthy, learned Standing Counsel for respondents 1 to 3 and Sri M. Surender Rao, learned Senior Counsel for the 4th respondent.
12. Sri J. Sudheer, learned counsel for the petitioner reiterated the pleadings in the writ petition and the reply affidavit filed by the petitioner. He submitted that the award of marks under Sl.No.3 and for the interview, in the table reproduced above, were deliberately reduced for the petitioner inasmuch as there could be no other explanation as to why the petitioner was given marks lesser than the 4th respondent, even though the petitioner had more achievements to her name and had done 6 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 better than the 4th respondent in the interview. Sri J. Sudheer primarily contended that even though the Selection Committee were to award separate marks under various sub-headings given for Sl.No.3, lump sum marks were given without awarding marks under different sub-headings. He submits that this non-division of marks between various sub-headings is fatal to the entire proceeding and as such the entire proceeding requires to be set aside.
13. Sri M. Surender Rao, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the 4th respondent would submit that the contention of Sri J. Sudheer regarding non-award of marks under each sub-heading is not correct. Sri M. Surender Rao submits that the Score Card Guidelines was not attached to the notification calling for applications. This score card guidelines with sub division came out only when the 3rd Respondent supplied the same to the Petitioner in compliance of a request under the Right to Information Act. He submits that these guidelines were given only for the purpose of assisting the members of the selection board and there is no statutory basis for these guidelines. He submits that in those circumstances, the award of lumpsum marks cannot be challenged as arbitrary or that the evaluation had to be done only by awarding marks under each category.
14. The learned senior Counsel further submits that in the guidelines score card sub-division of marks was provided for Sl.No.2, Sl.No.3, Sl.No.4 and Sl.No.5. The Selection Committee had awarded lump sum marks again for Sl.No.1 to 6. However, Sri J. Sudheer had no objection to award of lump sum marks under Sl.No.2, 4 & 5 as the petitioner had got higher marks than the 4th respondent or marks accrued to the 4th respondent. It is only because the petitioner got lesser marks than the 4th respondent in Sl.No.3 that the petitioner is objecting to award 7 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 of lump sum marks under Sl.No.3. Sri M. Surender Rao also submits that having given up the challenge against award of lump sum marks in Sl.Nos.2, 4 & 5, the petitioner cannot maintain a challenge against the award of lump sum marks under Sl.No.3.
15. Sri M. Surender Rao further contended that award of lump sum marks without awarding marks on sub-divided basis is valid and had been upheld by various judgments reported in State of Karnataka and anr., v. M. Farida & Ors.1; G.L. Reddy v. University of Hyderabad and Ors.2; Osmania University rep. By its Registrar, Hyderabad v. Abdul Rayees Khan and Ors.3; and A. Peeriakaruppan and Ors. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.4.
16. Sri J. Sudheer, in reply to the aforesaid contentions, submitted that when the 3rd respondent-university sought to penalise the petitioner, by way of a memo dated 14.03.2019, on the ground of plagiarism by her, the petitioner had approached this Court by way of W.P.No.4531 of 2019, which was allowed by order dated 23.12.2019 setting aside the memo. He submits that in view of the above decision, the respondents cannot rely on the ground of plagiarism to deny the petitioner the rightful marks due to her in Sl.No.3 of the Score Card Guidelines.
Consideration of the Court:
17. Sri J. Sudheer had contended that the petitioner could not have been awarded marks lower than the 4th respondent in the interview as she had done better. The Selection Board had evaluated the 1 AIR 1976 SC 2482 2 2002 Supp (2) ALD 703 3 (1997) 3 SCC 124;
4AIR 1971 SC 2303 8 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 performance of both the Petitioner and the 4th Respondent and had awarded higher marks to the 4th Respondent. This Court, while dealing with such an issue under Article 226 of the Constitution cannot second guess the selection board or impose it's perception of who had performed better. In any event, no material has been placed before this Court in support of the submission of the petitioner that she had performed better. This contention would have to be negatived.
18. Sri J. Sudheer contended that the award of lower marks on the ground of plagiarism is not justified, as this Court by its order dated 23.12.2019 in W.P. No. 4531 of 2019 had absolved the Petitioner of any liability on that account. The facts in W.P. No. 4531 of 2019 were that the 3rd Respondent-university sought to penalise the Petitioner, on the ground of plagiarism, under the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 adopted by the 3rd Respondent University on 15.12.2018, with effect from the academic year 2019-20. The said Writ Petition came to be allowed on the ground that the plagiarism took place in 2015-16 while the regulations came into force only in 2019-20 and as such cannot be applied to events of 2015-16. This finding does not in any way absolve the Petitioner from the charge of plagiarism. This contention would have to be rejected.
19. On the question of award of marks under each sub division, the judgements cited by Sri M. Surender Rao would have to be considered.
20. In the Case of A. Peeriakaruppan and Ors. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. (4 supra) the Hon'ble Supreme Court considered the issue of award of lumpsum marks in the interview conducted for 9 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 medical admissions and had held that the award of lumpsum marks without awarding marks on itemised basis would be illegal.
21. In the case of State of Karnataka and anr., v. M. Farida & Ors. (1 supra) a constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, considering the ratio of A. Peeriakaruppan, had held as follows:
"Whether a block mark should be given after the interview on a consideration of the qualities evinced by a candidate, or marks are to be allotted separately under each head depends, in our opinion, upon the rule regulating the examination".
However, the Constitution bench went on to hold that an overall view of the capacities of the candidate should be taken into account and the award of marks under each head may not be any better than the award of lumpsum marks.
22. The judgement in Osmania University rep. By its Registrar, Hyderabad v. Abdul Rayees Khan and Ors. (3 supra) does not consider the question of sub division of marks vis a vis award of lumpsum marks, and may not be relevant to the present case.
23. In the case of G.L. Reddy v. University of Hyderabad and Ors. (2 supra) the erstwhile High Court of Andhra Pradesh while considering the question of non awarding of separate marks in relation to different heads, had negatived the challenge on that score on the ground that neither the statutes of the university or the guidelines prescribed by the university require allocation of marks under different heads at the interview.
24. A review of these judgements would go to show that where the procedure requires award of separate marks under each head, award of lumpsum marks would be contrary to procedure and the process would 10 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 have to be set aside. The contention of Sri M. Surender Rao is that the sub division of marks is contained in the internal guidelines given to the selection committee and the said guidelines cannot be elevated to the status of rules which are binding. I am afraid that I cannot accept this contention. The Selection board were given guidelines allotting marks under each sub heading. These guidelines may not have been shared with the candidates, nevertheless the selection board ought to have followed the guidelines which required the selection board to allot marks under different sub headings to ensure that each aspect of the candidate is considered and evaluated. The fact that marks have been awarded lumpsum is clearly an irregularity.
25. However, the question remains whether setting aside the appointment of the 4th Respondent would be the appropriate remedy. It is only the Petitioner who has challenged the selection of the 4th Respondent, while the other two unsuccessful candidates have not chosen to challenge the selection of the 4th Respondent. Even if the matter is remanded to the selection committee to award marks according to the sub heads, it is clear that the selection committee, on account of the charge of plagiarism against the Petitioner are not going to award any marks higher than the 4th respondent and as such the exercise would be an exercise in futility.
26. In these circumstances, the Writ Petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, pending miscellaneous petitions, if any, shall stand closed.
_________________________ R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO, J.
7th January, 2021 Js.
11 RRR,J W.P.No.26121 of 2018 HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO W.P.No.26121 of 2018 7th January, 2021 Js.