Delhi High Court
Akash Akhil & Ors. vs Govt. Of Nct Of Delhi & Ors. on 24 September, 2021
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2021 DEL 1819
Author: Rajiv Shakdher
Bench: Rajiv Shakdher, Talwant Singh
$~1(2021)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
% Decision delivered on: 24.09.2021
+ W.P.(C) 7452/2021 & CM No.23446/2021
AKASH AKHIL & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through : Mr. Ashok Agarwal, Adv.
versus
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through : Ms. Vibha Mahajan Seth, Adv. for
R-1 & 3.
Mrs Avnish Ahlawat, SC with Mrs
Tania Ahlawat Mr Nitesh Kumar
Singh and Ms Palak Rohemetra for
R-2/DSSSB.
Ms. Sangita Rai, Adv. for some
private respondents.
Mr. Manish Mohan, CGSC with Ms.
Manisha Saroha, Adv. for R-23/
NIELIT.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SHAKDHER
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TALWANT SINGH
[Physical Court Hearing]
RAJIV SHAKDHER, J. (ORAL):
1. This writ petition is directed against the order dated 09.07.2021, passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (in short 'the tribunal') in O.A.No.2652/2017.
2. The petitioners before us, presently, are aggrieved by the fact that, they have not been considered for appointment to the post of Trained Graduate Teacher (Computer Science) (Post Code 192/14) [hereafter referred as "TGT (Computer Science)"].
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 1 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:142.1 We may also note that, apart from the official respondents, some private respondents are also arrayed as parties to the instant petition. While Mr. Ashok Agarwal, Advocate, represents the petitioners, Ms. Sangita Rai, Advocate, represents some of the private respondents. The private respondents, we are told, are arrayed as respondent nos.4 to 22 in the writ petition.
3 It would also be relevant to note that, some of the private respondents had approached this court on an earlier occasion, which resulted in the Division Bench of this court passing a judgment, on 21.12.2018. This judgment was rendered in W.P.(C.) No.13885/2018, titled Dayanand & Ors. v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors.
3.1. Interestingly, Ms. Rai represented the petitioners, at that stage. Via the aforesaid petition, challenge had been laid to the tribunal's order dated 12.10.2018. The court, after hearing the parties in the matter, set aside the said order of the tribunal and remanded the case to the tribunal for a fresh hearing.
3.2. The rationale provided by the Division Bench, vide its judgment dated 21.12.2018, is adverted to in paragraph 3. For the sake of convenience, the same is extracted hereafter:
"3. Mr. Luthra has sought to justify the findings returned by the Tribunal by relying upon inter alia on the judgment of the Anamika Shakla v. State of Madhya Pradesh in WA No. 917/2016 decided on 14.12.2016. He also submits that the MCA Degree obtained by the respondents is equivalent to graduation in any subject with 'A' level course from DOEACC, Ministry of Information and Communication and Technology, Government of India, which is also one of the qualifications prescribed. In our view, the Tribunal should have undertaken a more detailed and in- depth examination of this particular issue i.e. as to whether the two year degree of MCA obtained after graduation in any subject, could be considered to be a higher qualification, or at par., with Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 2 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 the three year BCA degree, and whether the attainment of MCA qualification subsumes within it the qualification of BCA. The views of the Governing Councils such as AICTE, Association of Indian Universities, who are concerned with the field of Computer Education, should also have been called for."
4. Mr. Agarwal has drawn our attention to the essential qualification, provided in the relevant recruitment rules [in short "RRs"] for being considered for appointment to the subject post. It would be relevant, therefore, to allude to that part of the RRs, which concerns essential qualifications:
"Essential Qualification-
1. Bachelors Degree in Computer Application (BCA) from a recognized University OR Graduation in Computer Science from a recognised University (Provided that the Computer Science subject must be studied in all years as main subject) OR B.E./B.Tech. (Computer Science/Information Technology) from a recognised University OR Graduation in any subject and 'A' level course from DOEACC, Ministry of Information & Communication and Technology, Govt. of India."
4.1. Mr. Agarwal has argued, and in our view, quite correctly, that, the tribunal has not examined the issue as to, whether or not the petitioners have qualifications which are equivalent to the following essential qualification provided in the RRs:
"1.....OR Graduation in any subject and 'A' level course from DOEACC, Ministry of Information & Communication and Technology, Government of India"
4.2. Mr. Agarwal says that, the petitioners have acquired a degree in Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 3 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 Master of Computer Application (MCA), and that MCA is equivalent to the 'A' Level Course, which is conducted by the Department of Electronics and Accreditation of Computer Courses [in short "DOEACC"; presently known as, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT)]. For this purpose, Mr. Agarwal relies upon the notification dated 26.09.2000, issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resources & Development, Department of Secondary Education & Higher Education, which is appended to the affidavit filed by NIELIT, before the tribunal. 4.3. In addition, thereto, Mr. Agarwal also relies upon a report prepared by the, then Director (Education), Directorate of Education (DoE) i.e., Ms. Saumya Gupta. In particular, emphasis has been laid by Mr. Agarwal on the following portions of the report:
"32. Coming to the point of whether the higher education pre supposes the acquisition of the lower qualification it is seen that the candidates have either the qualification of Masters in Computer Application (MCA) or M.Sc in Computer Science. The qualification prescribed in the RRs for the post of TGT (Computer Science) provide for (1) BCA or (2) Graduation in Computer Science or (3) Graduation in any subject and 'A' level course from DOEACC Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. The qualification prescribed for PGT (Computer Science) provides for (1) M.Sc Computer Science/MCA plus One year teaching experience, amongst other qualifications. Therefore, the qualifications of M.Sc Computer Science as well as MCA appear to the standing up to the principle laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court as mentioned at serial no.2 above.
33. The matter was also examined to check whether the candidates also fulfil the principle (1) laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court a stated above. In this context, it was observed that as per information available on the site of NIELIT (erstwhile DOEACC Society, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Govt. of India, 'A' Level Course of NIELIT Scheme is equivalent to advance diploma in Computer Application. After completion of 'A' Level course, students can further enrol in 'B' Level course of Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 4 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 NIELIT scheme. Further, 'B' Level course of NIELIT Scheme has been recognised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development as professionally equivalent to MCA degree course. As per the eligibility condition laid down by NIELIT for admission for 'B' Level course, students who have done an 'A' Level course are exempted from the first two semesters. Further, a comparative chart of the syllabus of 'A' level and 'B' level was also examined as per detail below:-
Comparison between 'A' level course and 'B' level course 'A' Level 'B' Level A1- IT Tools and Business B1.1-R4 IT Tools and Business Systems R4 System A2- Internet Technology B1.2-R4 Internet Technology and Web R4 and Web Design Design A3- Programming and B1.3-R4 Programming and Problem R4 Problem Solving Solving through 'C' Language through 'C' A4- Computer System B1.4-R4 Computer System Architecture R4 Architecture A5- Structural System B1.5-R4 Structural System Analysis and R4 Analysis and Design Design A6- Data Structure B2.1-R4 Data Structure through C++ R4 through 'C++' A7- Introduction of Data B2.2-R4 Introduction of Data Base R4 Base Management Management System System A8- Basics of OS, UNIX B2.3-R4 Basics of OS, UNIX and Shell R4 and Shell Programming Programming A9- Data Communication B2.4-R4 Data Communication and R4 and Network Network Technologies Technologies B2.5-R4 Elective 1 (one of the following two subjects to be chosen) ___1-R4 introduction to object Oriented Programming through Java B2.52-R4 Software Testing and Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 5 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 Quality Management B3.1-R4 Management Fundamentals and Information Systems B3.2-R4 Basic Mathematics B3.3-R4 Software Engineering & CASE Tools B3.4-R4 Operating Systems B3.5-R4 Networking & Mobile Communications B4.1-R3 Computer Based Statistical & Numerical Techniques B4.2-R3 Discrete Structure B4.3-R3 Software Testing and Quality Management B4.4-R3 Computer Graphics & Multimedia Systems B4.5-R3 Internet Technologies and Tools B5.1-R3 Professional and Business Communications B5.2-R3 Object Oriented Database Management System B5.3-R3 Network Management and Information Security BE-R3 Any two Elective from BE1- Respondent No.3 to BE10- Respondent No.3 **List of the Subjects from which the above electives can be chosen are:
BE1-R3 Embedded Systems
BE2-R3 AI and Applications
BE3-R3 E-Business
BE4-R3 Principle of Modeling &
Simulation
BE5-R3 Parallel Computing
BE6-R3 Software Project Management
BE7-R3 Applied Bio-Informatics
BE8-R3 Digital Image Processing
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 6 of 9
By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI
Signing Date:28.09.2021
13:02:14
BE9-R3 Accounting & Financial
Management
BE10-R3 Applied Operations Research
At 'B' level there are two
projects. The first one will be
as for 'A' level and to be
completed as for 'A' level. The
second project should
approximately amount to an
effort of 500 man-hours, 300
marks are assigned. The
project should be chosen by the
candidates and approved by
the DOEACC Society. The
should be submitted after
completion of all papers with a
fee of Rs.3000/- and a
certificate. DOEACC Society
will constitute a Board of two
experts to conduct a viva-voce.
From the above chart, it can clearly be seen that all the nine subjects studied at the 'A' Level are also the starting nine subjects for the 'B' Level course. Thus, it can be inferred that for the qualification of MCA which is equivalent to 'B' Level course, has been acquired in the same faculty and thus pre supposes the acquisition qualification of 'A' Level prescribed for the post of TGT (Computer Science).
xxx xxx xxx
35. Thus the only objection of the branch that now remains to be seen is there could be numerous candidates who possess such higher qualifications/degree who may not have applied as RRs did not contain these qualifications and therefore, giving appointments to these candidates would amount to depriving the other highly qualified candidates who did not apply. In this context, it is seen that this issue was also considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of Jyoti K.K. and Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 7 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 others VS. Kerala Public Service Commission. The Hon'ble Supreme Court at para 7 of the judgment has mentioned that the High Court while dismissing the petition of the petitioners had been of the view that "all those who had similar or even better qualifications than those candidates would not have applied for the post because they did not possess the qualifications mentioned in the advertisement and such a position would result in fraud on public to appoint persons with inferior qualifications". The Hon'ble Supreme Court, while holding that the stand of the High Court was not justified, has at para 9 of the judgment held as under:-
"In this case we are not concerned with the question whether all those who possess such qualifications could have applied or not. When statutory rules have been published and those rules are applicable, it presupposes that everyone concerned with such appointments will be aware of such rules or make himself aware of the rules before making appropriate applications. The High Court, therefore, is not justified in holding that recruitment of appellants would amount to fraud on the public".
36. In view of the facts and circumstances mentioned above, the judgments passed by the various courts including Division Bench of the Delhi High Court and Hon'ble Supreme Court, I am of the concerned view that the candidates possessing the qualification of MCA/M.Sc (Computer Science) should be given appointment to the post of TGT (Computer Science). This would not only give us the opportunity to engage the services of better qualified and meritorious teachers in a timely manner but would also spare the department unnecessary litigation."
5. Ms. Vibha Mahajan Seth, who appears on behalf of respondent nos.1 and 3, cannot but accept the fact that, the issue brought to fore by Mr. Agarwal has not been dealt with, in the impugned order, by the tribunal. 5.1. Ms. Avnish Ahlawat, who appears on behalf of respondent no.2, submits likewise.
5.2. Mr. Manish Mohan, who appears on behalf of respondent Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 8 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14 no.23/NIELIT, also takes the same position.
6. Insofar as Ms. Rai is concerned, while she represents, as indicated above, some of the private respondents, and contends that, the petitioners are not qualified for the subject post, she does fairly concede that, the issue raised by Mr. Agarwal has not been dealt with, in the impugned order. 6.1. According to Ms. Rai as well, the matter needs to be remanded to the tribunal for a de novo hearing in the matter.
7. Given this position, the order of the tribunal, dated 09.07.2021, is set aside.
7.1. The tribunal is directed, once again, to decide the matter afresh, bearing in mind, inter alia, the issue brought to fore by the petitioners before us i.e., that 'A' level course is equivalent to MCA. 7.2. Needless to add, that before a final order is rendered by the tribunal, all sides will be heard, including the private respondents who are represented by Ms. Rai.
7.3 We may also add that, the order passed by us will not impact the merits of the case.
7.4. In order to hasten the proceedings, the parties and/or their respective counsels will appear before the Registrar of the tribunal, on 28.10.2021.
8. The petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms. Consequently, the pending application shall also stand closed.
RAJIV SHAKDHER, J TALWANT SINGH, J SEPTEMBER 24, 2021/aj Click here to check corrigendum, if any Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7452/2021 Page 9 of 9 By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.09.2021 13:02:14