Gujarat High Court
Dhokiya Kajal Mohanbhai vs State Of Gujarat & on 26 April, 2016
Author: J.B.Pardiwala
Bench: J.B.Pardiwala
C/SCA/4352/2012 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 4352 of 2012
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DHOKIYA KAJAL MOHANBHAI....Petitioner(s)
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & 1....Respondent(s)
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Appearance:
MR TR MISHRA, ADVOCATE for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR UTKARSH SHARMA, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
RULE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 1 - 2
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA
Date : 26/04/2016
ORAL ORDER
By this writ-application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner desirous of seeking appointment on the post of Vidya Sahayak has prayed for the following reliefs :
"(A) Your Lordships may be pleased to issue a writ in nature of mandamus or certiorari and/or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, quashing and setting aside the impugned letter dated 26.9.2011 at Annexure-J to this petition being illegal, arbitrary and against decision rendered by this Hon'ble Court in several other petitions.
(B) Be pleased to direct the respondent to consider the case of the petitioner and issue the appointment order forthwith maintaining seniority of the petitioner as per the merit list.
(C) Pending admission, hearing and final disposal of the petition, Your Lordships be pleased to direct the respondents to reconsider the whole issue keeping in view of the averments and submissions made in this petition.
(D) Any other and further reliefs may be granted in favour of petitioners as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper under the circumstances of the case."Page 1 of 4
HC-NIC Page 1 of 4 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:51:45 IST 2016 C/SCA/4352/2012 ORDER The petitioner belongs to the OBC category. She passed the TET (Teacher Eligibility Test). She also passed and obtained a Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Computer Application, a three-year full time course imparted by the Saurashtra University. She also did her Bachelor of Education with Science and Maths. According to the advertisement, the requirement was B.Sc. (Computer Science). Her candidature came to be rejected as she had a Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Computer Application. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that in view of the clarification issued by the Saurashtra University by letter dated 23rd August 2011 (Annexure-K to this petition, page 35), the Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Computer is equivalent to the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Information Technology). The Saurashtra University, further, by certificate dated 6th August 2012, certified as under :
"This is to certify that Dhokiya Kajal Mohanbhai has passed BIT & CA Semester 1 to 6 Examination during the year 2001 to 2003 from Saurashtra University.
It is to further certify that BIT & CA Degree is re-nomenclature as B.Sc. (IT). The relevant portion of our statute is reproduced below.
Statute 158(3) Faculty of Science (16) Bachelor of Info. Tech & Comp Application (BIT & CA) (B.Sc. IT)"
An affidavit-in-reply has been filed on behalf of the respondents, duly affirmed by the Administrative Officer, Directorate of Primary Education, inter alia, stating as under :
"7. The deponent submits that as per the Government Resolution dated 27.4.2011 the qualification possesses by the petitioner is not eligible for the post of Vidhyasahayak. The petitioner is possessing the qualification of Bachelor of IT and Computer Application whereas as per the Government Resolution dated 27.04.2011 the candidates suppose to have required qualifications of B.Sc. which the petitioner did not possess and therefore the petition deserves to be dismissed.
8. The deponent further submits that the petitioner filled up the form with false information and only on this ground the petition deserves to be rejected. The deponent requested to this Hon'ble Court to kindly turn on Page 2 of 4 HC-NIC Page 2 of 4 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:51:45 IST 2016 C/SCA/4352/2012 ORDER page 12 (At Annexure A) of the memo of the petition in that the petitioner shows her qualification as BSC. Though the petitioner did not possessing the qualification of BSC she possesses the qualification of Bachelor of IT and Computer Application. Hence, the form filled up by the petitioner with false information at the time of the filling of the application form.
9. The deponent submits that even as per the conditions of the very same form it becomes very clear that if any applicant filled up form with wrong information then they are not entitled for the appointment. The deponent request this Hon'ble Court to kindly see the bottom of the application form (Page 12), hence only on this ground for filing this petition with false information and come before this Hon'ble Court without clear hands the petition deserves to be rejected.
10. The deponent submits that the qualification possesses by the petitioner is Bachelor of IT and Computer Application and qualifications required for the appointment of the Vidhyasahayak (BSC) are not equivalent in any manner till today there is no Government Resolution it consider that the qualifications possess by the petitioner is equivalent then the qualifications required in appointment .
11. The deponent further submits that the degree certificate produced by the petitioner at page 27 clearly reveals that she only possesses the qualification as Bachelor in Information Technology and Computer Application."
There is a further affidavit, inter alia, stating as under :
"2. So far the affidavit-in-reply filed by the Administrative Officer, Directorate of Primary Education, is concerned, wherein para.8, it has been stated that the petitioner has given false information, I deny the same as earlier the Degree was known as Bachelor of Information Technology and Computer Application and subsequently Nomenclature is changed as B.Sc. (I.T.) and therefore, the action of the respondent in not considering the case of the petitioner for appointment for the post in question, is illegal and the letter dated 26-9-2011 marked ANN.J to the petition, deserves to be quashed and set aside and direction is required to be issued to the respondent to reconsider the whole issue and the order of appointment as per merit-list may be issued."
The issue in hand is one of equivalence of two degrees. Whether the Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology and Computer Application is equivalent to the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Computer), is a matter which should be looked into by an expert.
It is no doubt true that the Saurashtra University has clarified Page 3 of 4 HC-NIC Page 3 of 4 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:51:45 IST 2016 C/SCA/4352/2012 ORDER the same, but such clarification should appeal to the respondent. There is one another impediment in the way of the petitioner and that is the time which has passed. Almost five years have passed since the appointments have been made.
I may only say that if there is any vacancy as on today, the authorities may consider the case of the petitioner after obtaining an appropriate opinion from an expert as regards the equivalence of the two degrees, if otherwise eligible.
With the above, this writ-application is disposed of. Direct service is permitted.
(J.B.PARDIWALA, J.) MOIN Page 4 of 4 HC-NIC Page 4 of 4 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:51:45 IST 2016