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In the reply of the Syndicate, the basis of the eligibility and reasons which must have prompted the selection Committee to select the appellant have been explained, - namely that the experience of the appellant was not 7 years and 8 months but was 'about 10 years' i.e.9 years and 1 month. The Syndicate pointed out in its reply that so far as this Chair was concerned, the emphasis was more on 'research'. It stated that the Selection Committee, on the basis of the Schedule 'A' under Statute 5 of University Statutes, had issued a proforma under six heads namely General career, Research degree, Teaching experience, Research publications, Viva-voce and CCR carrying 90 marks in the aggregate. These headings did not correspond to the qualifications laid down in clause 10 of the advertisement because there was no column there regarding experience in research. But, as per the advertisement, the essential qualification in the advertisement was 'about 10 years experience of teaching and/or research", that is both research and/or teaching. The proforma did not assign any marks to research experience though the advertisement required that the candidates could be selected on the basis of their research experience also. The proforma proceeded on the assumption that 10 marks were meant only for teaching experience, likewise the Schedule 'F' under Statute 258 referred to teaching experience covering only Honours and P.G. classes. There was no division of marks as between Honours and for P.G. In addition for the SBI chair in Rural Economics, experience in Institutional Finance, publication of some research works of high standard in the field and experience of guiding research work in the subject of institutional finance, were also desirable qualifications. The Syndicate pointed out that the Selection Committee awarded to the appellant, 16 out of 19.5 marks in General career, 8 out of 10 in Research publications, 18 out of 25 in Viva voce. The 5th respondent was awarded only 15,6 and 12 in respect of these items. All candidates were awarded 10 marks out of twelve for research degree. The 5th respondent got 10 out of 10 for 'teaching experience' whereas appellant got 4 marks only. The Syndicate pointed out that the contention of the 5th respondent that the appellant should have been awarded zero marks for 'teaching experience' was based on a misinterpretation of the conditions of the advertisement. It was not stated in the advertisement that a candidate for the post of professor should possess a minimum of 10 years' teaching experience.

On the other hand, the advertisement stated that one should have 'about 10 years' teaching and/or research experience. The appellant was admittedly doing research as Junior Research Fellow in Presidency College, Calcutta from June 1978 to Nov. 1979 (for one year, 5 months and 14 days) and adding the same to the teaching experience of 7 years 7 months and 14 days, the total experience in teaching and research would come to 9 years 1 month and this the experts opined was about 10 years. The formate speaks of teaching experience for Honours and P.G. classes. The appellant had 4 years teaching experience in P.G. classes at Ravishankar University, Raipur and thereafter in the Department of Economics, Utkal University. He had Honours teaching experience of about 4 years in Spat College, Rourkela. On the other hand, the 5th respondent had given on details of her teaching experience in the application form. She had merely stated she had experience of about 23 years under the Government of orissa in Education Department. She had not specifically stated the names of institutions in which she had taught or whether, during this period, she had thought only at the Intermediate level or at the Honours and Post Graduate Stages. Again the appellant had Research experience and was guiding research work for Ph.D degree while the 5th respondent had left col. 14 blank. Further, the 5th respondent gave only a list of 5 publications in local papers and she published only and paper in the Indian Cooperative Review. On the other hand, the appellant had given a list of 28 publications most of which were published in Standard All India Journals. The appellant had specialised in international and Regional Economics and did his Ph.D in 'Economics of Indian Cement Industry'. The 5th respondent had not indicated her specialisation nor the subject of her Ph.D thesis. She merely stated that she had published a special paper in 'International Trade in M.A.Career and that she specialised in Small Scale Industries at the Research stage. According to the Syndicate, all these facts obviously weighed with the Selection Committee. Further, in all 8 candidates were interviewed and the Selection Committee must have got an overall view of comparative merit. The appellant had secured M.A. in Economics in 1977, he joined as a Lecturer in Nov. 1979, he attended Summer Institutions, and Conferences and Workshops in Holland in 1980, in UK in 1981 and in Germany & Italy in 1984. The Syndicate observed that there was defect in the proforma. It observed:

In the present case, the Chancellor falled to notice that the advertisement and the UGC Regulations - even as pen the show cause notice - referred only to "about 10 years experience in teaching and/or research". Hence, it was necessary to take into account not only the teaching experience but also the research experience. The proforma which mentioned the marks under each of the six heads did not unfortunately refer to the research experience though the advertisement did. Hence the Chancellor committed an illegality in omitting the research experience of 1 year and 5 months out of consideration. If the research experience of 1 year and 5 months and 14 days were added, the total teaching & research experience of the appellant would come to 9 years 1 month. It was not sufficient for the chancellor to just go by the proforma inasmuch as the advertisement did refer to research experience also apart from the teaching experience.

In out view, the opinion of the experts in the Selection Committee must be taken to be that the appellant's teaching and research experience satisfied the above condition of about 10 years". In fact the chancellor in his final order did not expressly say that the period was not "about 10 years", though such a view was expressed in the show-cause notice. He merely stated that award of 4 marks towards 'teaching experience' was not justified. The appellant did have teaching experience of 7 years 7 months and 14 days and Research experience of 1 year 5 months and 14 days - in all 9 years 26 days and the Selection Committee gave him 4 marks out of 10 on this score. Even otherwise, if the view of the Chancellor was that the experience must be a minimum of 10 years and therefore Zero marks ought to have been awarded to the appellant toward 'teaching experience' we cannot agree. That would, in our view, amount to ignoring altogether the words in the advertisement 'teaching and/or research experience' and to exclude the period of 1 year 5 months and 14 days.