M.N. Shukla, J. - (1.) The original plaintiff Nadir Raza Naqvi since dead and now substituted by his legal heirs filed a suit for declaration that the resolution of the Executive Council of the Aligarh Muslim University. Aligarh, dated 27-1-1969 purporting to terminate his services as the University Engineer was illegal and that he was still in the employment of the University, for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant-appellant No. 1, her authorities, officers and servants from interfering with the working of the plaintiff as University Engineer, and also for payment of his regular salary with emoluments from month to month whenever they fell due. The suit was dismissed by the trial Court. The plaintiff preferred an appeal which was partly allowed by the lower appellate court and a decree for declaration was passed as prayed by the plaintiff, but the remaining claims for injunction and salary were dismissed. Aggrieved by the same the defendants have come up in second appeal to this Court.
(2.) Briefly stated the case of the plaintiff was that he was appointed by the Executive Council of the University defendant-appellant No. 1, by a resolution dated 17-8-1967 as University Engineer on probation for one year. He discharged his duties to the entire satisfaction of Sri S. A. Abbas, who was the Head of the Department (Member-in-Charge) of the Building & Electricity Department of defendant-appellant No. 1 to which the plaintiff was attached. The plaintiff tried to liquidate the monopoly of the big contractors and penalised some small contractors as well and also checked and warned the members of his staff for negligence of duties on various occasions. This annoyed those persons and various anonymous complaints against the plaintiff were sent to the Vice-Chancellor who grew suspicious against him. Further, the plaintiff declined to oblige one Dr. Majid Siddiqi, son-in-law of the Vice-Chancellor and consequently Dr. Siddiqi started making false propaganda against his integrity and influenced the Vice-Chancellor also who began to bear a grudge against the plaintiff. That is why it was alleged that he obtained a termination order dated 27-1-1969 from the Executive Council. The probationary period of the plaintiff had expired on 20-10-1968 but the Executive Council had extended it for three months in the first instance and thereafter by further seven days but ultimately the Vice-Chancellor got the plaintiff ousted by the above mentioned resolution of the Executive Council.
(3.) The plaintiff challenged the validity of the termination order on the ground that on the expiry of the probationary period he should have been automatically confirmed by the Executive Council on 20-1-1968, that in any event he could not be removed without notice to him and full opportunity to explain his conduct, that the order of termination contravened the Regulations and the provisions of the Statutes and the Act of the Aligarh Muslim University and the principles of natural justice and that the Executive Council had no jurisdiction to pass the aforesaid resolution.;