A.N. Verma, J. - (1.) The petitioner, who was appointed as a temporary lecturer in the Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, is aggrieved by the order of the Vice-Chancellor communicated to him by the Assistant Registrar (Administration) through his letter dated 25-3-1985 terminating the services of the petitioner as well as the order dated 2-3-1987 passed by the Visitor of the University communicated to the petitioner by the letter dated 12-10-1987 issued by the Deputy Secretary, Department of Education, Government of India dismissing the petitioner's appeal against the order of termination passed by the Vice-Chancellor.
(2.) These are the essential facts: In the year 1984 an advertisement was issued inviting applications for filling the posts of lecturers in the Department of Law. The petitioner was also amongst the various applicants for that post. Thereafter, the General Selection Committee constituted for the purpose held the selections and recommended the names of eight persons, two of them for permanent appointment. The General Selection Committee also prepared a panel of six names for filling temporary vacancies arising within a year--for which the panel was to remain in force. The petitioner was placed at No. 1 in this panel whereas Shaheeduddin Ahmad and Saleem Akhtar, respectively the respondent Nos. 6 and 5 herein were placed at serial Nos. 3 and 6. The Executive Council which met on 14-4-1984 considered and approved the recommendations of the General Selection Committee and passed a resolution the relevant portions of which are extracted below: "3 (b). Lecturers in Law, Department of law (Permanent and temporary vacancies) in scale of700-1600 plus allowances. Sanctioned the appointment of Mr. Mhlaque Ahmad and Mr. Mohd. Ishaque Qureshi as Lecturers in against the permanent posts on probation for one year and their pay be fixed according to the University rules. Further approved that the following be placed in order of merit on the panel which would remain valid for one year and from which vacancies whether permanent or temporary occurring within that period will be filled up subject to the condition that permanent vacancies as they occur would be according to the order of merit even if the persons have initially been drawn from the panel for temporary vacancies i.e. they will move from temporary vacancies to permanent vacancies: 1. Mr. Sajid Zaheer Amani 2. M. Anis Haider Zaidi 3. Mr. Shaheeduddin Ahmad 4. Mr. Barkatullah 5. Mr. Lihazur Rahman Khan 6. Mr. Saleem Akhtar Further directed that such temporary Lecturers as are already working would not be affected as a result of the above panel. The earlier panel drawn up on the recommendation of a previous General Selection Committee will continue to be drawn upon, according to the order of merit, during the period of its validity. The candidates on the present panel would be appointed against the additional temporary vacancies as may become available during the course of one year. At its next meeting held on 30th and 31st May 1984 the Executive Council confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting with the following modifications: "Para 2 and 3 of sub-item No. 6 (regarding Lecturers in Law) be substituted by the following: "Further approved that the following be placed in order of merit on the panel which would remain valid for one year and temporary vacancies occurring within that period will be filled from the said panel: 1. Mr. Sajid Zaheer Amani 2. Mr. Anis Haider Zaidi 3. Mr. Shaheeduddin Ahmad 4. Mr. Barkatullah 5. Mr. Lihazur Rahman Khan 6. Mr. Saleem Akhtar. Further directed that such temporary Lecutrers as are already working would not be affected as a result of the above panel. The earlier panel drawn up on the recommendation of a previous General Selection Committee will continue to be drawn upon, according to the order of merit, during the period of its validity. Candidates on the present panel would be appointed against the additional temporary vacancies as may become available during the course of one year." These minutes shall have important bearing on the issues arising in the case and hence have been extracted in extenso.
(3.) It was in pursuance of these resolutions of the Executive Council that the Vice-Chancellor sanctioned the appointment of the petitioner as a temporary lecturer against the post vacated by Prof. M.R. Zafar. The appointment was further stated to last till further orders or till the post was filled on regular basis whichever was earlier. The appointment letter was communicated to the petitioner through the office memo dated 28-7-1984 issued by the Assistant Registrar (Administration). Thereafter, the impugned office memorandum dated 25-3-1985 was issued stating that the Vice Chancellor had ordered that the petitioner, the junior most temporary lecturer in the Department of Law had ceased to be a lecturer w.e.f. 1-2-1985, the date on which Mr. Mustafa Ali a Reader in the Department had resumed duty on the expiry of his extraordinary leave. The petitioner represented against the termination order passed by the Vice- Chancellor before the Executive Council which however, approved/ratified the action of the Vice-Chancellor and rejected the representation. The petitioner there upon preferred a statutory appeal before the Visitor (the President of India) who while rejecting the appeal accepted the claim of the petitioner for the salary for the period from 1-2-1985 to 25-3-1985.;