- (1.)THE petitioner has called in question the appointment of respondent No. 4 to the post of Lecturer in the discipline of Home Science, University of Jammu, primarily on the ground that the expert members of the Selection Committee were not eligible and competent to hold the interview and make selection. In addition to this, it is also urged that the members were not expert in the field. The petitioner and respondent No. 4 alongwith some others were the candidates for selection to the aforesaid post as only one post was advertised vide Advertisement Notification dated 13.10.2001. Respondent No. 4 came to be selected and consequently appointed vide appointment letter dated 22.05.2003 and petitioner remained unsuccessful.
(2.)THE Selection Committee that conducted the interviews of the petitioner, respondent No. 4 and other candidates, is the statutory Selection Committee constituted in terms of Section 36 of the Kashmir and Jammu Universities Act, 1969. The relevant extract from said section relating to selection of teachers is noticed herein below:
"36(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, there shall be Selection Committees in a University comprising the following members for selection of teachers and officers for appointment in the University concerned: -

(a) Committee for appointment of teachers: (i) Vice Chancellor (Chairman); (ii) Pro -Vice -Chancellor, if any; (iii) Chairman, Public Service Commission or, a member of the Public Service Commission nominated by him; (iv) the Head of the University Department concerned (in case of selection of Readers and Lecturers only); (v) one member nominated by the University Council of the University concerned in the case of appointment of Professors and Readers and one member nominated by the Syndicate concerned in the case of appointment of Lecturers, as the case may be; (vi) two persons not connected with the University having special knowledge of the subject in which the appointment is to be made nominated by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of experts approved by the University Council in the case of Professors and Readers and the Syndicate in the case of Lecturers: Provided that the panels shall be reviewed after every two years."

(3.)THE original section came to be substituted/amended vide amendment dated 14.11.2000 which reads as under: -
"(a) Committees for appointment of teachers:

(A) for lecturer or equivalent post: - (i) Vice Chancellor (Chairman); (ii) Chairman Public Service Commission or a member of the Public Service Commission nominated by him; (iii) Three experts having special knowledge of the subject concerned in which the appointment is to be made, nominated by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of experts recommended by the Vice Chancellor and approved by the University Council; provided the panel shall be reviewed after every two years; (iv) Head of the department concerned; provided that he is not lower than the status of a Readers; and (v) An academician nominated by the Chancellor;"

In terms of amended provisions, instead of two experts as provided in the original section, three subject experts were required to be nominated on the panel of experts by the Vice Chancellor from the panel of experts by the Vice Chancellor from the panel approved by the University Council. This section also prescribes that the panel shall be reviewed after every two years.