MUZAMIL AHMAD DAR Vs. HIGH COURT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution, has been filed for the following relief(s):

(2.) The brief factual matrix of the case of the petitioner is that, vide notification No.1 of 2020 dated 18th of September, 2020, issued by the Respondent No.1, various posts, including a post of Electrician under Open Merit category, were advertised. The qualification prescribed for the post of Electrician was reflected as 10+2 with Diploma in Electrician Trade from a recognized institute. The petitioner offered his candidature for the said post of Electrician under application No. 2000000005081700000270. Thereafter, in terms of notification dated 20th of February, 2021, Respondent No.1 notified the criteria for the said post and also fixed the schedule for the conduct of interview for the post. After culmination of the process of selection, a consolidated merit list is stated to have been issued by Respondent No.1 on 24th of March, 2021, whereafter, on the same date, Order No.150 of 2021/RG was issued appointing Respondent No.3 on the aforesaid post of Electrician. After the appointment of Respondent No.3, the Petitioner claims to have submitted two applications under the provisions of the Right to Information Act; one in the main wing of the High Court and the other to the Administrative Wing of High Court, Srinagar, seeking information with regard to the basic qualification, marks awarded to Respondent No.3 as also a copy of experience certificate of Respondent No.3. It is alleged that this information was not provided to the petitioner by the Respondents. He, therefore, is stated to have filed 1st and 2nd appeals under Sec. 9 (1) of the Right to Information Act, 2009. According to the petitioner, only then Respondent No. 2 informed him that 20 points (02 points for each year) have been awarded to Respondent No.3 for 10 years' experience as an Electrician. It is averred that Respondent No. 3 has produced a certificate from Royal Polytechnic College, Srinagar, showing that he has successfully completed 312 hours' training in Electrician trade in the year 2016. However, the petitioner contends that the said certificate cannot be treated as Diploma in Electrician trade. Therefore, according to the petitioner, Respondent No.3 is not qualified for appointment as Electrician. It is also stated that Respondent No.3 has been awarded 20 points for his 10 years' experience as Electrician, reckoned from the year 2004 till 2016, which is illegal, inasmuch as the date of completion of Electrician Diploma of Respondent No.3, as per his own admission, is 2016 and the date of issuance of the advertisement notice is 18th of September, 2020, as such, at best, only 06 points could have been granted to him for having 03 years' experience after the Diploma. In these circumstances, the Petitioner is aggrieved of and has challenged the selection/appointment of Respondent No.3 as Electrician on the grounds detailed out in the memo of Petition.

(3.) Mr Z. A. Shah, learned Senior Counsel, appearing on behalf of the Petitioner, while reiterating the grounds taken in the Writ Petition, submitted that Respondent No.3 has produced a certificate from a private institute, namely, Royal Polytechnic College, Srinagar, wherein he has been shown to have successfully completed 312 hours training in Electrician, while as the qualification prescribed for the post of Electrician was 10+2 with Diploma in Electrician Trade, as such, the certificate produced by Respondent No.3, forming the basis of his appointment as Electrician, cannot be treated as Diploma in Electrician; thereby rendering his appointment as Electrician illegal and bad in law, being not possessed of the requisite qualification. The learned Senior Counsel contended that, even if the certificate produced by Respondent No. 3 is treated as Diploma in Electrician Trade, Respondent No.3 cannot be given 20 points for having 10 years' experience as Electrician when, as a matter of fact, his date of completion of the said Diploma is 30th of November 2016 and the advertisement notice was issued on 18th of September, 2020, meaning thereby that the period to be counted in respect of such Diploma is not more than 03 years and 10 months for which only 06 points were to be granted to Respondent No.3 instead of 20 points. In this backdrop, it is urged that the Petitioner, who possessed the requisite qualification and was placed at S. No.1 in the waiting list as per the merit position obtained by him in the process of selection, was and is entitled to be appointed for the aforesaid post of Electrician.