Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 24: High Court has directed the State to do away with the practice of making temporary / adhoc or contractual appointments against the posts of Deputy Medical Superintendents and instead fill up the same by way of deputation of Chief Medical Officers/Medical Superintendents or equivalent from the Department of Health as provided in the existing Recruitment Rules.
This significant judgment has been passed in a petition filed by Dr Jameel Ahmad Mir pertaining to the qualification of experience provided in the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Education (Gazetted) Service Recruitment Rules, 1979 for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent.
Vide Letter No. ME/GM-193/961 dated 21.06.2005 read with Letter No. ME/Legal/43/2005 dated 07.09.2005 and 26.09.2005, the respondent referred 8 posts of Deputy Medical Superintendents to the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission for making selection.
After hearing both the sides, Justice Sanjeev Kumar observed, “the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent is a post to be filled up by direct recruitment and persons, who are not in Government service, are also entitled to be considered for the post provided they possess the requisite eligibility”.
“They can always rely upon the experience of running a hospital, if any, gained by them in running the administration of a private hospital. The doctors serving in the Department of Health, who are serving as Chief Medical Officers in the District and Medical Superintendent in the District Hospitals may also claim to have acquired the experience”, High Court said, adding “it would thus be travesty of justice if the only candidates, who have some how remained associated with some aspects of administration of Medical College Hospital alone, are considered for the post, that too, on the basis of certificates issued either by the Head of the Department concerned or the Principal of the Government Medical College, with which the teaching hospital is associated”.
“Viewed from this angle and looking to the fluidity and flexibility of the interpretation that can be put on the Recruitment Rule, it is case where all are either eligible or all are ineligible for the post. The respondent cannot be permitted to accept the certificate of some as valid and reject almost similar certificates possessed by the other”, High Court said, adding “the certificate of experience, whether issued by the Head of Department or the Principal or even by the Government, stand on the same footing insofar as the Recruitment Rules in question are concerned”.
“Merely, because some Registrar or a Medical Officer has come to be associated with some aspects of administration of a hospital does not mean that such person has a working experience of running a hospital. The term ‘working experience of running a hospital’ is required to be given meaningful interpretation”, High Court said, adding “true it is that the vagueness in the Recruitment Rules and lack of efforts on the part of respondent to supplement the Rule by requisite clarification, the respondent No.2 always had a field day”.
Accordingly, Justice Sanjeev Kumar ordered that the selection of respondents shall remain intact and is not interfered with and the petitioners shall also be entitled to be appointed as Deputy Medical Superintendents in the Health and Medical Education Department, with effect from the date respondents have been appointed retrospectively with all consequential benefits minus the monetary benefits.
However, the petitioners shall be entitled to the monitory benefits from the date of their actual appointment, the High Court clarified, adding “the State shall take note of the observations and initiate immediate remedial measures to set right the Rule prescribing qualification for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendents so that un-necessary litigation on the subject is avoided and the posts of Deputy Medical Superintendents are filled up in time”.
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