Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 7: High Court has reprimanded the Public Service Commission (PSC) for rejecting the candidature of the eligible aspirants for the post of Assistant Professor (Botany) and directed it to consider their candidature.
The division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Puneet Gupta set aside the rejection order of the PSC and held that the selection body can’t sit over the opinion of the appointing authority based on the expert advice given in respect of relevance of prescribed qualification.
Court said there may be cases where even the opinion of the experts is, on the face of it, absurd or even actuated by bias or mala fide considerations and in such situation, nothing prevents a Constitutional Court to examine such opinion in exercise of its powers of judicial review.
Court said that counsel for the PSC could not bring it to its notice that any power or competence conferred upon the PSC to sit over such decision of the appointing authority in respect of prescribed qualification particularly when such opinion of the appointing authority is based upon the recommendations of the experts’ domain.
“We have no doubt in our mind that it is neither for the selection body nor for the Courts to enter into the arena of finding out the equivalence or relevance of the qualification prescribed for the post” court said.
Court has made it clear that the need to seek the expert opinion and the point of view of the appointing authority in respect of qualification may arise only when there is some confusion or ambiguity in the prescribed qualification.
“Had the statutory Recruitment Rules and the Advisement notification notified the qualification for the post of Assistant Professor in Botany as M.Sc. Botany, perhaps it was not permissible for the appointing authority or, for this court, to look for any equivalent or relevant qualification”, reads the judgment.
Court on seeking expert opinion on the equivalence of degree said, the matter was rightly taken up with University of Kashmir for its expert opinion, but the expert opinion tendered University of Kashmir was not honoured and the petitioners-aspirants were arbitrarily and without any justification declared ineligible.
Court has also nullified the judgment of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) whereby the rejection of candidature by the PSC was upheld. Court said the Tribunal has completely strayed from point in issue and dismissed the plea of the petitioners on the ground that they did not possess the prescribed qualification in the advertisement notification, i.e., the Post Graduation in the relevant subject is Post Graduation in Botany only.
Court directed the PSC to consider the candidature of the aggrieved aspirants and if they are found to have obtained the merit, which is higher than the last cut off and otherwise fall in the selection zone, their candidature be recommended to the Government for appointment as Assistant Professor in Botany within four weeks and recommend their names for appointment as Assistant Professors, Botany.
The aspirants was that apart from possessing the qualification of M.Sc. in the subject of Botany, they had to their credit the Degree of Ph.D. Botany and teaching experience. Being possessed of requisite qualification and eligibility, they applied for the post. Since they were possessing the qualification of M.Sc. in Environmental Botany, as such, their candidature was rejected by PSC vide its notice dated 5th July 2016.
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