Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 17: High Court today upheld the selection made by the Service Selection Board (SSB) for various technical and non-technical staff in the Health Department and recorded that aggrieved persons cannot claim these posts merely on higher qualification.
The aggrieved persons in a first remedy challenged the selection list before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) bench at Jammu and their claim was refused by the CAT.
Petitioners have challenged judgment of Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu Bench, challenging the selection list pertaining to selection to the posts of Radiographic Technician, Clinical Staff for Casualty Bed, Technical Assistant/Technician (Anaesthesia) and Theatre Assistant/Technician in Government Medical College, Anantnag and Government Medical College, Baramulla.
The case of aggrieved-petitioners before the court is that the prescribed qualification as per the advertisement notices was diploma in the relevant field, but they possess a higher qualification i.e., degree in the relevant field.
The respondent Board took up the matter relating to clarification with regard to eligibility of these candidates having higher qualification in the relevant field with the Health and Medical Education Department. The Health and Medical Education Department in turn took up the matter with Jammu and Kashmir Para-Medical Council in terms of its communication and in response to the said communication, the Para-Medical council issued clarification, holding that the degree in the relevant discipline can be considered for the post for which prescribed qualification is diploma because a degree is a higher qualification in the relevant discipline.
The Division Bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Sanjay Dhar held the decision passed by the CAT as right and dismissed the petition of non-selectees.
The DB said that the petitioners have not challenged the advertisement notice to the extent it prescribes the qualification for the posts for which they have applied and it is on the basis of the prescribed qualification only that aggrieved-petitioners have been held ineligible.
“Without challenging the advertisement notice to this extent, it is not open to the petitioners to challenge the selection itself. For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any error or illegality in the impugned judgment passed by the Tribunal”, DB said
Court held the impugned judgment of the Tribunal as well reasoned and lucid and said the same does not call for any interference. Court said once there was absolute clarity in the qualification prescribed, there was no scope for the respondent Board to seek clarification or seek opinion about equivalence of the qualifications on its own.
“The exercise undertaken by the respondent Board in this regard was simply superfluous in the facts and circumstances of this case. The opinion rendered by J&K Para-Medical Council, therefore, is of no help to the case of petitioners”, Court concluded.
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