Jharkhand High Court Refuses To Interfere In 25-Year-Old Lecturer Appointments, Cites Long-Standing Service and Equities

The Jharkhand High Court has declined to interfere with the appointments of three lecturers made more than two decades ago, holding that it would be unjust to unsettle appointments that have remained in place for nearly 25 years, particularly when one possible and plausible view had already been acted upon by the competent authorities.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi was hearing a writ petition challenging the appointment of three persons and seeking quashing of the recommendation of the Bihar College Service Commission, Patna, issued by letter dated 14 February 2000, on the ground that the same was contrary to the reservation policy.BackgroundThe petitioner sought a direction for his appointment as Lecturer in Physics in J.M. College, Bhurkunda, on the basis of a recommendation made by the Bihar College Service Commission in 2000, and also sought a direction for strict implementation of the reservation policy.It was contended that the petitioner had passed his M.Sc. in Physics in First Class from Magadh University and had applied pursuant to Advertisement No. 24 of 1994. He was called for interview in January 1999 and was thereafter recommended by the Commission in February 2000. Since no action was taken on the recommendation, the petitioner made several representations before the college authorities, the Director of Higher Education, Government of Bihar and also approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.The petitioner further alleged that appointments had been made without following the reservation policy. An intervenor submitted that he had already been appointed on the third post of Lecturer in Physics on the recommendation of the Commission and was therefore a necessary party. The State of Bihar submitted that the Bihar College Service Commission had been abolished in 2007 and that the relevant records were no longer available with the Higher Education Directorate.On a consideration of the materials on record, the Court held that three advertisements had been issued and that the petitioner had applied pursuant to Advertisement No. 24 of 1994. However, in respect of Advertisement No. 1418 of 1994, only one post had been advertised and, therefore, there was no question of applying the reservation policy.Significantly, the Court noted that the private respondents had already been working on their respective posts for more than twenty-five years. It was held that where one plausible view had been acted upon by the Commission and appointments had been made pursuant thereto, it would be wholly unjust to direct a reversal at this stage. The court noted:“…In the given situation, when one possible view has been acted upon by the Commission and pursuant to which the recommendations were made and candidates have been appointed and are working for almost 25 years by this time, it will be unjust for this court to now direct to take a U-Turn in view of the prayer of the petitioner and non-suit the candidates who are working for sufficiently long time i.e. 25 years.”The equities, according to the Court, clearly lay in favour of the persons who had continued in service for over two decades, and disturbing such long-standing appointments would be impermissible. Thus, the Court dismissed the writ petition filed by the Petitioner.Title: Arbind Sharan v. Bihar College Service Commission and Ors.Case Number: C.W.J.C. No. 657 of 2001.Appearance: Mr. Afaque Ahmed and Mr. Sharabil Ahmed appeared for the Petitioner. Mr. S. P. Roy appeared for the State of Bihar. Mr. K. K. Singh appeared for the Intervenor.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Jharkhand High Court Refuses To Interfere In 25-Year-Old Lecturer Appointments, Cites Long-Standing Service and Equities

Rushil Batra

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