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2004 DIGILAW 1727 (RAJ)

Dinesh Chandra Sharma v. State of Rajasthan

2004-12-03

SUNIL KUMAR GARG

body2004
JUDGMENT 1. - This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner against the respondents on 27.8.2003 with the prayer that by an appropriate writ, order or direction, the respondents be directed to consider and count the marks obtained by the petitioner in his Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination treating that qualification equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic) and they be further directed to give 15 bonus marks to the petitioner for possessing certificate Annexure 7 dated 18.12.1999, which shows that he participated in Inter University, South West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 and then include the name of the petitioner at appropriate place in the select list and if he comes in the merit, he may be offered appointment on the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III. 2. The case of the petitioner as put forward by him in this writ petition is as follows : The petitioner passed the Secondary Examination from the Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan, Ajmer and thereafter, he passed the Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination from the Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Ajmer in the year 1998 with first division and copy of the mark- sheet as well as the copy of the certificate are marked as Annexure-1 and Annexure-2 respectively. Thereafter, the petitioner passed the Post Graduate Diploma in Physical Education (One year Course) Examination, 2002 from the Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur and a copy of the mark-sheet is marked as Annexure-3.According to the petitioner, he has participated in Inter University, South West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 as a player and for that, he has produced certificate Annexure 7, dated 18.12.1999.The further case of the petitioner is that the respondent No. 2 Director, Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Bikaner issued advertisement Annexure 9 dated 28.7.2003 inviting applications for recruitment to the posts of Physical Teacher Gr. III and in pursuance of the said advertisement Annexure-7, he being eligible applied for the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III and in pursuance of the said advertisement Annexure-7, he being eligible applied for the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III alongwith the requisite documents within the stipulated time.Thereafter, after scrutiny of the application forms, a provisional merit list was got prepared by the respondents, but in it, the name of the petitioner has not been included at proper place for the reason that he was possessing the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) and not the Senior Secondary (Academic). According to the petitioner, there are catena of judgments of this Court as well as of Hon'ble Supreme Court holding that the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination is equivalent to the qualification of Senior Secondary (Academic) Examination and thus, the respondents have wrongly ignored the petitioner's candidatue on the ground that he was not having requisite qualification. According to the petitioner, the action of the respondents in not counting the marks obtained by the petitioner in the Senior Secondary (Vocational) is wholly illegal and arbitrary. According to the petitioner, persons having less marks than the petitioner have been included in the select list. Apart from this, the petitioners is also entitled for 15 bonus marks as he was having certificate Annexure 7 dated 18.12.1999 of participating in Inter University, South West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999, which was a National Level Tournament. Hence, this writ petition with the prayers as stated above.A reply to the writ petition was filed by the respondents and it was submitted by them that the respondent No. 2 Director, Secondary Education, Bikaner has issued Circular dated 16.8.2003 (Annexure R/1) in which he has clarified that the marks of Senior Secondary (Vocational) would be counted only in the event of passing of Bridge Course and it has been further clarified that marks obtained in compulsory subjects of Vocational Course and marks obtained in optional subjects of Bridge Course would be taken into consideration and in the light of the directions contained in Circular Annexure R/1, the merit list was got prepared. Apart from this, it has been further submitted by the respondents that the petitioner participated in Inter University Tournament and for that, 10 bonus marks were given to him and furthermore, since the petitioner participated in South-West Zone Handball Tournament conducted between the Universities of particular region, therefore, it was not a national level tournament and thus, he was rightly given 10 bonus marks. Hence, no interference is called for and this writ petition deserves to be dismissed. 3. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the respondents and gone through the entire materials available on record. 4. In this case, there is no dispute on the point that the petitioner applied for the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III in pursuance of the advertisement Annexure 9 dated 28.7.2003 issued by the respondent No. 2 Director, Secondary Education, Bikaner. 5. There is also no dispute on the point that the petitioner has passed Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination, 1998 which is evident from Annexure-1 and Annexure-2. 6. There is also no dispute on the point that the marks obtained by the petitioner in Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination are not being considered by the respondents on the ground that the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination is not equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic). 7. There is also no dispute on the point that the petitioner was having certificate dated 18.12.1999 (Annexure 7) which shows that he participated in Inter University, South West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 and for that, 10 bonus marks were given to the petitioner as it evident from the reply of the respondents. 8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sunita Sharma v. State of Rajasthan, (JT 2001(10) SC 178) , has held that the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) is equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic). 9. 8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sunita Sharma v. State of Rajasthan, (JT 2001(10) SC 178) , has held that the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) is equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic). 9. Thus, in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sunita Sharma (supra) where the qualification of Senior Secondary (Vocational) has been held to be equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic), the action of the respondents in not considering the marks obtained by the petitioner in Senior Secondary (Vocational) on the ground that it was not equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic) cannot be sustained and the petitioner is entitled to seek direction to the respondents to consider the marks obtained by the petitioner in the Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination treating that qualification equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic). 10. Apart from this, this Court in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2809/2002 decided on 3.11.2004, Madhu Sudan Joshi v. State of Rajasthan, 2005(1) SCT 255 (Rajasthan) relying on the Division Bench judgment of this Court dated 4.8.1997 in D.B. Civil Special Appeal No. 261 of 1997 has observed that the Inter University Tournaments covering the Universities of Rajasthan and Universities of other States are equivalent to National Level Tournaments and in that case, this Court has further clarified that if the tournament was held amongst the Universities of one State, that would be State Level Tournament and when the tournament was held amongst the Universities of more than one State or Universities of particular zone, then it would be treated as National Level Tournament. 11. In the present case, from perusing the certificate Annexure-7 dated 18.12.1999, it appears that the petitioner has participated in Inter University, South West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 and therefore, in view of the judgment of this Court in the case of Madhu Sudan Joshi (supra), that tournament should be treated as National Level Tournament and when this being the position, the petitioner was entitled to 15 bonus marks for certificate Annexure-7 dated 18.12.1999 and the action of the respondents giving 10 bonus marks to the petitioner for possessing certificate Annexure-7 dated 18.12.1999 cannot be sustained. 12. 12. Before concluding this order, it may be stated here that in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4818/2003 (decided on 8.11.2004), Vinod Kumar v. State of Rajasthan, 2005(1) SCT 194 (Rajasthan) the action of the respondents preparing a fresh merit list for recruitment to the posts of Physical Training Instructor (PTI) Gr. III on the basis of new directions as contained in clause (1) of Circular dated 16.8.2003 issued by the respondent No. 2 Director, was not found sustainable and directions were issued to the respondents to prepare a fresh merit list ignoring new directions as contained in clause (1) of Circular dated 16.8.2003. 13. For the reasons stated above, it is held that the petitioner is entitled to seek directions to the respondents to consider the marks obtained by him in the Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination treating that qualification equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic) and also to give 15 bonus marks to him for the certificate Annexure-7 dated 18.12.1999 for participating in Inter University South-west Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 and by doing so, in case, the petitioner comes in the merit, he may be given appointment to the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III and this petition deserves to be allowed to that extent.Accordingly, this writ petition filed by the petitioner is allowed in the manner and to the extent that the respondents are directed to consider the marks obtained by the petitioner in the Senior Secondary (Vocational) Examination treating that qualification equivalent to Senior Secondary (Academic) and also to give 15 bonus marks to the petitioner for the certificate Annexure-7 dated 18.12.1999 for participating in Inter University South-West Zone Handball Tournament held at Shivaji University, Solapur from 15.11.1999 to 18.11.1999 and by doing so, in case, the petitioner come in the merit, he may be given appointment to the post of Physical Teacher Gr. III. No order as to costs.Petition allowed. *******