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2010 DIGILAW 425 (JK)

Sujata Rani v. State Of J&K

2010-07-31

J.P.Singh

body2010
1. The Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board, Sahkari Bhawan, Panama Chowk, Jammu, the Board, for short, published its Advertisement Notice No. 10 of 2005 dated 29.12.2005 in Daily Excelsior, Jammu, inviting applications for selection to various posts including those of the Physical Education Teachers-District Cadre Udhampur. 2. Possessing the qualification of BPED in the Ist Division with Distinction, the petitioner applied for one of the posts. 3. The candidates short-listed for interview included the petitioner who figured at Serial No.127 in the Open Merit Category and Serial No. 4 in the Reserved Category of SOC. 4. The Board accordingly published a Notification indicating the dates for the interview of the short-listed candidates. 5. The interviews were, however, later postponed until further orders, by the Board vide its Notice No. DIP/J-5807 dated 05.02.2007. 6. All these Notices, as aforesaid, were published by the Board in the "Daily Excelsior" newspaper. 7. The Board thereafter appears to have issued another Notification in April, 2007 publishing the Schedule for interview of the Physical Education Teachers-District Cadre Udhampur. This Notification appeared in the "State Times" newspaper in its issue of April 27, 2007. 8. Grievance projected by the petitioner in her Writ Petition, in a nut-shell, is that the Board had deprived her to seek consideration for selection as Physical Education Teacher by participating in the interview, in omitting to follow the procedure, which it had indicated to follow vide its various Notifications informing the candidates of the dates fixed for the interview. The Board, according to the petitioner, neither issued individual Call Letters nor gave wide publicity, as promised, informing the candidates of the dates proposed for the interview, thereby depriving her of the right to consideration for selection. 9. In the premises, the petitioner prays for quashing the interviews held by the Board on 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th of May, 2007, seeking such appropriate relief to which she was found entitled. 10. Admitting the petitioner to be one of the short-listed candidates for interview for the posts of Physical Education Teacher District Cadre, Udhampur, the Board contests the petitioner’s case saying that it had given wide publicity to the interview dates and that the petitioner was not entitled to take advantage of her own wrong in opting not to appear in the interview, to question the selection process undertaken by the Board. 11. 11. I have considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and perused the pleadings and the material placed on records. 12. It is not in dispute that in terms of the Notification No. 10 of 2005 dated 29.12.2005, the Board was ordinarily required to issue Call Letters for interview to the eligible short-listed candidates specifying the venues and dates for interview, And to eliminate the possibility of later or non-receipt of Call Letters on account of postal delay, it had to give wide publicity through Print and Electronic Media about the venues and dates of the interview for the eligible short-listed candidates. The candidates had to keep in touch with the Print and Electronic Media as also the Office of the Board to ascertain the venue/date of the interview. 13. The specific case projected by the petitioner in the Writ Petition that the Board had neither issued the Call Letters nor given wide publicity to the venues and dates-of interview by publishing Notice in this behalf in Print and Electronic Media, has not been controverted by the Board, in that, the stand taken by it in response to the petitioner’s pleas in this regard, is both vague and ambiguous. Whereas there is absolutely no response to the petitioner’s plea that the Board had not issued the Call Letters to the candidates individually, the plea of not giving wide publicity to the dates and venues of interview in Print and Electronic Media is sought to be met by urging that it had endorsed the copies of the Notice of the dates and venues of the interview to all concerned offices. Photocopy of only one Notification published in the "State Times" in its issue of April 27, 2007 has been placed on records. 14. Photocopy of only one Notification published in the "State Times" in its issue of April 27, 2007 has been placed on records. 14. The omission of the Board to place on records the material indicating publication of Notification regarding dates and venues of the interview in the English Dailies’ in which it had published its earlier Notifications in respect of the advertised posts indicates that Notice of the interview was not published by the Board in any other English Daily other than the State Times, for the Board’s plea that it had sent interview notice in question for its publication in all Newspapers, without ascertaining as to whether or not these had been actually published by those offices to which these had been sent, would not prove the Board to have discharged its obligation of informing the candidates the dates notified for interview of the short-listed candidates for the post of Physical Education Teacher. 15. The petitioner’s plea that she had been going through those Newspapers in which the Board had earlier issued Notifications regarding the Advertised posts of Physical Education Teacher to know about the dates and venues of the interview, so as to participate therein and would not thus know about the dates of the interview which had appeared only in one English Daily, appears to be justified. 16. In the ordinary course of things, the candidates would scan only those newspapers in which the Board had been normally issuing its Notifications for notice to the candidates and all Notifications in respect of a particular selection should have thus appeared in the same Newspapers so as to achieve the object of providing requisite information regarding the selection to the candidates. This has not, however, happened in the present case. 17. That apart, the Board has not indicated any reason for not issuing individual Call Letters to the candidates which it was ordinarily required so to do, in terms of its already published norms to be followed during the course of the selection. 18. The Board has further failed to place on records any material to prove that the dates and venues of the interview had been notified to the candidates by having resort to the Electronic Media too, as it had indicated so to do, in its First Notification. 19. 18. The Board has further failed to place on records any material to prove that the dates and venues of the interview had been notified to the candidates by having resort to the Electronic Media too, as it had indicated so to do, in its First Notification. 19. On the basis of the material available on the records, it, therefore, becomes apparent that the Board had not given wide publicity to the dates and venues of the interview while making selection for the post of Physical Education Teachers District Cadre Udhampur. The petitioner, who was not informed by the Board of the date of the interview, has thus been deprived of her right to participate in the interview for selection against one of the advertised posts. 20. Pursuant to the interim order passed in the case, the petitioner has been interviewed and she figures at Serial No.1 of the Select List, though her result has not been formally declared in deference to the directions of the Court. 21. The petitioner, having been proved to have been wronged by the Board in not informing her about the dates and venues of the interview, the damage done to her by the Board in refusing consideration for selection, therefore, needs to be remedied. 22. Requisite directions are, thus, required to be issued to restore the petitioner’s right. 23. This Petition; therefore, succeeds and is, accordingly, allowed. 24. A direction shall issue to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board, Jammu to consider the petitioner for selection as Physical Education Teacher-District Cadre Udhampur, on the basis of her merit after declaration of the result of her interview. In case she was found entitled to selection under rules, the Board shall make requisite recommendations to the State Government for her appointment as Physical Education Teacher-District Cadre Udhampur, within one month.