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2017 DIGILAW 984 (JK)

Jagjeet Singh v. State of J&K

2017-11-07

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, SANJEEV KUMAR

body2017
JUDGMENT : Badar Durrez Ahmed, J. 1. This appeal has been preferred against the judgment dated 29.04.2017 delivered by a learned Single Judge of this Court in SWP No. 326/2012. The entire dispute pertains to the eligibility of the respondent No. 6 for the post of ReT in the Upper Primary School, Kashi, in the subject of Mathematics. The appellant herein had filed the said writ petition raising the issue of the respondent No. 6's eligibility. 2. To understand and appreciate the plea of the appellant/petitioner, it would be necessary to give a few facts. 3. An advertisement was issued by the office of the Chief Education Officer, Doda, seeking applications for engagement of ReT teachers. The advertisement was dated 03.02.2011. One of the conditions for eligibility was prescribed in paragraph 3 thereof, which reads as under: "The applicant must be possessing minimum qualification of 10+2 pass with Science and Math background only. Any qualification acquired after the cut of date for the receipt of the application as per this advertisement shall not be entertained. The applicants not having Math/Science back ground need not to apply. The Zonal Education Officer concerned will frame separate panels for Math and Science candidates and the candidate having both science and match background will be considered from both the panels." 4. The facts of the case, which are admitted, are that the appellant-petitioner was a Science stream student in the 10+2 examination. The respondent No. 6 was a student of the Arts stream, but she had additionally taken the Mathematics in the bi-annual examination of 2010. To be precise, she had qualified the 10+2 examination in the Arts Stream in the annual examination of 2007. 5. It is the case of the appellant-petitioner that the respondent No. 6 did not possess the mathematics background as specified in the above mentioned advertisement. Therefore, the respondent No. 6 ought not to have been appointed as an ReT for mathematics in the said school. If that were to be the case (i.e., if the respondent No. 6 was ineligible), then the appellant-petitioner would be liable to be appointed as the mathematics teacher. 6. Mr. Therefore, the respondent No. 6 ought not to have been appointed as an ReT for mathematics in the said school. If that were to be the case (i.e., if the respondent No. 6 was ineligible), then the appellant-petitioner would be liable to be appointed as the mathematics teacher. 6. Mr. Raina, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant-petitioner drew our attention to not only paragraph 3 of the said advertisement, but also to Regulation 14 of Chapter-X of the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education Regulations, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as 'the said Regulations') and Regulation 6(a) of Chapter-XIII of the said Regulations. The said Regulation 14 deals with 'change of subject' and Regulation 6(a) is part of the Regulations governing the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II. The same read as under: "14. Unless otherwise provided in these regulations, candidates of Higher Secondary Examination Part-I and Higher Secondary Part-II desiring to change their subject in which they have failed or have been placed in reappear category, be allowed to do so at any session subsequent to the one at which they have failed or have been placed under reappear category along with a fee of Rs. 100/- without requiring them to appear again in the subject in which they have already passed provided the change is within the stream that they pursued or from science/commerce to arts and not vice versa and request for change of subjects is made along with a fee of Rs. 100/- before or at the time of submission of fees and forms for the examination. However, if the candidates want to change their entire stream of subjects they may also be allowed to do so provided they seek cancellation of their earlier result in all subjects, excepting English in which the candidates can retain the earlier awards (if successful and if they do desire.) Provided further except in the case of Geology, Geography and Mathematics, no candidate of Science group unless he/she has passed the corresponding subject in the qualifying examination". "6(a). Except in the case of Geology, Geography and Mathematics no candidate for the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II (Science Group) shall take up any subject unless he/she took up and passed in the corresponding subject in the qualifying examination". 7. The contention advanced by Mr. "6(a). Except in the case of Geology, Geography and Mathematics no candidate for the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II (Science Group) shall take up any subject unless he/she took up and passed in the corresponding subject in the qualifying examination". 7. The contention advanced by Mr. Raina was that the respondent No. 6 was ineligible because she could not have taken the additional subject of mathematics and the said exception for taking the additional subject of mathematics was available only to the science stream candidates. Interpreting the said Regulation 6(a) of the said Regulations, Mr. Raina submitted that the subjects of Geology, Geography and Mathematics could be taken up for the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II only by the science group students, who had not taken any of the said subjects in the qualifying examination. He submitted that this concession was not available to the students of other streams, i.e., Arts, Home-Science and Commerce. In order to buttress the said plea, Mr. Raina also referred to the said Regulation-14 which, in the first proviso, makes it clear that the change of subject should be within the stream the student has pursued or from science/commerce to Arts and not vice-versa. The second proviso to the Regulation 14 is similar in terms to the said Regulation 6(a). However, there is a slight difference which, according to us, makes the meaning of the Regulation 6(a) absolutely clear. 8. The second proviso to Regulation 14, in our view, can be interpreted in only one way and, that interpretation would be that no candidate of Higher Secondary Part-II (Science or Arts or Commerce or Home Science stream) can take up any subject of a science group unless he/she had passed the said subject in the qualifying examination. There is an exception to this. The exception is that Geology, Geography and Mathematics, which have also been classified as subjects of the science group, could be taken up by a candidate of the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II, even though he/she may not have taken those subjects in the qualifying examination. 9. If this were to be the case, and, in our view this is the only interpretation possible, then a student of the Arts Stream could take up mathematics in the Higher Secondary School Examination Part-II, although he/she had not taken the subject and passed in the same in the qualifying examination (Higher Secondary Examination Part-I). 10. 9. If this were to be the case, and, in our view this is the only interpretation possible, then a student of the Arts Stream could take up mathematics in the Higher Secondary School Examination Part-II, although he/she had not taken the subject and passed in the same in the qualifying examination (Higher Secondary Examination Part-I). 10. We may also notice that Regulation 5 of Chapter XIII of the said Regulations specifies the elective subjects. The elective subjects for the Arts stream and the Science stream are specified as under: "ELECTIVE SUBJECTS (A) Arts:- Any three of the following subjects (i) English Literature; (ii) Sanskrit or Persian or Arabic; (iii) Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi/Dogri/Kashmir/Bodic (iv) History; (v) Economics; (vi) Philosophy; (vii) Political Science; (viii) Indian Music; (For Girls and blind candidates only) (ix) Education; (x) Mathematics; (xi) Geography; (xii) Statistics; (xiii) Home Science;-(For Girls only) (xiv) Sociology; and (xv) Psychology; (B) Science:-Any one of the following combinations:- (i) Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics; (ii) Physics, Geology, Mathematics; (iii) Physics, Geography, Mathematics; (iv) Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics; (v) Chemistry, Geography, Mathematics; (vi) Geology, Geography, Biology; (vii) Chemistry, Geology, Geography; (viii) Chemistry, Geology, Biology; (ix) Chemistry, Biology, Geography; (x) Physics, Chemistry and Biology; (xi) Geology, Geography, Mathematics; (xii) Statistics, Mathematics, Physics; (xiii) Statistics, Mathematics, Chemistry; (xiv) Mathematics, Statistics, Education; (xv) Mathematics, Statistics, Economics; (xvi) Statistics, Geography, Mathematics, (xvii) Physics, English Literature, Mathematics; 11. It will be evident from the above that mathematics is a subject which figures both in the Arts Stream and in the Science Stream. Therefore, if a person who had taken the Arts Stream, but had not initially taken mathematics as a subject in the Higher Secondary Examination Part-I, would not be barred from taking mathematics in the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II. This being the case, it cannot be said that the respondent No. 6 did not legitimately clear the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II which included mathematics as a subject. Consequently, it cannot be said that the respondent No. 6 did not have a mathematics background. 12. We may also note that mathematics is included in both Arts and Science Streams and if it were the intention of the advertisement to exclude the Arts stream students with mathematics, then it would have been very easy to specify Science with mathematics and not 'science and mathematics background' as specified in the advertisement. 13. 12. We may also note that mathematics is included in both Arts and Science Streams and if it were the intention of the advertisement to exclude the Arts stream students with mathematics, then it would have been very easy to specify Science with mathematics and not 'science and mathematics background' as specified in the advertisement. 13. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 6 drew our attention to Regulation 15 of Chapter-X of the said Regulations, which deals with admission to the bi-annual examination. The said Regulation 15 stipulates that, save as otherwise provided in the Regulations governing Examinations conducted by the Board, the specified categories of candidates shall be eligible for admission to the Bi-annual Examinations in, inter alia, the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II. The category included in the Higher Secondary Examination Part-I and Higher Secondary Examination Part-II as per clause-(a) of sub-clause-B specifies students who have passed their Higher Secondary Examination Part-I or Part-II (as the case may be) and who intend to appear in the additional subject. 14. In the facts of the present case, the respondent No. 6 passed the Higher Secondary Examination Part-II in the Arts Stream and she intended to appear in the additional subject of mathematics. She was, therefore, entitled to do so and, being the eligible for admission to the Bi-annual examination, she appeared in the same and passed the said examination in the additional subject of mathematics. Consequently, her eligibility cannot be in doubt. 15. The respondent No. 6 has already been declared as more meritorious in the subject of mathematics in the 10+2 examination and that is the reason why she has been appointed and already stands regularized as General Line Teacher. In these circumstances, we do not see any reason to interfere with the decision of the learned Single Judge. Consequently, the appeal is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.