IMPORTANT POINT
Appointment – Parameters to be applied to a case where an incumbent to a post does not fulfil qualifications prescribed for a post, are different from parameters to be applied to a case where no specific qualifications are prescribed for a particular post.

JUDGMENT

V. Ramasubramanian, J.

Aggrieved by the dismissal of his writ petition seeking to quash an order of the Chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth University (hereinafter referred to as 'the University'), rejecting his request to be appointed as Lecturer (Karm Kand), the appellant is before this Court.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the appellant, the learned counsel appearing for the Chancellor of the University, the learned counsel for University itself and the learned standing counsel for the State.

3. The brief facts necessary for the disposal of the above appeal are as follows:-

(i) Vide order dated 22.10.1996, the State of U.P sanctioned one post of Lecturer in 'Karm Kand' in the Department of Sanskrit in the University, which is arrayed as the 5th respondent herein. The Chancellor of the University, the Executive Council and the Vice Chancellor of the University are arrayed separately as respondents 2 to 4 herein for reasons not difficult to fathom.

(ii) It appears that one Shri Jai Prakash Pandey was initially appointed to the said post and his services were also regularised. But the regularisation of his services was set aside by the High Court by an order dated 19.08.2006 in Writ Petition No.35149 of 1999.

(iii) Thereafter, the appellant herein was engaged by the University as a Guest Lecturer to teach 'Karm Kand' to the students in the Department of Sanskrit. The remuneration payable to him was fixed at Rs.250/- per lecture subject to a maximum of Rs.5,000/- per month.

(iv) A proposal to fill up the post on regular basis was submitted by the Head of the Department of Sanskrit on 16.10.2006. It was approved by the Vice-Chancellor on 18.10.2006. Pursuant thereto, the University issued an advertisement bearing Advertisement No.2 of 2006, inviting applications for appointment to one post of Lecturer in 'Karm Kand'. The advertisement also contained invitation for applications for various other posts in various departments. We are not concerned in this case with the posts in other departments for which applications were invited in the same advertisement. Suffice it to say that applications were invited for appointment to 8 posts of lecturers in various subjects, one of which was for appointment to the post of Lecturer in 'Karm Kand'.

(v) Unfortunately, a controversy erupted, when the then Chancellor of the University issued an oral order restraining the Vice-Chancellor from convening the meetings of Selection Committees pursuant to the aforesaid advertisement, on the ground that the Vice-Chancellor was due to retire on 31.12.2007. But the High Court, by an order dated 04.10.2007 passed in a writ petition, made it clear that statutory functions performed by the Vice Chancellor cannot be put on hold by oral orders of the Chancellor. Thereafter, a written order was issued by the Chancellor on 14.12.2007. However, the said order was challenged in another writ petition and the same was stayed by the Allahabad High Court, paving the way for the Selection Committees to proceed further pursuant to the Advertisement No.2 of 2006.

(vi) As a consequence, the Selection Committees in respect of various posts held meetings and made recommendations. Some of these recommendations were accepted by the Executive Council by its Resolution dated 24.12.2007.

(vii) Since the Vice-Chancellor retired in the meantime before the recommendations were implemented, a batch of writ petitions came to be filed. A spate of interim orders came tobe passed pursuant to which the Executive Council decided to refer the recommendations of the Selection Committees to the Chancellor under the proviso to Section 31(8) (a) of the U.P. State Universities Act, 1973.

(viii) In the case of the appellant, the Selection Committee had recommended his candidature for appointment to the post of Lecturer in 'Karm Kand'. But the Executive Council disagreed with the Selection Committee on the ground that the Vice-Chancellor failed to request the Chancellor to