Temporary appointment as Assistant Professor does not count as regular service for the purpose of promotion to the post of Associate Professor as per Statute 73.

JUDGMENT

Shrikant D. Kulkarni, J. - Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, heard finally at admission stage.

2. The petitioner an Assistant Professor is seeking directions to participate in the process of promotional post of Associate Professor by invoking the extra ordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

3. The factual matrix of the case is as under:

3(i) The petitioner was appointed as a Junior Research Assistant on 30.05.2006 on the establishment of Respondent No.2 / Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani. (hereinafter referred to as the "University"). After working for certain period on the post of Junior Research Assistant, the petitioner was selected on the post of Senior Research Assistant on 27.09.2007 on the basis of merit. He continued to work on the said post till 02.08.2011. On 03.08.2011, the petitioner came to be promoted for a period of 11 months on the vacant post of Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy by considering his seniority, merit, educational qualification and annual confidential reports, as per the Statute 74 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Universities (Krishi Vidyapeeths) Statutes, 1990 (hereinafter referred to as the "Statutes of 1990").

3(ii) The petitioner was temporarily promoted as an Assistant Professor in the year 2011 and he continued on the same post from the year 2011. In the year 2018, the University issued permanent appointment order of the petitioner on the post of Assistant Professor as per the recommendations made by the departmental promotional committee, however without considering the services rendered by the petitioner from 03.08.2011 to 21.06.2015. According to the petitioner, he was promoted on the basis of merit, academic qualification and annual confidential reports. Immediately within a period of 11 months, the selection process ought to have been completed by the University as per Statute 75. It is the stand of the petitioner that though the petitioner possesses all the requisite qualification viz. Ph.D. or NET / SET, the experience of the petitioner on the post of Assistant Professor from 2011 onwards ought to have been considered by the University in the zone of promotion of Associate Professor. The petitioner and other similarly situated candidates have made representation to the University to consider them for the post of Associate Professor, but the same was not considered by the University.

3(iii) The Government of Maharashtra through its General Administration Department has issued a circular dated 03.04.2004, wherein it is clarified the modalities in which experience of the candidates would be considered for selection and promotion. The Government of Maharashtra through its Higher and Technical Education Department has also issued a Government Resolution dated 17.10.20115 relating to counting of past service for direct recruitment and promotion under Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). In the above background, the petitioner is before us.

STAND OF THE UNIVERSITY

4. The Deputy Registrar (Administration) working with the University has filed affidavit on its behalf and denied the grounds raised by the petitioner for his eligibility for the post of Associate Professor. It is the stand of the University that the Maharashtra Agricultural University (Krishi Vidyapeeth) Act, 1983 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act of 1983") and its Statutes 1990 hold the field. According to Statute 138, the Maharashtra Civil Services Rules as amended and added from time to time are made applicable mutatis mutandis to the employees of this University. As such, the Civil Services Rules prescribed by the Government of Maharashtra are binding on the University in view of binding force of Statute 138.

5. The State Government has issued revised qualification vide its Government Resolution dated 15.03.2014 and thereby amended the Statutes of 1990. On various dates, the temporary promotional orders were issued by the U