JUDGMENT :

Rabindranath Samanta, J.

1. Challenging the legality of the appointment of the private respondent no. 10, Dr. Sankar Sarkar, as an Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit in Indian Statistical Institute, respondent no. 1, the petitioner has preferred the writ petition being WPA 7680 of 2020. On the other hand, the petitioner has preferred the second writ petition being WPA 7682 of 2020 challenging the legality of the appointments of the private respondent nos. 11 and 12 namely Dr. Ramiz Rahaman and Dr. Swapan Rana as well as the appointment of private respondent no. 10, the said Dr. Sankar Sarkar. Since both the writ petitions are based on some similar set of facts and the reliefs sought for therein may be addressed by a common judgment, both the writ petitions were taken up together for hearing.

2. Shorn of details, the facts which led to filing of the writ petition being WPA 7680 of 2020 may be stated as under:

The petitioner Dr. Haradhan Maity is a permanently handicapped person with 60% disability and he belongs to the category of persons with disability (PwD).

On the basis of his final result, the Indian Statistical Institute, the respondent no. 1 herein, by an office order dated 29th July, 2008 awarded Junior Research Fellowship to him in Physics and Applied Mathematics unit of the Institute for one year, i.e., 2008-09. This term of one year was extended from time to time by the ISI authority. He successfully completed the Research Fellowship Programme in the year 2015 and was awarded with Ph.D. degree. A certificate to that effect was issued to him by the Indian Statistical Institute.

On 30th August, 2016, the petitioner made an application attaching his updated curriculum vitae thereto through e-mail to the authority concerned seeking appointment as a faculty member in the Indian Statistical Institute.

On the applications made by him under the Right to Information Act, 2005, a copy of an office order dated 2nd March, 2017 issued by the Director, Indian Statistical Institute was handed over to him on 11th January, 2019. This office order specifies the Recruitment Rules for faculty members of the Indian Statistical Institute. As per the aforesaid Recruitment Rules, the petitioner was eligible for getting appointment either to the post of Assistant Professor (on contract) or to the post of Assistant Professor in reference to his application dated 30th August, 2016. As to appointment as an Assistant Professor, a candidate must have a Ph.D. degree in the appropriate branch and should have at least 3 years (relaxable in exceptional cases) of post doctoral research/teaching/industrial experience. However, the phrase relaxable in exceptional cases has not been explained in the Recruitment Rules.

The petitioner with the prospective view and ambition, again made an application to the Director, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta seeking appointment as a Faculty member under the persons with disability (PwD) category on 12th May, 2017.

As regards his first application dated 30th August, 2016, the institute authority informed him unofficially that due to embargo imposed on recruitment process, his application could not be processed for the time being. However, once the embargo was lifted, his application would be considered. But with regard to his second application dated 12th May, 2017, the respondent authority was yet to take any decision. The petitioner became astonished to find in the website that one Dr. Sankar Sarkar, the private respondent no. 10 of Civil Engineering background was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Physics and Applied Mathematics unit in the Indian Statistical Institute despite the embargo was in force.

Afflicted with abysmal state of mind, the petitioner made application under the Right to Information Act on 15th January, 2018 to the respondent authority seeking specific information as to the basis for giving appointment to Dr. Sankar Sarkar. In the same application, he sought