Point of Law: If public interest litigations at instance of strangers are allowed to be entertained by Tribunals, very object of speedy disposal of service matter would get defeated.

JUDGMENT :

SATYEN VAIDYA, J.

1. By way of instant petition, petitioners have prayed for following substantive reliefs:

“That the Annexure A-5, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 33 and 36 whereby the University Administration has granted UGC pay scale and status at par with regularly appointed teachers may kindly be quashed and also the allotment of house made to respondents No. 5 to 15 which are reserved for teachers may kindly be ordered to be withdrawn.”

2. The petition was initially instituted as Original Application under Section 19 of Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 before Himachal Pradesh State Administrative Tribunal (for short, “the Tribunal”) and was registered as O.A. No. 5443 of 2018. On abolition of the Tribunal, it came to be transferred to this Court and has been registered as CWPOA No. 5208 of 2020. The averments made in the “Original Application” remained without any amendment before this Court also. Similar situation remained in respect of reliefs prayed therein.

3. Admittedly, petitioners have not sought any relief for themselves. Their grievance remained confined to conferment of status of teachers and grant of UGC pay scales to respondents No. 5 to 15. The petitioners have not even made any averment regarding violation of any of their rights.

4. At the very outset, we asked learned counsel for the petitioners to justify the maintainability of the petition in absence of prayer for any specific relief for themselves or in absence of any plea regarding infringement or violation of any of their rights individually or collectively.

5. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties on the question of maintainability of the petition as we purposed to decide said issue in the first instance. We have also gone through the material on record.

6. As is evident from the averments made in the petition, petitioners have simply projected that the appointments of respondents No. 5 to 15 were not in terms of the Ordinance, Act and Statute of Himachal Pradesh University (for short “the University”) and UGC norms, hence, the conferment of status of teachers and grant of UGC pay scale to them was illegal. It will be relevant to cull out, the facts as emerge from the contents of the petition, as under:

(a) Petitioners were working as Assistant Professors in various departments of the University on the date of filing of the petition.

(b) Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies (for short ‘IIHS’) was formed w.e.f. 1.4.2002 as a Research Centre with the aid of UGC initially for five years.

(c) Executive Committee of IIHS approved its rules and regulations vide Resolution No. 43 dated 13.3.2004. The posts of Research Associate, Senior Research Fellow, Junior Research Fellow and Field Assistant/Laboratory Attendant were created. Six posts each of Research Scholars and Project Associates besides three posts of Project Fellows were filled by IIHS.

(d) In 2008 to 2010, three more posts of Research Officers were filled.

(e) On 16.11.2009, the posts in IIHS were re-designated as Senior Research Officers, Research Officers and Project Officers. Respondents No. 5 to 15 were occupying the re-designated posts. They were also given the scales at par with Assistant and Associate Professors, working in other departments of the University.

(f) Respondents No. 5 to 15 filed petitions for regularization of their services. This Court vide judgment dated 18.4.2012, in CWP(T) No. 634 of 2008 and other connected matters had issued directions to the University to consider the cases of petitioners for continuation of IIHS as a permanent Multi-Disciplinary Research Institution of the University and also the issue of continuance/absorption/regularization of the petitioners therein. It was further ordered that on final decision being taken by the University, the petitioners would be entitled to all consequential benefits

(g) In 2013, the IIHS was made a Permanent Multi- Disciplinary Research Institution of the University.

(h) On 9.9.2014, the services of respondent