The possession of prescribed educational qualification as of the cut-off date specified in the notification, the validity of relaxation of conditions, and the entitlement of candidates to be considered under specific categories are crucial legal principles established in the judgment.

JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records relating to the Notification dated NIL of the First Respondent and quash the same to the extent of recommendation of the provisional appointment of the second Respondent to the post of Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering and to consider the Petitioner for the said post.)

1. The notification dated 18.12.2008 (the Notification) of the first Respondent communicating the provisional selection of the second Respondent for the post of Lecturer is challenged by the Petitioner in this writ petition.

2. The Petitioner completed the B.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) degree from Pondicherry Engineering College in May 2000 and M.Tech. (Energy Technology) degree from the aforesaid college in June 2004. He was working as a Lecturer for about three years in S.K.P. Engineering College and belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC). Applications were called for from eligible candidates by the first Respondent for appointment to the post of Lecturer in the Polytechnic Colleges functioning under the Pondicherry Institute of Post Matric Technical Education (PIPMATE) at Puducherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe through the Notification. Out of the posts for which the Notification was issued, one post was reserved under the SC quota for a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. The educational qualification prescribed for the said post is a first class bachelor’s degree in the appropriate branch of engineering/technology.

3. The Petitioner’s name was sponsored by the Employment Exchange, Puducherry and the same was communicated by the first Respondent through memorandum dated 30.01.2009. On that basis, the Petitioner applied for the said post and participated in the written competitive examination, which was conducted on 13.12.2009. Subsequently, he was called for document verification and a personal interview and he attended the same on 01.02.2010 and 02.02.2010 respectively. Pursuant to the above-mentioned selection process, the first Respondent issued the impugned Notification which was published on the internet on 22.02.2010. By the Notification, the list of candidates who were provisionally selected for the post of Lecturer in various disciplines was communicated. Upon perusal thereof, the Petitioner found his name in the reserve list whereas the second Respondent was provisionally selected. Upon further verification, the Petitioner discovered that the second Respondent did not possess the requisite educational qualification of a bachelor’s degree in engineering as of the prescribed date. The case of the Petitioner is that the second Respondent completed his B.E. degree only after the last date prescribed in the Notification. Therefore, the Petitioner filed the present writ petition to challenge the Notification whereby the second Respondent was provisionally selected for the post of Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering under the SC quota.

4. By an interim order dated 08.03.2010, an interim stay was granted as regards the aforesaid post which remains in force as on date.

5. I heard Ms.Rajeni Ramadass, the learned counsel for the Petitioner; Mr.T.M.Naveen, the learned counsel for the first Respondent; and Mr.V.Ajayakumar, the learned counsel for the second Respondent.

6. The learned counsel for the Petitioner contended that the Petitioner possessed the prescribed educational qualifications. In support thereof, she referred to the B.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) degree certificate issued on 29.03.2001 by the Pondicherry University and the M.Tech. (Energy Technology) degree certificate dated 21.01.2006 of the Pondicherry University. In this connection, she also referred to the notification dated 18.02.2008 inviting applications for the post of Lecturer and pointed out that the said notification specified the last date for receipt of the filled-up application with testimonials as 5.00 p.m. on 12.01.2009. As regards t