By the Court.—These are the three writ petitions filed by Dr. Anish Khanna, Lecturer, Dr. Jamal Masood, Assistant Professor and Dr. Sheetal Prasad Patel, Assistant Professor, challenging the same orders passed by the Chancellor dated 6th of January, 2001 by means of which their appointments on the post of Lecturer and Assistant Professor respectively in the Department of Social Medical & Preventive Medicines (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Department of SPM’) in the King George Medical College presently known as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow have been cancelled.

2. Since common questions of law and fact are involved, therefore, we proceed to decide all the aforesaid writ petitions by a common order.

3. Heard Sri S.K. Kalia, learned Sr. Advocate appearing for the petitioners, Sri Alok Mathur appearing for the Chancellor and Sri Abhishek Yadav appearing for the private-respondent.

4. On 12th of January, 1998, the then King George Medical College a constituent college of the Lucknow University issued an advertisement inviting applications for appointment on six posts of Assistant Professor/Lecturer in the Department of SPM vide advertisement No. 98 of 2002. Out of Six posts, two posts were reserved for backward classes and one post was reserved for SC/ST category. Dr. Anish Khanna, Dr. Jamal Masood and Dr. Sheetal Prasad Patel, applied for being appointed on the posts so advertised.

5. Alongwith the petitioners, certain other persons, including the private respondent Dr. Ashok Kumar Yadav, also applied in pursuance of the advertisement.

6. The meeting of the selection committee was held on 7th of May, 1999 wherein the petitioners as well as the private respondent also appeared alongwith certain other candidates. As a result of the selection, the petitioners were declared successful but the private respondent, namely Dr. Ashok Kumar Yadav, could not compete in the selection with the petitioners. Consequence to their selection, the Executive Council of the University appointed the petitioners vide appointment order dated 16th of June, 1999 and separate appointment letters were also issued to them. They joined their respective post of Lecturer and Assistant Professors, respectively, on that very date i.e. on 16th of June, 1999.

7. It was after a lapse of about three months, the petitioners received a letter from the Chancellor of the University of Lucknow wherein they were informed that a representation under Section 68 of the State University Act has been preferred by Dr. Ashok Kumar Yadav on 1st of July, 1999 and the petitioners were required to submit their reply.

8. The main plea of the representationist, namely Dr. Ashok Kumar Yadav, was that the Department of SPM was an upgraded department, therefore, in terms of Section 31(4)(a)(iv) of the Act, the selection committee would be constituted including one nominee each from the Central Government and the State Government which was not done in the instant case and therefore, the selection itself was bad.

9. The petitioners submitted their reply refuting the aforesaid allegation saying that the Department of SPM was not an upgraded department and that it was a regular department of the King George Medical College therefore it was not necessary to constitute the selection committee in terms of the aforesaid provision of the statute.

10. The Lucknow University also submitted reply wherein it categorically refuted the aforesaid claim of the representationist and asserted that the Department of SPM is not an upgraded department nor the committee was required to be constituted in terms of the aforesaid statute.

11. The Chancellor, however, on the basis of a ‘Forward’ note prepared by one Sri K.P. Bhargava, in the souvenir of the University since has mentioned that the Department of SPM has been upgraded in the year 1972 up to Post Graduate classes, came to the conclusion that it was an upgraded department and therefore, the selection committee should ha