ORDER

Per: - Ram Mohan Johri, Administrative Member

1. The SWP No.1024/2013 was transferred from the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and was registered as T.A No.6981/2021 by the Registry of this Tribunal.

2. The present matter was filed before the Hon’ble High Court seeking following relief: -

a) “Writ, order or direction in the nature of Certiorari quashing the order impugned bearing No. 37-Edu of 2013 dated 14-01-2013;

b) Writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding upon the Respondents to promote the petitioner as Lecturer in Computer Science in terms of SRO 83.

c) Any other writ, order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, may also be granted in favour of the petitioner and against the respondents along with cost of the petition.

3. The facts of the case as pleaded by the petitioner in his pleadings are as follows: -

a) The present Transfer Application arises out of SWP No. 1024/2013, which was originally filed by the applicant before the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir at Jammu and, upon transfer, has been registered before this Tribunal as T.A. No. 6981/2021.

b) The applicant, Ajay Kumar, is stated to be a Science Graduate and thereafter acquired the qualification of M.Sc. in Computer Science from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, as a regular student. He came to be selected and appointed as Teacher in the School Education Department pursuant to the selection process conducted by the J&K Services Selection Board in the year 2007. The grievance projected by the applicant is that despite possessing the qualification of M.Sc. Computer Science, which according to him is the relevant qualification for promotion/appointment as Lecturer in Computer Science, his claim was not considered by the respondents while regularizing/promoting private respondents as Lecturers in Computer Science.

c) The case of the applicant is that vide Government Order No. 1301-Edu of 2003 dated 31.07.2003, posts of Lecturer in Computer Science were created in the School Education Department consequent upon upgradation of High Schools to the level of Higher Secondary Schools. According to the applicant, 17 posts of Lecturer in Computer Science were available in the Department, out of which 9 posts were referred to the J&K Public Service Commission for direct recruitment and the remaining posts were required to be filled up through promotion from amongst eligible in-service Teachers/Masters possessing the prescribed qualification.

d) The applicant pleads that, at the relevant point of time, the field was governed by the J&K Education (Gazetted) Service Recruitment Rules, 1992 notified vide SRO 83 dated 07.04.1992. Under the said Rules, the prescribed qualification for the post of Lecturer was Master’s Degree in the relevant subject. It is the specific case of the applicant that M.Sc. Computer Science is the Master’s Degree in the relevant subject and, therefore, he was fully eligible to be considered for promotion as Lecturer in Computer Science under the promotion quota.

e) The applicant further asserts that the Public Service Commission, while issuing Advertisement Notification No. 06-PSC of 2008 dated 23.05.2008 for direct recruitment to the post of Lecturer 10+2 in Computer Science, had prescribed Master’s Degree in the relevant subject as the essential qualification. It is also pleaded that the Public Service Commission, through a subsequent clarification/notice dated 09.09.2011, clarified that candidates possessing M.Sc. Computer Science were eligible and that MCA qualification was not to be treated as the prescribed qualification under the 1992 Recruitment Rules. The applicant also relies upon the communication of the Administrative Department addressed to the Public Service Commission, wherein it was stated that under the J&K Education (Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 1992, the qualification prescribed for Lecturer is Ma