ORAL JUDGMENT

Date : 16-01-2024

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents.

2. The petitioner has filed the instant application praying for quashing of letter bearing Memo no.534 dated 22.5.2015 issued under the signature of the Director, Administration, Rajendra Agriculture University, Bihar, Pusa, District Samastipur whereby the petitioner was terminated from service while working on the post of Field Man and for other reliefs.

3. The case of the petitioner in brief is that pursuant to an advertisement dated 27.7.2011 issued by the Rajendra Agriculture University (hereinafter referred to as ‘the University’), the petitioner was appointed on the post of Field Man on temporary basis in the pay scale of Rs.3,050/ to 4,590/. The qualification required for the said post was that the applicant should be I.Sc./I.Sc.(Ag.) with one year experience as Data Collector. Having participated in the written test followed by the interview, the petitioner was successfully appointed on 6.5.2014. Further case of the petitioner is that he was performing his duty to the best of his ability and to the satisfaction of the authority concerned. The petitioner received a letter dated 20.2.2015 from the University stating therein that in course of verification of the experience certificate submitted by the petitioner, it transpired that the said experience certificate had not been issued by the company concerned. As such, the petitioner was asked to show cause within a period of 15 days as to why his appointment on the post of Field Man be not cancelled. The petitioner filed his reply which has been brought on record as Annexure-12 to the writ petition. He stated therein that his experience certificate has been issued by Messina Beej Bhandar, Samastipur where he had worked. The said Messina Beej Bhandar was not only involved in arranging and distribution of seeds from Messina Beej Private Limited but also from other distributors of seeds. The petitioner stated that on enquiry, it has transpired that the Messina Beej Bhandar where he was working and has gained experience is no longer present and the Manager has shifted elsewhere, a place not known to the petitioner.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the categorical assertion of the petitioner in the writ application was that the experience certificate was issued by Messina Beej Bhandar, Samastipur and not Messina Beej Private Limited where the respondents have got their so called verification done with respect to the experience certificate of the petitioner. Thus, the order terminating the service of the petitioner as Field Man on the basis of the enquiry done by the respondents from a place other than where the petitioner worked and obtained the experience certificate is not sustainable and the same be set aside.

5. Learned counsel for the respondents submitted that in Advertisement no.1 of 2011, the essential eligibility for appointment as a Field Man was that besides the candidate being an I.Sc./I.Sc.(Ag.) the candidate should also have one year experience of Data Collection. The Selection Committee constituted by the University had recommended the name of the petitioner for the purpose of Field Man on the basis of the experience certificate produced by him. It was subsequently on verification that in course of enquiry, it transpired that the Messina Beej Bhandar who had purportedly issued the experience certificate in favour of the petitioner was not to be found and was traceless. This fact having been accepted by the petitioner, shows that the certificate of experience produced by him is fake and fabricated.

6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the material on record, it transpires that one of the essential conditions for appointment on the post of Field Man was that besides being I.Sc./I.Sc.(Ag.), the candidate/applicant should also have an experience of one year of Data Collection. It is also not in dispute that