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IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD
NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA, J
Vineesha Bathini – Appellant
Versus
Telangana State Public Service Commission – Respondent
Writ Petition No. 7289 of 2018
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Smt. Vedula Chitralekha
For the Respondents: Sri P.S. Raja Shekar
Candidates meeting defined educational qualifications as per recruitment notifications cannot be unjustly rejected based on interpretative discrepancies.
Headnote:(A) Notification No. 14 of 2017 - Eligibility criteria for Trained Graduate Teachers in Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences - The respondents rejected Petitioner applications stating they lacked requisite subjects at UG level qualifications, however, the court found that said rejection was unjustifiable as the Petitioners met the eligibility as per the notification criteria. (Paras 1, 6, 7)
(B) Legal Principles - The eligibility for the posts as advertised encompassed flexibility in subjects as long as aspirants could adequately demonstrate the requisite qualifications laid out in the notification. (Paras 5, 6)
Facts of the case:
The Petitioners contested their rejection for the Trained Graduate Teacher positions based on an eligibility misunderstanding regarding their MSc and B.Ed. degrees, asserting compliance with the stated requirements in the recruitment notification.
Findings of Court:
The Court upheld that the rejection was against the notification's criteria and was not justified, thereby allowing the writ petition.
Issues: The Court addressed whether the rejection of the Petitioners' applications was according to the eligibility outlined in Notification No. 14 of 2017.
Ratio Decidendi: The rejection of the Petitioners was deemed unsustainable as they fulfilled the criteria in the notification; the court reaffirmed that applicants must be judged against the exact requirements as stated.
Result: Writ Petition allowed and rejection order set aside.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. eligibility requirements outlined in the notification. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. petitioners' application rejection process. (Para 3 , 4) |
| 3. court's decision supporting petitioners' qualifications. (Para 5) |
| 4. court's authoritative reasoning on eligibility. (Para 6) |
| 5. final ruling reversing rejection of applications. (Para 7) |
O R D E R:
The case of Petitioners is that they had done five years integrated MSc (Chemistry) course from Kakatiya University in 2013 and that they have done B.Ed. course from Kakatiya University and Osmania University respectively in 2015 with Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences being the method of teachings. Respondent – Telangana State Public Service Commission had issued Notification No. 14 of 2017 inviting Applications on line from qualified candidates to the post of Trained Graduate Teachers and the last date of submission of Applications was 04.05.2017. The process of selection consists of preliminary (screening tests) of objective type followed by Main examination (Objective type). Annexure-A of the Notification provides eligibility criteria for different posts of teachers and Petitioners applied on line. The required qualifications of the two posts are shown at Serial Nos. 7 and 9 of Annexure-A.
The post of Trained Graduate Teacher in Physical Science is concerned, the candidate must possess a Bachelor's Degree with at least two optional subjects out of Physical/Applied Physics/Engineering Physics and Instrumentation and Chemistry/Applied Chemistry/Industrial Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Chemistry/Medicinal Chemistry/Bio Chemistry/Geology (or) either Physics and its allied subjects or Chemistry and its allied subjects as one of the main subjects and other as subsidiary/ancillary subjects from a university recognized by UGC and B.Ed. with Physical Sciences/Physics/Chemistry/Science as a methodology subject from an institution recognised by NCTE. Likewise, the qualification prescribed for the post of Trained Graduate Teacher in Science are Candidates with qualifications mentioned in Serial No. 7 or 8 i.e. TGT (Physical Science) or TGT (Biological Science) are eligible. The subject Physics will be there in the first two years of the course and Chemistry being the main subject will be there during all five years of the course. As such, Petitioners satisfy the eligibility criteria for both the posts at Serial Nos. 7 and 9 of Annexure-A of the Notification.
Petitioners were issued Hall Tickets for written examination and after preliminary examination was over, were called for main examination on 29.08.2017. The main examination for the subject posts took place on 30.08.2017 and Petitioners were successful in main examination and their results were published on the website. Subsequently, Petitioners were called for verification of certificates in the ratio of 1:2.
Verification of certificates took place on 12.12.2017 and 13.12.2017. However, to their surprise, Hall tickets of Petitioners were shown in the list of rejection giving the reason - For want of required optional 2 subjects in UG level and reasons shown in so far as TGT (Physical Sciences) is that "MSc (Chemistry) 5 years integrated course, for first 2 years Physics was also studied." And in respect of the other course, reason for rejection was that "5 years integrated course i.e. M.Sc. (Chemistry) may be considered." The said rejection is unsustainable and irrational as the candidate can have Physics or its allied subjects or Chemistry/its allied subjects as one of the main subjects and other as subsidiary in the degree awarded by a university recognised by UGC. Since both the Petitioners are having Chemistry as main subject and Physics as subsidiary subject in the 5-year integrated course of MSc, they are eligible for both the posts. Respondent had allowed Petitioners to appear for examinations with full knowledge of their qualification.
2. This Court had granted interim order dated
06.03.2018, operative portion of which reads as under:
"P
