High Court
Case Details
RSA 106/2000 BEFORE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B.P. KATAKEY JUDGMENT & ORDER (Oral) This appeal by the defendant No.4, Musstt. Rezina Khatoon, is directed against t he judgment and decree dated 12th May, 2000 passed in Title Appeal No.2/2000 by the learned Civil Judge (Sr. Division), Goalpara dismissing the appeal preferred by her alongwith the Managing Committee of Khalisabhita Senior Madrassa, the de fendant No.1 in the suit, by affirming the judgment and decree dated 13th Decemb er, 1999 passed in Title Suit No.50/1998 by the learned Civil Judge (Jr. Divisio n) No.1, Goalpara, decreeing the suit of the plaintiff/respondent No.1. The respondent No.1 as plaintiff, instituted the aforesaid suit [2] praying for declaration that she is entitled to be appointed in the post of Libr arian, she having fulfilled 2(two) conditions laid down in resolution No.1 of th e Managing Committee’s meeting dated 8th November, 1998; declaring that the deci sion of the Managing Committee of the Madrassa to appoint the appellant/defendan t No.4 is illegal and also for permanent injunction restraining the defendant No s.1, 2 and 3 from appointing the defendant No.4 in the post of Librarian, conten ding inter alia that pursuant to the advertisement dated 1st November, 1998 iss ued by the Madrassa, the plaintiff, the defendant No.4 and another appeared in t he interview and though the plaintiff secured higher mark in the interview as we ll as in the FM final examination than the defendant No.4, thereby fulfilling 2( two) of the conditions stipulated by the Managing Committee in its resolution da ted 8th November, 1998, and was entitled to be selected and appointed in the pos t of Librarian, the Managing Committee has adopted a resolution for appointment of the defendant No.4 in the last week of November, 1998.
Legal Reasoning
The defendants on receipt of the summons entered appearance. Th [3] e defendant Nos.1, 2 and 3 filed their joint written statement denying the claim of the plaintiff that she secured highest mark in the interview and contended t hat the defendant No.4, Rezina Khatoon, stood first in the interview and she hav ing fulfilled 2(two) of the conditions and having secured more marks in the 2(tw o) such criterias, the Managing Committee resolved to appoint the defendant No.4 as Librarian. [4] The defendant No.4 in her written statement has also stated that it is she, who stood first in the interview and that apart, having donated 2 Bi ghas 12 Lechas of land for the Madrassa, she secured highest marks in 2(two) cri terias laid down by the Managing Committee in its resolution dated 8th November, 1998 and hence, the Managing Committee has rightly resolved to appoint her. [5] amed the following issues for determination:- The Trial Court on the basis of the pleadings of the parties, fr (cid:28)(1) Whether there is cause of action for the suit? (2) (3) Whether the suit is maintainable? Whether the plaintiff has been selected for the post of Librarian in the interview? (4) ed on 8.11.98 by the resolution No.1? Whether the plaintiff is entitled to be appointed as per criteria resolv (5) To what reliefs the persons are entitled to? (cid:29) [6] The plaintiff in order to prove her case, examined 5(five) witne sses and proved 2(two) documents, being the photocopies of the result of the int erview as Exhibit-1 and the proceeding of the Managing Committee dated 8th Novem ber, 1998, laying down the criteria for selection as Exhibit-2. Exhibit-1 was marked under objection. Both the Exhibits-1 and 2 are the photocopies. The def endants examined 3(three) witnesses including the defendant No.4, Musstt. Rezina Khatoon, as DW-1 and the Vice President and the President of the Managing Commi ttee as DW-2 and DW-3, respectively. The defendants have proved 1(one) document , namely, the marks secured in the interview, which has been marked as Exhibit-K a. The Trial Court upon appreciation of the evidences on record as [7] adduced by the parties and also taking into account 2(two) Proceeding Books, whi ch were not proved by any of the parties, decreed the suit of the plaintiff decl aring that the plaintiff has fulfilled the conditions laid down in resolution No .1 of the Managing Committee’s meeting dated 8th November, 1998 and that the dec ision of the Managing Committee (defendant No.1) to appoint the defendant No.4 i s illegal. The Trial Court, hence, issued permanent injunction restraining the defendant Nos.1, 2 and 3 from appointing the respondent No.4. No decree, howeve r, was passed by the Trial Court directing appointment of the plaintiff. [8] Being aggrieved, the defendant Nos.1 and 4 preferred Title Appea l No.2/2000, which has been dismissed by the First Appellate Court by affirming the judgment and decree passed by the Trial Court, based on the aforesaid Procee ding Book Nos.1 and 2, which were not proved by any of the parties to the suit. None of the Courts below has recorded any finding relating to the admissibility of the Exhibit-1, i.e. result sheet proved by the plaintiff. Hence, the prese nt appeal. Vide order dated 10th November, 2000, the appeal was admitted fo [9] r hearing on the following 2(two) substantial questions of law:- 1. The plaintiffs’ only case being she was entitled to be appointed as Libr arian of Khalisabhita Senior Madrassa as against the appellant on the ground tha t the plaintiff became successful in the interview. Whether the courts below wer e justified in decreeing the suit restraining appointment of the appellant inasm uch as assuming that the plaintiff was successful, the same does not give any ri ght of appointment to the plaintiff? 2. The Courts below having not passed any decree for appointment of the pla intiff, whether the courts below were justified in passing a decree restraining appointment of the appellant inasmuch as if the appellant was not entitled to an y relief then the suit ought to have been dismissed?
Legal Reasoning
[10] I have heard Mr. M.K. Sharma, learned counsel for the appellant/ defendant No.4 and Mr. B. Sinha, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No .1/plaintiff. None appears for the respondent No.2, despite service. [11] Referring to the judgments and decrees passed by the Courts belo w, Mr. Sharma, learned counsel for the appellant/defendant No.4 has submitted th at since the plaintiff instituted the suit claiming that she secured the highest mark in the interview and as such, was entitled to be appointed pursuant to the selection conducted, in view of the resolution adopted by the Managing Committe e in its proceeding dated 8th November, 1998, the burden lies on the plaintiff t o prove that she secured highest mark in the interview as well as more mark in t he FM examination than the appellant/defendant No.4. According to the learned c ounsel, it is evident from the record that the plaintiff has failed to prove her case and the document Exhibit-1, which according to the plaintiff, is the marks secured in the interview, being the photocopy, the same is not admissible in ev idence. The learned counsel, therefore, submits that the plaintiff has failed t o prove that she secured higher marks than the defendant No.4 in the interview, apart from that she has also secured more marks than the defendant No.4 in the F M examination. The learned counsel further submits that the Proceeding Book No s.1 and 2, which were heavily relied upon by both the Courts below, in decreeing the suit of the plaintiff, ought not to have been taken into consideration, tho se having not been proved by any of the parties to the suit. It has also been s ubmitted that since the learned Courts below did not pass any decree directing a ppointment of the plaintiff, the Courts below ought not to have restrained the d efendants from appointing the defendant No.4 as Librarian. [12] Per contra, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent No1 /plaintiff submits that there is no substantial question of law involved in the appeal, the finding being concluded by a concurrent finding of fact and hence th e second appeal deserves to be dismissed. It has further been submitted that it is apparent from the judgments and decrees passed by both the Courts below that the records were manipulated by the defendant No.4’s husband, who was working i n Madrassa, so as to give undue benefit to the defendant No.4. The learned coun sel further submits that both the Courts below have recorded reasons for recordi ng the finding relating to fulfillment of at least 2(two) of the conditions stip ulated by the Managing Committee in its proceeding dated 8th November, 1998, and as such, this Court may not interfere with the judgments and decrees passed by the Courts below. [13] I have considered the submissions advanced by the learned counse l appearing for the parties and also perused the records including the judgments and decrees passed by both the Courts below. [14] As noticed above, the plaintiff’s suit was for declaration that she is entitled to be appointed as Librarian, as she has fulfilled 2(two) of the conditions laid down by the Managing Committee in its proceeding dated 8th Nove mber, 1998. According to the plaintiff, she secured more marks in the interview as well as in the FM examination than the defendant No.4 and as such, she secur ed more marks in 2(two) of the criterias adopted by the Managing Committee in it s proceeding dated 8th November, 1998 for the purpose of selection. The plainti ff having instituted the suit, the burden lies on her to prove that she secured more marks in the interview as well as in the FM examination than the defendant No.4. [15] The plaintiff in order to prove that she secured more marks in t he interview has introduced a photocopy of a document being the result of the in terview, which has been marked as Exhibit-1. The said document was marked as ex hibit under objection. The plaintiff never made any attempt to call for the ori ginal document in the custody of the Managing Committee of the Madrassa. The pl aintiff, in support of her contention that she secured more marks than the defen dant No.4 in FM examination, did not produce and prove the mark-sheet issued by the authority conducting the FM examination, which is the qualifying examination set by the Managing Committee for the purpose of selection of candidate for app ointment as Librarian. [16] Section 65 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 stipulates when the secondary evidence relating to the documents may be given. Admittedly, the orig inal of the Exhibit-1 was not in power and possession of the plaintiff but was i n power and possession of the Managing Committee of the Madrassa, namely, the de fendant No.4. As noticed above, the plaintiff did not give any notice, as requ ired under Section 66 of the aforesaid Act to produce the said original. Claus e (a) of Section 65 of the said Act provides that the secondary evidence may be given of the existence, condition or contents of a document, when the original i s shown or appears to be in possession or power of the person against whom the d ocument is sought to be proved, or of any person out of reach of, or not subject to, the process of the Court, or any person legally bound to produce it, and wh en, after notice mentioned in Section 66, such person does not produce it. In t he absence of any notice given by the plaintiff to the custodian of the said rec ord, namely, the Managing Committee of the Madrassa, as required under Section 6 6 of the Evidence Act, the photocopy of the result sheet of the interview, (Exhi bit-1) is not admissible in evidence, the same being secondary evidence. [17] It also appears that both the Courts below have placed reliance on 2(two) Proceeding Books, while decreeing the suit of the plaintiff and believ ed the plaintiff’s story of securing higher marks in the interview as well as in the qualifying FM examination, even though those registers were never proved by any of the parties. The documents, which have not been proved, cannot be looked into and relied upon for the purpose of passing a decree. That apart, as notic ed above, the plaintiff has not proved, by producing any document, the marks sec ured in the qualifying FM examination. The plaintiff’s oral evidence that she s ecured more marks in the FM examination than the defendant No.4, in the absence of proof of the mark sheet showing the marks in the FM examination and issued by the competent authority, cannot be relied upon. [18] In view of the aforesaid discussion, I am of the view that since the plaintiff has failed to prove her case, the Courts below ought not to have passed the judgments and decrees and hence, the judgments and decrees passed by the Courts below are set aside. [19] At this stage, it has been submitted by Mr. Sinha, learned couns el for the respondent No.1 that pursuant to the decree passed and as affirmed by the First Appellate Court, the plaintiff has been appointed as Librarian on 14t h December, 2000 and since then, she has been continuing as such in the said cap acity. [20] If the plaintiff has already been appointed and such appointment being in the venture Madrassa, it is for the authority to take a decision in th e matter. In the event, the authority decides to provincialise the services of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the said Madrassa, the authority shall al so take into account the period rendered by the plaintiff pursuant to her order of appointment dated 14th December, 2000. [21] [22] The appeal is accordingly allowed as indicated above. No costs. The Registry is directed to send down the records.