E. Tamilmani v. The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRASDated : 22.07.2009CoramThe Honourable Mrs.Justice PRABHA SRIDEVANandThe Honourable Mr.Justice C.T.SELVAMW.A.No.703 of 2008and MP.No. 1 of 20081.E. Tamilmani2.Dr. P. Viswanathan3.R. Gunasekaran...Appellant/Petitioners 1 to 3-vs-1. The State of Tamil NaduRep. By its Secretary to GovernmentHigher Education DepartmentFort St. GeorgeChennai – 600 0092. The ChairmanTeachers Recruitment BoardEVK, Sampath Maligai4th Floor, DPI CompoundCollege RoadChennai – 600 0063.The DirectorDirectorate of Collegiate EducationChennai – 600 0064.National Council for Teacher Educationrep. By its Regional Director 1st Floor, CSD Building, HMT PostBangalore – 560 0315.T. RavichandranPalavilai, KollanchiNelvely East, Mulankuli PostKanyakumari – 629 1626.Ms. Kannika Parameswari7.S. Akila https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ (RR-4 to 7 impleaded as per order of the court dated 05-02-2008 inM.P.No.2 of 2008)8.Dr. K. Pazhanisamy...Respondents /4th Petitioner Writ Appeal against the order in W.P.No.37192 of 2007 dated 17-04-2008. Petition filed under Article 226 of constitution of Indiato issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records ofthe 2nd respondent pertaining to the list of cancellation ofprovisionally selected candidates dated 7.12.07 published on 11.12.07and revised list of provisionally selected candidates published on11.12.2007 and quash the same in sojan as the inclusion of thepetitioners in the cancellation list are concerned and the exclusionof their names in the revised list of provisionally selectedcandidates published on 11.12.2007 is concerned, and consequentlydirect the 2nd and 3rd respondents to select and appoint thepetitioners to the post of Lecturers for Government Arts & ScienceColelges and Colleges of Education in accordance with the list ofcandidates provisionally selected for appointment to the post ofLecturers for Government Arts & Science Colleges and Colleges ofEducation dated 19.11.2007.For Appellant:Mrs. Nalini Chidambaram, SC for Mr.Arun NatarajanFor Respondents:Mr.G. Sankaran, Spl.G.P.(Edn)for RR1 to 3Mr.K. Ramakrishna Reddy for R4Mr. R.N. Amarnath for R6 & R7 JUDGMENT(The Judgement of the Court was delivered by PRABHA SRIDEVAN,J)The issue to be considered in this writ appeal is theconstruction of words "in the concerned subject" contained in thenotification issued by the Teachers' Recruitment Board and Directorof collegiate Education for direct recruitment of lecturers forGovernment Arts and Science Colleges and Colleges of Education. 2.Originally, the University Grants Commission had prescribedqualification for the post of lecturers and the same was adopted asper G.O.Ms.Nos.111, 112, 113 Higher Education Department dated 24-03-1999 which reads as follows:"i) The minimum requirements of a good academic record,55% of the marks at the Masters Level and qualifying in theNational Eligibility Test (NET) or an accredited test, shallremain for the appointment of Lecturers.ii) A relaxation of 5% may be provided from 55% to 50%of the marks, at the Mastes Level for the SC/ST categories. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Iii) A relaxation of 5% may be provided from 55% to 50%of the marks to the Ph.D., degree holders who have passedtheir masters degree prior to 19th September, 1991."The following amendment was directed to be added under the Heading ofRecruitment and qualification."The following amendment to G.O.Ms.Nos.111, 112 and113 Higher Education Department, dated 24.3.99 has beenissued in Government Letter No.11555/H1/2006-1 dated15.9.2006 based on the letter from the Joint Secretary,University Grants Commission, New Delhi, D.O. Letter No. F1-1/2—2/(PS) Exemmp. Dated 14.6.2006.Amendment"NET or SLET or an accredited Test shall remain thecompulsory requirement for appointment as Lecturer for thosewith post-graduate deree. However, the candidates havingPh.D. Degree in the concerned subject are exempted from NETor SLET or an accredited Test for PG level and UG levelteaching. The candidates having M.Phil. degree in theconcerned subject are exempted from NET or SLET or anaccredited Test for UG level teaching only"The qualification for the post of lecturer in Colleges of Educationas per NCTE norms and the relevant time are as follows:..(i) M.Ed/M.A. (Education) with minimum 55% marks andB.Ed.ORMaster's degree in a school subject with minimum 50%marks and M.Ed./M.A(Education) with 55% marks and B.Ed.Note:(i)..(ii)Apart from the qualification prescribed above forlecturer, the candidates shall have to qualify NET/SLETqualification or alternative qualifications thereto asprescribed by UGC from time to time before the commencementof the academic session 2009-2010."In the prospectus issued to the candidates serial No.4 read asfollows:6. ...a) All candidates other SC/ST: Candidates with(i) Postgraduate degree in the Subject with minimum 55%marks and (ii) a pass in the UGC/CSIR/JRF/NEt Lecturershiptest or State Level Educational Testing (SLET), (OR)b) For, SC/ST candidates: Candidates with (i)Postgraduate degree in the Subject with minimum 50% marksand (ii) a pass in the UGC/CSIR/JRF/NET Lecturership Test orState Level Educational Testing (SLET), (OR) https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Candidates with (i) Postgraduate degree in the Subjectwith a minimum of 50% marks and (ii) M.Phil. Or Ph.D. degreeor both, are eligible to apply."2.According to the Government, the word in the subject meant'Education' as far as the Colleges of Education were concerned andpossessing M.Phil. degree or Ph.D. in subjects other than 'Education'will not be the qualification that is required and if they had notpassed M.Phil./Ph.D. in 'Education', the applicants had to pass NETor SLET otherwise they would not be qualified. 3.The learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellantsubmitted that the words 'concerned subject' cannot be referred to be'Education' and it can only be "the concerned subject" which theapplicant intends to teach. Therefore, the refusal to consider themthough they satisfy the criteria is not justified. It is alsosubmitted that subsequent to the date of notification or the date ofthe interview, the candidates have obtained M.Phil in Education andin particular Gunasekaran(3rd appellant) had obtained the SLETqualification. The learned Senior counsel would therefore submitthat in similar circumstances, the Board had appointed Lecturers whodid not possess the requisite qualification but had acquired itbefore the commencement of the academic year and therefore, the sameindulgence may be shown to the appellants herein. 4.The learned Government Pleader submitted that theappointments have been made strictly in accordance with thequalifications mentioned in the Notification and the possession ofNET/SLET qualification is a must where applicants do not possess thePh.D. degree in "the concerned subject or an M.Phil. degree in theconcerned subject". They should possess the qualification on thedate of application for the post and the possession of the samebefore the commencement of the academic session would not satisfy thecriteria laid down in the Notification dated 18-09-2006. The learnedSpecial Government Pleader also submitted that the candidates did notsatisfy the eligibility criteria on the date when the appointment wasconsidered. The objection relating to "concerned subject" must berejected. 5.We see that the Notification was a common Notification bothfor Government Arts and Science Colleges and the Colleges ofEducation and the vacancy for lecturers are for subjects likeEnglish, Mathematics, Physics etc. and Education (Tamil), Education(English), Education (Maths), Education (Physical Science), Education(History) and Education (Geography)etc. That means the subject codesmentioned as F01 to F22 would be the concerned subject for theGovernment Arts and Science Colleges and the subject codes from F23to F34 will be the concerned subject for applicants as applicable forcolleges of education because the applicants are expected to betrained in educating in that subject. That is why their M.Phil or https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Ph.D must be in 'Education(Tamil) or Education (English)' etc. andthe concerned subject should be Tamil, English or as th case may be.For clarification, the relevant column from the Notification isextracted hereunder:Direct Recruitment of Lecturersfor Govt. Arts & Science Colleges and Colleges of Education (2006-07)...2. Scale of Pay: Rs.8000-275-13500The Estimated Vacancies for Lecturers including backlogvacancies, are as follows:Sl.No.SubCodeSubject............................1FO1Tamil2FO2English3FO3Mathematics4FO4Physics5FO5Chemistry6FO6Botany7FO7Zoology8FO8History9FO9Geography10F10Economics11F11Commerce12F12Home Science13F13Political Science14F14Statistics15F15 Sociology16F16Geology17F17Music18F18PublicAdministration19F19Electronic Science20F20Computer Science21F21Bio-chemistry22F22Microbiology23F23Education (Tamil)24F24Education(English) https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ Sl.No.SubCodeSubject............................25F25Education (Maths)26F26Education(BiologicalSci)27F27Education(PhysicalSci)28F28Education (History)29F29Education(Geography)30F30Education(Education)31F31Education(Economics)32F32Education(Logic)33F33Education (ComputerSci)34F34Education(Home Sci)Total............................6.Next we come to the requirement of SLET or NET. We havealready extracted the relevant rules and it shows that NET or SLETwill remain the compulsory requirement for appointment of lecturer orif a person has a Ph.D., in the concerned subject he will be exemptedfrom NET or SLET or an accredited test for UG level and PG levelteaching. The candidates having M.Phil. Degree in the concernedsubject are exempted from NET or SLET or an accredited Test for UGlevel teaching only. It was objected on the side of the appellants,the criteria imposed by the State is not in line with NationalCouncil for Teacher Education (NCTE in short) and that NCTE requiresthe qualification to be acquired only before the commencement of theacademic session whereas the State insists upon the possession of NETor SLET on the date of application. The appellants possess thequalification prescribed for the post of Lecturer as per theguidelines of NCTE. NCTE has framed regulations under Section 32 ofthe NCTE Act, 1993 for the post of lecturer prescribingqualification which is as follows:(i) M.Ed./M.A.(Education) with minimum 55% marks andB.Ed. OR Master's degree in a school subject with minimum50% marks and M.Ed./M.A(Education) with 55% marks andB.Ed.,"(ii) Two years' school teaching experience isdesirable.Note: https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ (i) There shall be relaxation in minimum percentage ofmarks for SC/ST/OBC/Other categories as per the rules of theCentral/concerned State Government/UT Administration.(ii) Apart from the qualification prescribed above forlecturer, the candidates shall have to qualify NET/SLETqualification or alternative qualifications thereto asprescribed by UGC from time to time before the commencementof the academic session 2009-2010."The notification of the State is in consonance with the norms asapproved by the NCTE. Therefore, we see no reason to interfere withthe order of the learned Single Judge. 7.The appellants would further submit that Gunasekaran, whopossesses the requisite qualification may be considered for the post.The learned Special Government Pleader submits that it will not bepossible to accommodate him since all the vacancies are filled up.So even if this is true, it may not be possible to fit him his year.All the appellants may make a representation giving the details oftheir qualification and the date on which they had acquired the sameand if the respondents find that any one or all of them possess therequired qualification even on that date of application then it isfor the Government to consider whether the candidates shall beconsidered without further test for the next academic year. As far asthose candidates who had acquired the qualification subsequent to thedate of interview, if there is a wrong order passed in the case ofcertain respondents that cannot be a ground to treat others equally.The application of Article 14 of the Constitution of India will notarise in such cases. It is for the Government to consider the theircases for the next academic year.8.The writ appeal is dismissed. However, there will be noorder as to costs. The connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.Sd/Asst.Registrar/true copy/Sub Asst.RegistrarTo1. The Secretary to GovernmentHigher Education DepartmentFort St. George,Chennai – 600 0092. The ChairmanTeachers Recruitment BoardEVK, Sampath Maligai4th Floor, DPI CompoundCollege Road,Chennai – 600 006 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/

3.The DirectorDirectorate of Collegiate EducationChennai – 600 0064.The Regional Director National Council for Teacher Education1st Floor, CSD Building, HMT PostBangalore – 560 0311 cc To M/s.C.Uma, Advocate, SR.333771 cc To Mr.K.Ramakrishna Reddy, Advocate, SR.339861 cc To The Government Pleader, SR.33560W.A.No.703 of 2008and MP.No. 1 of 2008KS(CO)SRA(27/08/2009)