The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Cont. Case (Civil) No.577 of 2021 ----- Dr. Man Mohan Sinha .......... Petitioner. -Versus- 1. The State of Jharkhand 2. Dr. Anjani Kumar Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, Dhanbad. 3. Himanshu Mohan, Secretary, Jharkhand Public Service Commission, Ranchi. 4. Dr. Kaushal Kumar, Registrar, Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, Dhanbad. .......... Opp. Parties. -----
Legal Reasoning
CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR ----- For the Petitioner : For the State : For the University : For JPSC : Mr. Prem Pujari Roy, Advocate Mr. Ajit Kumar, A.C. to G.A.V Mr. Manish Kumar, A.C. to Mr. A. K. Mehta, Advocate Mr. Pravin Kr. Pandey, Advocate ----- Order No.17 Date: 09.04.2024 1. The present contempt case has been filed for initiating contempt proceeding against the opposite parties for their wilful and deliberate violation of the order dated 17th April, 2018 passed in W.P.(S) No.2936 of 2017. 2. Pursuant to the order dated 2nd February, 2024, a show cause affidavit has been filed on behalf of newly impleaded opposite party no.4 on 18th March, 2024. 3. Mr. Manish Kumar, learned A.C. to Mr. A. K. Mehta, Advocate appearing on behalf of the said opposite party refers to paragraph nos.6 to 11 of the show cause affidavit, which read as under:- That the petitioners instead of approaching Dukhu Ram “6. Kuiry Committee represented before the Director, Higher Education by referring to paragraph 21 of Judgement dated 01.05.2017 passed in W.P. (S) No. 3375/2016 in the case of Dukhu Ram Kuiry vs. State of Jharkhand which reads as under:- “21. The committee shall formulate the broad guidelines within four months and individual cases shall be decided by the Universities within three months thereafter. The Universities shall provide an opportunity to all the claimants for furnishing necessary documents, for which a notice shall be issued by the Universities.” The aforesaid Committee framed the Broad Guidelines notified vide Notification no. 05 contained in Memo No. 2409 dated 14.12.2018 since forwarded to all the Universities. The Dukhu Ram Kuiry Committee was thereafter dissolved. Further, by Letter No. 2410 dated 14.12.2018 the Directorate of Higher Education directed all the Universities to constitute a High Level Committee and take decisions as per approved Broad Guidelines regarding matters relating to promotion and forward the same to JPSC for approval. In light of the above, the Director, High Education by his Letter dated 05.02.2019 directed the Registrar-Vinoba Bhave University to decide the representation of the petitioners as per notified Broad Guidelines and take steps for promotion. The petitioner has already annexed a copy of the order passed by the Director, High Education dated 05.02.2019 as Annexure-1 to its application. 7.
Decision
That the representation of the writ petitioners were considered by the Vice Chancellor, BBMK University as per the orders and directions passed by the Director, High Education dated 05.02.2019 and he passed orders shifting the date of absorption to be date of appointment/eligibility. In respect to the petitioner the date of absorption was initially 01.05.1986 which was shifted by the orders of the Vice Chancellor to 19.09.1985 being the date of eligibility as per Justice S.C. Agrawal Commission Report. The petitioner has enclosed the reasoned order as Annexure-3. Subsequently, the University notified the date of absorption of the petitioner as 19.09.1985 which is evident from Annexure-4 dated 17.07.2019. 8. That the Office of the Director, High Education by its Letter dated 16.06.2021 (Annexure-5) has also shifted the date of absorption of the petitioner as 19.09.1985. The University upon receipt of the said letter also notified the same by notification dated 28.07.2021 (Annexure-5/1). 9. That thereafter occasion arose for concurrence by JPSC in the light of resolution of HRD Department (Higher Education) contained in Letter No. 717 dated 01.12.2008 and accordingly the then Registrar, BBMK University by his letter dated 26.03.2021 (Annexure-6) requested the Secretary, JPSC for concurrence of date of absorption of petitioner as Assistant Professor, Sociology in respect to 4th Phase newly converted constituent college. The resolution of the State Government -2- contained in letter no. 717 dated 29.11.2008 has already been annexed and marked as Annexure-C to the show cause filed by JPSC. JPSC in its show cause ha also enclosed letter of the State Government No. 992 dated 11.08.2021 by which clarification has b3een given with regards to promotion under 10 years Time Bound Promotion Scheme more particularly in cases where date of eligibility and substantive date of appointment are different. This letter has already been brought on record by the Secretary, JPSC and got the same marked as Annexure-D. 10. That JPSC by their letter no. 4185 dated 08.12.2022 addressed to Registrar, BBMK University has informed that as per Broad Guidelines the date of appointment of Dr. Man Mohan Sinha as Lecturer would be 01.05.1986 and therefore shifting of date of absorption to 19.09.1985 is rejected and the date of appointment shall be reckoned as 01.05.1986. The JPSC has accordingly rejected the request of shifting the date of appointment from 01.05.1986 to 19.09.1985. 11. That the deponent states that upon receipt of letter dated 08.12.2022, the then In-charge Registrar, Dr. Sudhinta Sinha passed the reasoned order dated 20.12.2022. A perusal of the said order would reflect that though the University and the State Government both accepted the date of appointment after shifting/absorption to be 19.09.1985 but since the Commission did not grant concurrence to the date of shifting and confirmed the date of appointment as 01.05.1986 the petitioner was not eligible for promotion under 10 years time bound promotion statute, the cut off date of which was 23.09.1995. The petitioner in terms of the concurrence granted by JPSC would have completed 10 years on 01.05.1996 whereas the statute for time bound promotion came to an end on 23.09.1995 and therefore petitioner was not eligible for promotion.” 4. It is, thus, submitted that the aforesaid order of this Court has been complied. 5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and considering the aforesaid facts as stated in the show cause affidavit dated 18th March, 2024 filed on behalf of the opposite party no.4, this Court is of the view of that no case of contempt is made out against the opposite parties. 6. The contempt proceeding as against the opposite parties is -3- hereby dropped. 7. The present contempt case stands disposed of. 8. The petitioner is, however, at liberty to take appropriate recourse against the letter as contained in memo no.4185 dated 8th December, 2022 issued by the Secretary, Jharkhand Public Service Commission, Ranchi as permissible under law. Sanjay/vs (Rajesh Shankar, J.) -4-