Kavita Rani v. State of Haryana & Anr.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Present : Mr. Sandeep Singal, Advocate, for the petitioner. AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL) Petitioner has approached this Court claiming a writ of mandamus directing respondents to grant relaxation of passing of the STET/HTET examination to the petitioner on the ground that the respondents have only granted the exemption to a particular class of candidates and restricting the said exemption to a limited section of candidates is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution and, therefore, cannot sustain. It is further contended that even the basic requirement of educational qualification has been relaxed by the Government and as the petitioner possesses the other requisite CWP No. 13561 of 2012 2 requirements except for the passing of STET/HTET, the petitioner is eligible for appointment to the post of Post Graduate Teacher. I have considered the submissions, which have been made by the counsel for the petitioner who has argued the case on the same lines but am unable to accept the same. As is apparent from the advertisement, which was initially published on 07.06.2012, specific qualification was prescribed therein but during the interregnum, the Haryana State Education School Cadre (Group B) Service Rules, 2012 were amended vide notification dated 02.07.2012 which necessitated certain adjustments to be made in the requisite qualifications prescribed in the earlier advertisement. Accordingly, exemption was granted for participating to the teachers, who have been working for a minimum four years till

11.04.2012 in Privately Managed Government Aided Schools/Recognized Schools and Government Schools in addition to being in position on the date of applying for the post. This exemption as a class is fully justified and in the Rules itself, powers to relax the Rules have been granted to the State. The exercise of the powers by the competent authority, which is in consonance with the statutory Rules, cannot be faulted with and the relaxation, which has been granted, is fully justified and is in consonance with the principles of natural justice. The exemption, as claimed by the petitioner, cannot be granted as she does not fulfil the requirement, as has been laid down in the advertisement and the corrigendum issued thereafter. CWP No. 13561 of 2012 3 Finding no merit in the present writ petition, the same stands dismissed. July 20, 2012 (AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) JUDGE CWP No. 13561 of 2012 4