Rajinder Singh Dogra, Member J
1. The fact of the case is that the Service Selection Board issued various advertisement notices for the post of Tehsil Social Welfare Officer vide notification No. 2 of 2014 dated 30.12.2014 item No. 138 and 06 of 2013 item No. 13 dated 10.5.2013. The applicant applied for the post of TSO in terms of advertisement notice No. 06 of 2013 and Notice No. 02 of 2014 and he was shortlisted vide both the notifications.
It is submitted by the applicant that he passed his graduation from IGNOU with one of the subjects as Humanity & Social Science (FHS1). As per the criteria fixed by the respondents 05 points have been allotted for additional qualification but the applicant being Graduate with Social Science and also Masters in Social Science was not awarded 05 points as per the criteria fixed by the Board. The criteria for the post of Tehsil Social Officer (TSO) has been fixed as under :
|
(i) |
Written test |
- 75 points |
|
(ii) |
Additional qualification |
- 05 points |
|
(iii) |
Viva/voce |
- 20 points |
|
Total |
- 100 points |
The applicant has submitted that the Board has not adhered to the selection criteria and the candidates having lower merit than the applicant have been selected ignoring the candidature of the applicant for the post of TSO.
The applicant filed RTI application before the SSB and as per the reply, the applicant is making the grade for the post of TSO in advertisement notice No. 06 of 2013 and 2 of 2014 under RBA category. The marks obtained by the applicant are as under :
i) Written examination – 46.9388, viva voce – 16.333, total – 63.2721 in item No. 13 notification No. 06 of 2013 and last selected candidate – 67.5646;
ii) Written examination – 46.9388, viva voce – 17.00, total – 63.9388 in item No. 138 notification No. 02 of 2014 under RBA category and last selected candidate – 68.8980.
Had the applicant been awarded 05 marks for the additional qualification, he would have been in the zone of selection. But the respondent Board has selected the candidates in utter violation of the selection criteria.
Being aggrieved by such inaction on the part of the respondents the applicant approached the Hon’ble High Court in SWP No.1938 of 2017. After the promulgation of the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 and the formation of UT of J&K, the case was made over to this Tribunal where it was re-numbered as TA 8785/2020. The applicant has prayed for the following relief :
a) Writ of Certiorari quashing the select list No. SSB/Secy./Sel/2017 dated 26.4.2017 issued by SSRB for the Tehsil Social Welfare Officer vide advertisement Notice No. 2 of 2014 dated 30.12.2014 item No. 138 and 06 of 2013 item No. 13 dated 10.5.2013;
b) Writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to select/appoint the applicant as successful candidate for the post of Tehsil Social Officer vide advertisement notice No. 02 of 2014 dated 30.12.2014 item No. 138 and 06 of 2013 item No. 13 dated 10.5.2013.
2. The respondents have filed their reply stating inter alia that the respondents advertised the post of Tehsil Social Welfare Officer in terms of advertisement notification No. 06 of 2013 dated 10.5.2013 under item No. 013 advertised 09 posts (OM – 05, RBA– 02, SC – 01 and ST-01) under item NO. 014 advertised 04 posts (OM-03, RBA – 01) and in terms of advertisement notification NO.2 of 2014 dated 30.12.2014 under item NO. 138 advertised 14 posts (OM-08, RBA-03, SC-01, ST-01 & ALC-01) of Tehsil Social Welfare Officer (Social Welfare Department), State Cadre. The qualification as prescribed by the intending department for the aforementioned post is as under :
“Graduation from any recognized University. Preference shall be given to the candidates having the subject of Social Science.”
The respondents have submitted that the Board in its meeting dated 15.3.2017 decided to adopt the following modus operandi for allotment of 05 points for the preference at Graduation level while formulating the selection lists :
i) For the posts of Division Cadre and District Cadre Kashmir, the subject list of Social Sciences of Kashmir University shall be taken into consideration.
ii) For the posts of Division Cadre and District Cadre Jammu, the subject list of Social Sciences of Jammu University shall be taken into consideration.
iii) For the posts of State Cadre, the subjects common to both the lists (furnished by Kashmir University & Jammu University) shall be considered.
The prescribed criteria adopted by the Board for the aforesaid post is as under :
|
Marks obtained in the written test |
- 75 points |
|
Maximum marks to be proportionately |
|
|
Converted into points. |
|
|
Preference |
- 05 points |
|
And viva voce |
- 20 points |
On the basis of prescribed criteria adopted and overall merit, selection lists were framed which were later approved by Board and subsequently the selection lists were forwarded to the Social Welfare department for further action in the matter.
The respondents have further submitted that the applicant is a Graduate from IGNOU with Social Science and figured at Sl. No. 19 (with overall merit of 63.2721 points) in the merit list of candidates for the post of Tehsil Social Welfare Officer (Social Welfare Department), State Cadre vide item No. 013 (06 of 2013 dated 10.5.2013). Since the Board provided 05 marks only to those candidates who are graduates from Kashmir University and Jammu University, the preference marks were not given to the candidate. Hence the claim of the applicant is devoid of any merit and the respondents have prayed for dismissal of the present application.
3. Heard learned counsel for both the parties and perused the materials available on record.
4. After hearing the learned counsel for both sides and going through the records we find that the applicant is a Post Graduate in Social Science which is being the additional qualification as per the criteria issued by SSRB for the post of Tehsil Social Officer. SSRB has not adhered to selection criteria and it resulted in selection of candidates with lower merit than the present applicant. The applicant was short listed vide notification No. 06 of 2013 and 02 of 2014 under RBA category. The respondents neither gave additional 05 points to the applicant as per the criteria notified nor considered his Masters degree in Social Science as additional qualification. Hon’ble Apex Court in the case Secretary Health Department of Health & Family Welfare -vs-Anita Puri has held that additional qualification means the higher qualification. But a bare perusal of the select list shows that the respondents have given 05 marks to those candidates who are possessing Social Science as one of the subjects in Graduation. That means the respondents have clearly ignored the mandate of law that the additional qualification is a higher qualification and the applicant is highly qualified than the selected candidates. Had the respondents allotted 05 marks to the applicant, he would have been in the zone of selection.
5. In view of aforesaid facts and law settled, we hold that the applicant is entitled to be selected and appointed to the post of Tehsil Social Welfare Officer from the date the private respondent and other candidates who have participated in the said process have been so selected and appointed as there is merit in the submission of the applicant that there is no bar for undoing any wrong and the same can be rectified at any stage.
6. In view of the aforementioned discussion and findings, the TA is allowed. The respondents are directed to select/appoint the applicant as successful candidate for the post of Tehsil Social Officer vide advertisement notice No. 02 of 2014 dated 30.12.2024 item No. 138 and 06 of 2013 item NO. 13 dated 10.5.2013. The entire exercise be completed within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the copy of this order. There shall be no order as to costs.
