Civil Misc.No.4878 of 1993 (O&M) : 1 : IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: February 09, 2011 Dharam Bir & others ...Petitioners VERSUS Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra & others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJIT SINGH 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present: Mr.Vivek Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioners. Mr.Nikhil Chopra, Advocate, for Mr.Rajiv Atma Ram, Senior Advocate, for respondent Nos.2 to 5. ***** RANJIT SINGH, J. The petitioners have filed this writ petition to challenge the appointment of respondent Nos.2 to 6 on the ground that they were not eligible for being appointed as Stenographers as they did not fulfill the essential educational qualification for appointment to the said post. Civil Misc.No.4878 of 1993 (O&M) : 2 : The petitioners were working as Steno-typists with the respondent-University. On 23.11.1992, the University invited applications for the posts of Stenographer, which were to be filled on the basis of competitive test from amongst the Steno-typists and Assistants serving in the University. As per the notification, the candidates were required to have the qualification of Bachelor's Degree and three years experience as Steno-typist. Reference is also made to the provisions of the Calendar applicable to the University where minimum educational qualification for the post of Stenographer is Bachelor's Degree and three years experience as Steno-typist. The petitioners claim that they were eligible to be appointed as Stenographers and have wrongly been ignored while giving appointment to respondent Nos.2 to 6, who even were not eligible. Concededly, respondent Nos.2 to 6 were having matriculation as an educational qualification, though they did fulfill the criteria of experience. To explain and justify their eligibility, the respondents would rely upon Regulation 5 of University Calendar, Volume III, Edition 1984, Chapter 1, which is as under:- “For internal candidates, the qualifications prescribed for various posts may be relaxed by the appointing authority wherever considered necessary on the merits of each case.” It is accordingly stated that the respondent-University had the power to relax the qualification in a deserving case and accordingly had relaxed the condition of educational qualification in respect of respondent Nos.2 to 6. In addition, it is pointed out that all Civil Misc.No.4878 of 1993 (O&M) : 3 : the petitioners (except petitioner No.8) had applied for the post and had competed in the selection for appointment to the post of Stenographer. The petitioners alongwith the selected candidates had taken the test on the basis of which the selection was made. Respondent Nos.2 to 6 were selected, whereas the petitioners failed to make the grade. It is only thereafter that the petitioners have filed this writ petition. As per the reply filed, the petitioners are estopped from challenging the present selection. As having participated in the process of selection, they cannot turn around and challenge the same once they are unsuccessful. The present writ petition filed in the year 1993 was admitted on 28.1.1994 and has now come up for hearing. The appointment of respondent Nos.2 to 6 was not stayed in any manner and they have continued to perform the duties of Stenographer for over a period of 18 years. The counsel for the petitioners would submit that the action of the respondents in relaxing the educational qualification may not sound fair, especially if it is viewed in the background that this was done without any intimation in the advertisement or otherwise. As per the counsel, this would have deprived large number of people from applying thinking that they are not eligible to apply for the post. There may be a substance in the submissions made by the counsel for the petitioners. However, the fact that the University had a power to relax educational qualification is not in any dispute. There is no serious challenge to the provisions of the regulations, as per which, the University has the power to relax the qualification in Civil Misc.No.4878 of 1993 (O&M) : 4 : deserving in service candidates. Once the University has come forward to say that this requirement of educational qualification was relaxed in the case of respondent Nos.2 to 6 and they were permitted to compete and were successful on the basis of test, it would not be fair to interfere in the selection at this belated stage, especially so when they have continued to perform their duties for all these years. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed. February 09, 2011 ( RANJIT SINGH ) ramesh JUDGE