CWP No. 18649 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. CWP No. 18649 of 2010 Date of decision 13 .10.2010 Babu Lal ... Petitioner Versus Ch. Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University and others ... Respondents. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. KUMAR HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present: Dr. Joginder Singh Berwal ,Advocate for the petitioner 1.To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 2.Whether the judgement should be reported in the Digest ? M.M.KUMAR, J. The short issue raised in the instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution is whether the educational qualifications can form valid basis for promotion to the post of Deputy Superintendent/ Superintendent from that of Assistant in the Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The petitioner who is working as Assistant has challenged the notification dated 19.4.2010 (P.22) as also the amendment No. 3/2007 (P.16) carving out 25% quota for promotion to the post of Deputy Superintendent on the basis of seniority-cum-merit out of Assistants who have qualified the Higher Standard or State SAS Examination in accounts. Rest of the 75% posts are left to be filled on the principle of seniority-cum- merit from the same line. The basic argument raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that prescription of qualification for promotion to the post of Deputy Superintendent in respect of 25% quota has no nexus with the duty to be performed by the Deputy Superintendent and CWP No. 18649 of 2010 2 therefore it must be declared arbitrary. In support of his submission the learned counsel has placed reliance on a judgement of Hon'ble the Supreme Court rendered in the case of Md. Shujat Ali and others v. UOI and others (1975) 3 SCC 76. Having heard the learned counsel we are of the view that the aforesaid judgement in fact support the proposition that educational qualification can constitute valid basis for classification for the purposes of promotion and pay scale. In that regard reliance may be placed on various judgements of Hon'ble the Supreme Court. In the case of State of J & K v. Triloki Nath Khosa (1974) 1 SCC 19 Hon'ble the Supreme Court upheld the classification for promotion on the basis of academic and technical qualifications. Similar principle was reiterated in the matter of pay scale in the cases of Shyam Bahu Verma v. UOI (1994) 2 SCC 521 and U.P.State Sugar Corporation Ltd. v. Sant Raj Singh (2006) 9 SCC 82 and in the case of State of Bihar v. Bihar State Plus-2 Lecturers' Association (2008) 7 SCC 231. Accordingly we do not find any merit in the writ petition and the same does not warrant admission. As a sequel to the above discussion, the writ petition fails and the same is dismissed. (M.M.Kumar) Judge ( Ritu Bahri ) 13.10.2010 Judge okg