IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.8320 of 2002 PANNA CHOUDHARY Versus THE UNION OF INDIA & ORS ----------- 8 23.3.2009 Heard learned Counsel for the petitioner and learned Counsel for respondent no.6,the Bihar Sanskrit Shiksha Board. No one appears on behalf of Respondent nos. 1 to 5. Counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent No.1. The Court has gone through the averments therein and proceeds to dispose of the writ application after adequately considering the same. Petitioner is aggrieved by non consideration of his case for promotion to the post of Naik/Driver (MT). The Counter affidavit states that the qualification of Madhyama possessed by him on the basis of an examination conducted by the Bihar Sanskrit Siksha - 2 - Board was not equivalent to Matriculation examination, and the same is not being recognized by Central Government. The petitioner therefore could not be considered for promotion on such unrecognized qualification. Learned Counsel for the petitioner invites the attention of the Court to letter dated 23.1.1964 at Annexure 3 of the Government of India in the Ministry of Education, the relevant page being page no.28 of the brief, showing the names of examining bodies, names of the examination conducted by them and the equivalence of the later with examinations in the general educational set up for the purpose of appointment of Sanskrit Teachers. Column No.2 of the same, inter alia, deals with the Madhyama examination conducted by the Bihar Sanskrit Association, Patna and Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit - 3 - Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga as being equivalent to higher Secondary. It is submitted that subsequently the Bihar Sanskrit Association,Patna has been replaced by the Bihar Sanskrit Siksha Board for conducting of the examination after the creation of the Board by statutory enactment in the year 1981. Attention of the Court is next invited to paragraph 17 of the writ application in this regard in support of Annexure-3. The respondents in their counter affidavit have declined to deal with paragraph- 17 of the writ petition of which Annexure 3 forms a part. If the contention of the petitioner is correct, the stand of the respondents is not sustainable in law. No other ground has been urged in the Counter affidavit for denial of the right to be considered for such - 4 - promotion. This writ application is therefore disposed of with a direction to respondent nos.1 to 5 to consider the case of the petitioner for promotion to Naik/Driver (MT) in the light of the circular of the Ministry of Education, Government of India dated 23.1.1964 as discussed above. Let such consideration be done expeditiously, preferably within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt and/or presentation of a copy of this order. Annexure-1 is accordingly set aside. The writ application stands allowed. (Navin Sinha,J.) A.Kumar