Civil Writ Petition No. 101 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGHCOURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA, CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No. 101 of 2009 Date of Decision: 25.10.2010 Virender Singh Kaushal and others ..Petitioners Versus The Haryana Urban development Authority ..Respondent CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE M.K.KUMAR HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present:- Mr. Rajiv Atma Ram, Senior Advocate With Mr. Saurabh Arora, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Ajay Nehra, Advocate for the respondent. 1. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? M.M.KUMAR, J. 1. The Junior Engineers, working in the Horticulture Department of the Haryana Urban Development Authority, have approached this court with a prayer that for direct recruitment to the post of Sub Divisional Engineer (Horticulture), the respondent has required a first class degree in Agriculture with specialization in Horticulture or M.Sc degree in Horticulture etc. Their grievance is that by virtue of amendment in the recruitment for direct quota post, they have been rendered ineligible to compete and in fact, the amendment made on 26.4.2005 (P-2) in the Haryana Urban Development Authority Service Regulations 1989 (for brevity, ‘the 1989 Regulations’) is violative of equality clauses enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 (1) of the Constitution. Accordingly, they have prayed that the offending portion of an advertisement for filling up the post of Sub Divisional Engineer (Horticulture) be quashed and Regulation 2(3)(ii) clause (b) Haryana Services (Amendment) Regulations, 2004 (for brevity,` the 2004 Rules’) be Civil Writ Petition No. 101 of 2009 2 declared as ultra vires of Articles 14 and 16 (1) of the Constitution. 2. Mr. Atma Ram, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners has stated at the out-set that petitioner Nos.1,2,3 and 8 would not like to press this petition as they have already been promoted under the promotional quota and writ petition in respect of them be dismissed as infructuous. 3. It is undisputed that for the post of Sub Divisional Engineer (Horticulture), the 1989 Regulations provide for filling up the post either by direct appointment or by transfer/deputation to the extent of 50%. The aforesaid Regulations were amended on 26.4.2005 (P-2) and for the post of Sub Divisional Engineer, a first class degree in Agriculture with specialization in Horticulture was provided for direct recruitment, which was to be made in respect of 50% of the posts. However, 50% posts were to be filled up by promotion, for which only 10 years’ experience as Junior Engineer (Horticulture) is provided. The provisions of the Regulations were amended on 26.4.2005 (P-2) which read thus: 1 XX XX XX XX 2 XX XX XX XX 3 Sub Divisional Engineer (Horticult ure) (i) First Class degree in Agriculture with specialization in Horticulture OR Master of Science degree in Horticulture including floriculture and Olericulture or Master of Science Degree in Botany with Horticulture as one of the subject from a recognized University Or its equivalent. (ii)Hindi upto Matric standard. (iii) Minimum 3 years experience in related field.” 10 years experience as Junior Engineer (Horticulture) 50% Posts will be filled up by direct recruitment and 50% by promotion Civil Writ Petition No. 101 of 2009 3 4. The petitioners are also working on the post of Junior Engineers (Horticulture) and are aspiring to compete for direct quota posts for appointment to the posts of Sub Divisional Engineers (Horticulture). Since the petitioners do not possess first class M.Sc qualification as per requirement of the amended rules, the amendment has been challenged. 5. In the written statement filed by the respondent, the stand taken by them is that it is prerogative of the employer to fix educational qualification and that qualification of first class degree in agriculture for the post of Sub Divisional Engineer (Horticulture) was recommended by Technical expert , keeping in view the highly technical nature of job, which such an officer has to perform. On facts, it was stated that petitioner No.13 had been appointed as Horticulture Supervisor and worked as such and not as Junior Engineer as claimed by them. In para 12 of the written statement, it is clarified that interview for the posts of Sub Divisional Engineers (Horticulture) was held on 9.1.2009 and since the petitioners did not possess the requisite qualification of first class degree in B.Sc (Agriculture), they were not eligible to compete. 6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are of the considered view that for appointment to the direct quota post, the authorities are competent to prescribe any such qualification, which may be rationally necessary to secure better performance of duties. This argument is not sustainable in the eyes of law that first class degree has not been prescribed for the higher post of Executive Engineer or Superintending Engineer. The aforesaid submission of the learned counsel is devoid of any merit because the post of Superintending Engineer and Executive Engineer is to be filled by promotion and not by way of direct recruitment. We find that there is a rational basis for prescribing first class degree in M.Sc (Agriculture) and the aforesaid rational basis has a reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved. The 2nd class and the 3rd class Civil Writ Petition No. 101 of 2009 4 degree holders may not be found suitable for performance of the duty as Sub Divisional Engineer. Accordingly, we are not inclined to admit the petition and dismiss the same in limine. No order as to costs. ( M.M.KUMAR ) JUDGE ( RITU BAHRI ) 25.10.2010 JUDGE VK