IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINIAL Writ Petition No. 614 (SS) of 2011 Manjeet Singh and others …Petitioners Versus State of Uttarakhand and others …Respondents Mr. Pankaj Purohit, learned counsel present for the petitioners. Mr. N.P. Sah, learned Standing Counsel present for the State of Uttarakhand. Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, learned counsel present for respondent no. 4. And Writ Petition No. 1264 (SS) of 2011 Anand Prakash …Petitioner Versus State of Uttarakhand and others …Respondents Mr. Pankaj Purohit, learned counsel present for the petitioners. Mr. N.P. Sah, learned Standing Counsel present for the State of Uttarakhand. Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, learned counsel present for respondent no. 4. Hon’ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J. (Oral) Heard Mr. Pankaj Purohit, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. N.P. Sah, learned Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand and Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, learned counsel for respondent no. 4. The petitioners were candidates for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts”. They have not been selected. Consequently, present writ petition has been filed challenging the selection process which they have already faced. The main contention of the petitioners before this Court is that they have not been given the quality point marks of a course, namely, B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education). According to the petitioners, the quality point marks for this qualification, which the petitioners were liable to be given, but the same has been wrongly denied to them, consequently, they have not been selected. They were thus wrongly deprived of these quality point marks by the education authorities, which they have presently challenged. 2 In its counter affidavit, the State has denied the allegations of the present petitioners stating that B.Ed. is not one of the academic qualifications for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts”. These appointments are governed as per rules known as “The Uttaranchal Subordinate Education (Trained Graduate Grade) Service Rules, 2006”. The academic qualification for each of these subjects for Assistant Teacher is given under Rule 8 of the said Rules. The qualification for an Assistant Teacher “Arts” is as follows: “8. A candidate for recruitment to the various posts in the service must possess the follow qualification: - Sl. No. Post Qualification 1 2 3 1. Assistant Master/Assistant Mistress (General) (1) Machelor’s degree in any of the two subjects from Geography, Economics, Political Science and History from a University established by law in India. (2) L.T. Diploma of a Government or Government recognised training college/college or graduate degree in education (B.Ed.) from a University established by law. 5. Assistant Master/ Assistant Mistress (Arts) (1) B.F.A. degree or a bachelor’s degree with Art subject from a University established by law in India. (2) Fine Arts Diploma of the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow. Or Bachelor’s degree in Arts with Drawing and Painting from a University established by law in India. Or 3 Fine Art Diploma of Kala Bhawan, Shantiniketan. Or Final Drawing Teachership Examination, Calcutta. 3. Intermediate Examination passed with Technical Drawing subject. Provided that in respect to the abovementioned qualification, the training curriculum must be recognized by the National Council of Teacher Education. The abovementioned rule clearly indicates that B.Ed. degree is admittedly not an academic qualification. On the other hand, learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the appendix annexed to the said rules which gives the break up of quality point marks which a candidate is liable to be given. The provisional appendix reads as under: - APPENDIX Marks and Quality Points for Selection by direct recruitment: (A) Examination: Examination shall be based on multi-choice questions of objective type, descriptive questions or practical work. The question paper shall have two parts: 1. Part-I 50 Marks (Teaching aptitude, reasoning test and general knowledge) 2. Part-II 100 Marks (For testing or competence in the subject for recruitment to which the application is being made, as mentioned in B-5 (a) (B) Educational Qualification: Name of Examination Quality Points 1. High School The Percentage of Marks X 1 10 4 2. Intermediate The Percentage of Marks X 2 10 3. Graduate Degree The Percentage of Marks X 4 10 Others: 4. Training (B.Ed./L.T.) (a) Theory The Percentage of Marks X 4 10 (b) Practical The Percentage of Marks X 2 10 5. Post-Graduate Degree (a) The candidates possessing post graduate degree shall be awarded quality points as per the norms given below for the subject mentioned against the post applied for by them: The Percentage of Marks X 2 10 Post applied for Subject of Post graduate degree for which quality points shall be awarded 1. Assistant Techer, Mathematics - Mathematics, Physics 2. Assistant Teacher, Science - Chemistry, Zoology, Botany 3. Assistant Teacher, - History, Geography, Economics General Political Science 4. Assistant Teacher, Hindi - Hindi 5. Assistant Teacher, Sanskrit - Sanskrit 6. Assistant Teacher, English - English 7. Assistant Teacher, Home Science - Home Science 8. Assistant Teacher, Physical Education – M.P.E./M.P.Ed. 9. Assistant Teacher, Art - Art 10. Assistant Teacher, Urdu - Urdu 11. Assistant Teacher, Music - Music 12. Assistant Teacher, Commerce - Commerce (b) The candidates possessing post graduate degree in subjects other than those mentioned against the post applied for by as given at 5 (a) above shall be awarded quality points as per the norms given below: The Percentage of Marks X 1 10 5 (c) The candidates possessing M.Ed. degree shall also be awarded quality point as per the norms given at (b) above. TE: Quality points shall be awarded only in one category out of those mentioned above at 5(a), 5(b) or 5(c). A candidate possessing post graduate degree in more than one subjects shall be awarded quality points for the subject in which maximum marks have been obtained. Co-Curricular Activities: (i) N.C.C./SCOUT, Guide/N.S.S. Description Maximum Points (a) N.C.C. Senior Division ‘C/’ ‘G-2’ Certificate, - 03 Points Scout/Guide President’s Award/N.S.C. ‘C’ Certificate (b) N.C.C. ‘B/’ ‘G-1’ Certificate, Scout/Guide State Award/ - 02 Points N.C.S. ‘B’ Certificate (c) N.C.C. ‘A’/‘A-1’/‘A-2’/‘J’/‘J-1’/‘J-2’ Certificate, - 01 Points Scout/Guide Third Step Passed/N.S.S. ‘A’ Certificate (The candidate shall be awarded quality points only for the certificate of highest ranking). (ii) Games and Sports Description Maximum Points (i) Achievement at National Level 03 Points (ii) Participation at National Level/Achievement at State Level 02 Points (iii) Participation at State Level 01 Points (The candidate shall be awarded quality points only for the certificate of highest ranking). NOTE: The maximum quality points for certificate under C (i) and C (ii) shall be upto 5 points. However, the appendix reference is mean for merely rule 15, which reads as under: “Procedure for direct recruitment 15. (1) The Regional Additional Director of Education concerned shall provide the description of vacancies of Girl’s Schools (women’s branch) and Co-educational Schools (general branch) to be filled by direct recruitment, which have been determined under Rule 14, to the Director, School Education. Then the Director, School Education shall advertise the vacancies subject-wise in at least two leading daily news papers having wide circulation in the regions of the State and invite application for direct recruitment in the prescribed proforma as may be specified in the advertisement. Such advertisement shall, inter alia, 6 mention the pay and allowances relating to the posts, academic qualification for appointment thereto, and maximum age and such other information as may be considered necessary. (2). The application based on the proforma mentioned in the advertisement referred to in Clause (1) shall be sent, by registered post, so as to reach on the address specified in the advertisement on or before the last date of receipt of application mentioned in the advertisement. (3) The application referred to in Clause (2) shall be accompanied by- (One) a fee, as determined by the State Government at the time being, in the form of Crossed Bank Draft, as specified in the advertisement. (Two) other documents as specified in the advertisement. (4) No Application sent without the specified bank draft and other specified documents, or not received by the specified date shall be taken into consideration. (5) A woman candidate may apply for the post of assistant teacher in the service in any one of the women’s branch or general branch, or for both the branch, but in the case of applying for both the branches, the first preference and the second preference shall be marked by her. (6) (i) The Director School Education, or the institution authorized for departmental examination by the State Government, shall scrutinize the applications and conduct examination prescribed in Appendix and shall cause the merit list of candidates to be prepared subject wise on the basis of the total of 7 marks obtained in the examination and the quality points determined for educational qualification. The examining institute shall provide such merit list to the Director, School Education. The number of the names in the list shall be more (but not more than 25%) than the number of the vacancies. The Director, School Education shall allocate the candidate the regional (women’s) cadre (in case of female candidate) or the regional (general) cadre (in case of female and male candidates) according to the first option or regional cadre mentioned in the application by the candidate. But in the case of a candidate having place in the merit list, if there be no vacancy in the concerned subject in his/her branch (men’s or women’s) in the region of his/her first option, the Director School Education shall allocate the candidate the region of his/her second option in the concerned branch against the vacancy of the concerned subject. (ii) In the case of two or more candidates obtaining equal marks (total of examination marks + educational quality points + points for co- curricular activities) the name of the candidate with higher age shall be place higher in the list. (iii) The Director School Education shall forward such lists to the Regional Additional Director of Education concerned. The Regional Additional Director of Education shall verify the original certificates of the candidates included in the merit list and appoint such candidates as are found suitable in all respects.” 8 A bare reading of the said rule clearly shows that a candidate in the said examination is given quality points marks on the basis of two factors (a) his performance in the written examination and (b) his academic marks given as per the academic qualifications. Admittedly, B.Ed. is not an academic qualification for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts”, therefore what has been stated in the appendix i.e., quality point marks given for the B.Ed. would only mean where B.Ed. is an academic qualification. Admittedly, B.Ed. is not an academic qualification for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts” but B.Ed. is an academic qualification for other subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Hindi, Sanskrit, etc. It is an admitted case that none of the candidates for the post of Assistant Teacher L.T. Grade “Arts” have been given quality point marks for B.Ed. Counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that in no case pertaining to Assistant Teacher “Arts” they can be given quality point marks for the simple reason that B.Ed. is not an academic qualification for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts”. This being the position, the petitioners are not liable to be given any such marks, as it has not been given to the other candidates for the post of Assistant Teacher “Arts”. The writ petition fails and is liable to be dismissed and the same is hereby dismissed. No order as to costs. (Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.) Dated: 10.10.2011 VKG