Case: Indresh Kumar Mishra and Ors Vs. The State of Jharkhand &amp; Ors

2. The facts leading to the present appeals in a nutshell are as under:-Facts in respect of Postgraduate Trained Teachers2.1 That the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Government of Jharkhand vide its letter dated 24.07.2017 forwarded requisition of the Department of School Education and Literacy (Secondary Education Directorate) Government of Jharkhand to the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (hereinafter referred to as J.S.S.C.) in terms of the Appointment Rules, 2012 for starting the selection process for appointment to the post of Postgraduate Trained Teachers in the High School of the State of Jharkhand for different subjects under different categories.2.2 That the J.S.S.C. after receiving the request, started the selection process for appointment to the post of Postgraduate Trained Teachers (P.G.T.T.) in the State of Jharkhand in different subjects, i.e., Chemistry, Physics, History etc. Accordingly, advertisement No.10/2017 was issued by which applications were invited from the eligible candidates for considering their candidature for appointment to the post of Postgraduate Trained Teachers. It was a combined advertisement for the post of Postgraduate Trained Teachers for different subjects under different categories. The advertisement provided the pay-scale and minimum educational qualification for the posts. That as per the advertisement, the eligibility criteria for the post of Postgraduate Trained Teachers in the subject History was that a candidate must have obtained a Postgraduate degree with 50% marks in the related subjects (in the subject of History).2.3 Pursuant to the advertisement, the respective original writ petitioners applied for the said posts and participated in the selection process. All of them submitted their application forms online and in their forms, they also mentioned their respective educational qualifications as Postgraduates in Hindi. They were allowed to appear in the examination, who were also declared successful on the basis of their performance in the examination. After publication of the result, successful candidates were required to get verification of their testimonials. At the time of verification of the testimonials, the respective original writ petitioners submitted their Postgraduate degree certificates. It was found that the respective original writ petitioners were having a Postgraduate degree in Medieval History; Ancient History; Ancient History and Culture; Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology etc. respectively from different universities and as such they failed to submit the Postgraduate degree in History in terms of the advertisement. It was found that the respective petitioners had Postgraduate degrees in one of branches of History in place of History as a whole and, therefore, showcause notices were issued to them by J.S.S.C. to show-cause why their candidatures may not be cancelled as they failed to submit the certificate of Master of Arts (Postgraduation) with the subject History.2.4 At that stage, some of the writ petitioners filed the writ petitions before the High Court and some filed writ petitions after their candidatures were cancelled. The learned Single Judge dismissed their respective writ petitions holding that the original writ petitioners were ineligible for the selection and appointment as Postgraduate Teacher in History subject. The learned Single Judge held that only those candidates, who have obtained degree exclusively in the subject History as per the advertisement are entitled for consideration for appointment to the said post.2.5 Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgments and orders passed by the learned Single Judge in dismissing the writ petitions, the original writ petitioners preferred letters patent appeals before the Division Bench of the High Court. By the impugned judgments and orders, the Division Bench of the High Court has dismissed the Letters Patent Appeals and has confirmed the judgments and orders passed by the learned Single Judge dismissing the writ petitions, which has given rise to the present Civil Appeal Nos. 2217-2218 of 2022, Civil Appeal No. 2219 of 2022 and Civil Appeal No. 2221 of 2022.Facts in respect of Graduate Trained Teachers2.1.1 That the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Government of Jharkhand by letters dated 23.09.2016, 04.11.2016 and 02.02.2017 sent the requisition to the J.S.S.C. for starting the selection process for appointment to the post of Graduate Trained Teachers in different subjects in different Districts of the State. That the J.S.S.C. after receiving the requisition, started selection process for appointment to the post of Graduate Trained Teachers and accordingly invited online applications for the Common Graduate Trained Teacher Competition Examination, 2016. The advertisement No.21/2016 was published by which applications were invited from the eligible candidates for considering their candidatures for appointment against the advertised posts. As per the advertisement, for the post of History/Civics, the eligibility criteria was Graduate with History and Political Science but out of two subjects, one subject must have 45 per cent marks and B.Ed. from institute recognized or B.Ed. from National Teachers Education Council and for SC/ST minimum 40 per cent.2.1.2 The respective writ petitioners submitted their application forms online for considering their candidatures for appointment to the post of Graduate Trained Teacher (G.T.T.) for subject History and Civics. They mentioned their educational qualification as Graduate in History and Political Science in their online application forms.2.1.3 On the basis of the declaration made by them in the online application form, they were allowed to appear in the examination and they were also declared successful on the basis of their performance in the examination. After publication of the result, the successful candidates were called for verification of their testimonials.On the date of the verification of the testimonials, the original writ petitioners submitted their certificates of Graduation degree. It was found that they were having the Graduate Degree in Ancient History; Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology and Medieval History etc. respectively from different universities and they failed to submit their Graduation degree in History in terms of the advertisement. Therefore, it was found that as the petitioners had Graduation degree in one of the branches of the subject History in place of History as a whole and therefore, they were not eligible for the post of Graduate Trained Teachers in the subjects of History and Civics as they cannot be said to be having the requisite qualification in terms of the advertisement.2.1.4 The show cause notices were issued to them to show cause why their candidatures may not be cancelled on the ground that they are not having the requisite qualification in terms of the advertisement and therefore ineligible for the post of Graduate Trained Teacher in the subject of History and Civics.2.1.5 At that stage and after their candidatures were cancelled, the respective petitioners filed the writ petitions before the High Court. The learned Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the writ petitions by observing and holding that obtaining the Bachelor degree in one of the branches of the subject, namely, History cannot be said to be obtaining the Graduation degree in the subject of History as a whole and therefore, they are not eligible as they cannot be said to be having the requisite qualification in terms of the advertisement.2.1.6 Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgments and orders passed by the learned Single Judge dismissing the writ petitions, the original writ petitioners preferred Letters Patent Appeals before the High Court. By the impugned judgments and orders, the High Court has dismissed the said Letters Patent Appeals. Hence the original writ petitioners have preferred the present Civil Appeal No. 2220 of 2022.

Court's reasoning:
6. At the outset, it is required to be noted that in the present appeals, the dispute is with respect to the posts namely, Postgraduate Trained Teacher in History and Graduate Trained Teachers in History/Civics. As per the State, so far as the G.T.T. is concerned, the requirement was a combination of History/Civics. As per the advertisement, a candidate must have the Postgraduate/Bachelor degree in the subject History. So far as the G.T.T. is concerned, the educational qualifications required was Bachelor degree in History as well as Political Science as the requirement was for History/Civics. Therefore, for both the posts namely the Postgraduate Trained Teachers (History) and Graduate Trained Teachers (History/Civics), a candidate must have the Postgraduate/Bachelor degree in History as a whole.6.1 We have gone through the degrees/ certificates in the case of the respective writ petitioners. It appears that the respective writ petitioners have obtained the Postgraduate degrees/ Bachelor degrees, as the case may be, in one of the branches of History, namely, Indian Ancient History, Indian Ancient History and Culture, Medieval / Modern History, Indian Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology. In our view, obtaining the degree in one of the branches of History cannot be said to be obtaining the degree in History as a whole. As a History teacher, he/she has to teach in all the subjects of History, namely, Ancient History, Indian Ancient History and Culture, Medieval / Modern History, Indian Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology etc. Therefore, having studied and obtaining the degree in only one branch of History cannot be said to be having a degree in History subject as a whole, which was the requirement. All the relevant aspects have been considered and gone into in detail by the learned Single Judge meticulously.6.2 Now, so far as the reliance placed upon the decision of the learned Single Judge of the Jharkhand High Court in Writ Petition No.1130 of 2017 – Hari Sharma and Ors. Vs. State of Jharkhand is concerned, it is to be noted that the said decision of the learned Single Judge has been stayed by the Division Bench in appeal and the decision is pending. Even the controversy in the said writ petition before the learned Single Judge was with respect to combination post namely, History/Civics and there was no specific controversy like in the present case.6.3 It is also required to be noted that all the posts advertised have been filled in and the respective teachers are working.6.4 At this stage, it is required to be noted that even at the request of J.S.S.C. the question, whether, the degrees obtained by the respective petitioners in one branch of History can be said to be sufficient compliance as per the advertisement and can be said to be obtaining a degree in History came to be considered by the Expert Committee and the Expert Committee has opined that the degrees obtained by the respective candidates/petitioners in one branch of History cannot be said to be obtaining the degree in History as a whole and therefore they cannot be said to be having the requisite qualification as per the advertisement.6.5 As per the settled proposition of law, in the field of education, the Court of Law cannot act as an expert normally, therefore, whether or not a student/candidate is possessing the requisite qualification should better be left to the educational institutions, more particularly, when the Expert Committee considers the matter.6.6 In the present case, the educational qualifications required has been specifically mentioned in the advertisement. There is no ambiguity and/or confusion in the advertisement providing educational qualification and the post for which the applications were invited (History/Civics). There cannot be any deviation from the educational qualifications mentioned in the advertisement. Once having found that the respective writ petitioners – appellants herein were not having the requisite qualification as per the advertisement, namely, the Postgraduate/Bachelor degree in History, which was the requirement as per the advertisement and thereafter their candidature was canceled, both the learned Single Judge as well as the Division Bench of the High Court have rightly refused to interfere with the same. We are in complete agreement with the view taken by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court.6.7 As observed hereinabove in the online applications, it was stated by the respective petitioners that they are having the Postgraduate/Bachelor degree in History and only at the time of verification of the documents, when the respective certificates were produced, at that time only, the authorities came to know that the respective writ petitioners have the degrees in one branch of History and not in History as a whole and therefore the show-cause notices were issued so that the respective petitioners can clarify and satisfy that they are having the requisite qualification of Postgraduate/Bachelor degree in History and after giving them the opportunity, the decision has been taken and that too after obtaining the Expert Committees opinion.