HC dismisses appeals against quashed Kupwara teachers select list
SRINAGAR; 14, May 2013: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal against quashing of selection list of 563 teachers for Kupwara district and directed the Service Selection Board to undertake within three months ‘denovo’ interview of all candidates who had applied in response to an advertisement issued in 2010.
Announcing its ruling on appeals filed against the single bench judgment of the court, a division bench of Justices Hasnain Massodi and Ali Mohammad Magrey said that two District Level selection Committees and the third Central Level Selection Committee by SSRB to interview one “homogenous” class of candidates were “dehors” the Recruitment Rules of 2010 as well as norms established by law.
Consequently, the bench said, the process undertaken by these selection Committees are rendered unconstitutional and illegal.
“Resultantly, the interviews held by the three committees and select list based thereon stand quashed.”
The court observed that the whole process undertaken by the Board right from the beginning except the act of advertising the posts has been marked by arbitrary exercise of power.
“Accordingly, we dismiss the Letters Patent Appeal and allow the Cross Objection and the Letters patent Appeal filed by on behalf of the non-selectees writ petitioners,” the bench said. “We direct the Service Selection Board to constitute the District Level Selection strictly accordance with the relevant provision (s) of the Recruitment Rules 2010, undertake denovo interview process of all the candidates who had respondent pursuant to the advertisement (no.07 of 2010 dated 12.11.2010).”
On December 4 last year, a single bench of Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir had quashed the provisional select list of 563 general line teachers in the frontier district. However, the single bench had kept intact the interview conducted by first of the three committees constituted to complete the selection process by SSRB.
The single bench had directed SSB that candidates whose interview was carried out by second and third committees shall also be conducted by the first committee.
Last year, the SSB had conducted interviews for the selection of the general category of teachers for district cadre Kupwara under various categories (322 in Open Merit, 46 in Social Caste, 56 in Scheduled Tribe, 112 in Resident of Backward Area, 17 Actual Line of Control, and 10 in Other Social Caste).
The SSB constituted district level selection committee comprising member SSB Shabir Ahmad Kanth as convener while Deputy Director Employment Kupwara, Qasim Wani, and Head of Department, District Institute of Education and Trainings Kupwara, Ghulam Muhammad Kumar, were its two members.
The committee conducted interviews of candidates from May 4 to June 19, 2011, and a new committee was placed by replacing Kanth with Gulzar Hussain, also member SSB, as convener.
Consequently, the new District Selection Committee comprising Gulzar Hussain and the other two members conducted interview on June 20, 21 at Dak Bungalow, Kupwara.
After completion of the interview, SSB received a number of claims and representations by various candidates to the effect that they were not called for interview while some had represented that they missed the interviews due to some unavoidable circumstances.
Subsequently, SSB called them for interview vide supplementary notification published in a local newspaper on July 22, 2011.
For these candidates, SSB constituted a new committee comprising its chairman BD Bhagat, and two others members Farooq Ahmad Peer and Ashok Kumar.
After conducting the interviews at the central office of SSB here, a provisional select list of the candidates selected for Kupwara was notified and published in the newspapers on June 12 this year inviting objections from all the concerned as against such selection.
Instead of filing objections, a number of aggrieved candidates approached the court by filing the writ petition.
Announcing its ruling on appeals filed against the single bench judgment of the court, a division bench of Justices Hasnain Massodi and Ali Mohammad Magrey said that two District Level selection Committees and the third Central Level Selection Committee by SSRB to interview one “homogenous” class of candidates were “dehors” the Recruitment Rules of 2010 as well as norms established by law.
Consequently, the bench said, the process undertaken by these selection Committees are rendered unconstitutional and illegal.
“Resultantly, the interviews held by the three committees and select list based thereon stand quashed.”
The court observed that the whole process undertaken by the Board right from the beginning except the act of advertising the posts has been marked by arbitrary exercise of power.
“Accordingly, we dismiss the Letters Patent Appeal and allow the Cross Objection and the Letters patent Appeal filed by on behalf of the non-selectees writ petitioners,” the bench said. “We direct the Service Selection Board to constitute the District Level Selection strictly accordance with the relevant provision (s) of the Recruitment Rules 2010, undertake denovo interview process of all the candidates who had respondent pursuant to the advertisement (no.07 of 2010 dated 12.11.2010).”
On December 4 last year, a single bench of Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir had quashed the provisional select list of 563 general line teachers in the frontier district. However, the single bench had kept intact the interview conducted by first of the three committees constituted to complete the selection process by SSRB.
The single bench had directed SSB that candidates whose interview was carried out by second and third committees shall also be conducted by the first committee.
Last year, the SSB had conducted interviews for the selection of the general category of teachers for district cadre Kupwara under various categories (322 in Open Merit, 46 in Social Caste, 56 in Scheduled Tribe, 112 in Resident of Backward Area, 17 Actual Line of Control, and 10 in Other Social Caste).
The SSB constituted district level selection committee comprising member SSB Shabir Ahmad Kanth as convener while Deputy Director Employment Kupwara, Qasim Wani, and Head of Department, District Institute of Education and Trainings Kupwara, Ghulam Muhammad Kumar, were its two members.
The committee conducted interviews of candidates from May 4 to June 19, 2011, and a new committee was placed by replacing Kanth with Gulzar Hussain, also member SSB, as convener.
Consequently, the new District Selection Committee comprising Gulzar Hussain and the other two members conducted interview on June 20, 21 at Dak Bungalow, Kupwara.
After completion of the interview, SSB received a number of claims and representations by various candidates to the effect that they were not called for interview while some had represented that they missed the interviews due to some unavoidable circumstances.
Subsequently, SSB called them for interview vide supplementary notification published in a local newspaper on July 22, 2011.
For these candidates, SSB constituted a new committee comprising its chairman BD Bhagat, and two others members Farooq Ahmad Peer and Ashok Kumar.
After conducting the interviews at the central office of SSB here, a provisional select list of the candidates selected for Kupwara was notified and published in the newspapers on June 12 this year inviting objections from all the concerned as against such selection.
Instead of filing objections, a number of aggrieved candidates approached the court by filing the writ petition.
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