Dr. Sridip Chatterjee vs Dr. Gopa Chakraborty

DR. SRIDIP CHATTERJEE .....APPELLANT(S)

VERSUS

DR. GOPA CHAKRABORTY & ORS. .....RESPONDENT(S)

JUDGMENT

HEMANT GUPTA, J.

1) Leave granted.

2) This appeal has been preferred against the impugned judgment

dated December 16, 2016, passed by the Division Bench of the

High Court of Calcutta, by which the High Court has dismissed the

appeal preferred by the appellant Dr. Sridip Chatterjee and

confirmed the judgment dated April 16, 2014, passed by the

learned Single Judge whereby appointment of the appellant to the

post of Assistant Professor in Physical Education (Yoga Therapy)

under the respondent University was set aside.

3) The subject matter of challenge in this appeal is the selection and

subsequent appointment of appellant to the post of Assistant

Page 1 of 10 Professor in Physical Education (Yoga Therapy) of the Jadavpur

University.

4) Brief facts, giving rise to the present appeal as emerging from the

material on record, are that the respondent-University published an

advertisement on November 22, 2012 inviting applications from

suitable candidates for the post of Assistant Professor in Physical

Education (Yoga Therapy). The qualification prescribed in the

advertisement for the said post is Masters

5) in Yoga/Yoga Therapy or Masters in Physical Education with Post

Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy with at least 55% (or an

equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is

followed). The appellant applied for the said post and appeared in

the selection process with other candidates. The appellant

appeared before the Selection Committee consisting of Dr. Arun

Kumar Uppal, Prof. Rajesh Tripathi, Prof. Krishna Banerjee, Dr. Sudip

Sunder Das, Prof. Sanat Kr. Naskar and Dr. A.N. Dey for an

interview on March 26, 2013. He was selected to the said post on

March 28, 2013.

6) Respondent No. 1 submitted a representation before respondent

No.3 challenging the eligibility of the appellant to participate in the

selection process as according to respondent No.1, appellant did

not fulfil the essential qualification for the said post. Subsequently,

in reply to an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005,

respondent No. 1 came to know that the appellant had already

Page 2 of 10 been appointed to the said post by a letter of appointment dated

March 28, 2013.

7) Respondent No. 1, being aggrieved by the appointment of

appellant to the post of Assistant Professor in Physical Education

(Yoga Therapy), filed writ petition in the High Court of Calcutta.

The learned Single Bench of the High Court set aside the

appointment of the appellant and held that the duty of the

University is to form an Equivalence Committee, which must

comprise experts and on the basis of the reports gathered from the

institute awarding a certain degree. The committee of the

University on its own should not have come to a conclusion that

the qualification possessed by a candidate is equivalent or not. It

was found that the University has not clarified that the appellant

had the requisite qualification to be appointed for the said post as

University was required to come to a conclusion that Post Graduate

Diploma in Yoga Education is equivalent to the Post Graduate

Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy. It was held that eight candidates

were considered by the Selection Committee but why the appellant

was considered best even in the teeth of the apparent incongruity

in the educational qualification possessed by him and laid down in

the advertisement. The University should have found that the

Diploma in Yoga Education was equivalent to Post Graduate

Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy. In view of the said fact, the Court

directed the University to take appropriate steps for a fresh

selection from amongst the candidates who had applied pursuant

Page 3 of 10 to the advertisement in accordance with law.

8) Aggrieved against the said judgment, the appellant availed the

remedy of intra-court appeal. The learned Division Bench

dismissed the appeal and held as under:

“Admittedly, the appellant did not possess Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy with at least 55% marks which was one of the essential criteria for participating in the selection process for the post of Assistant Professor in Physical Education (Yoga Therapy). It was also not in dispute that according to the reply dated April 12, 2013, there was no difference in between the Diploma in Yoga Education and Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga Education. But the requisite qualification required for the post in question, as mentioned in the advertisement, was Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy, and not Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga Education. No material was brought on record to show that the Diploma in Yoga Education was equivalent to Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy. Therefore, there was no error in the decision making process of the learned Single Judge in arriving at a conclusion that the above reply did not resolve the dispute.”

9) Still aggrieved, the appellant is in appeal before this Court.

10) The University has filed an affidavit dated May 01, 2019 before this

Court wherein, a report of Equivalence Committee dated May 24,

2016 has been produced. Such Equivalence Committee was

constituted in terms of the directions of the learned Single Bench.

The Committee observed as under:

“1. Going by the contents of the course, the degree in M.Sc. (Human Consciousness and Yogic Sciences) and Master’s in Yoga/Yoga Therapy are equivalent.

2. Based on the following points the committee opines

Page 4 of 10 that P.G. Diploma in Yoga Therapy and Diploma in Yoga Education are equivalent:

(i) Qualifying examination for the said courses is any graduate degree;

(ii) The papers taught in the said courses are almost are the same with the only difference being that the P.G. Diploma in Yoga Therapy (of J.U.) has been under semester-system whereas Diploma in Yoga Education (of Kaivalyadhama SMYM Samiti) has been under annual-system;

(iii) Contents of the papers taught in the said courses are almost the same;

(iv) Some flexibilities in the curriculum frame work for NCTE programs are allowed by itself, including the said courses;

3. The committee also finds the degree/diploma in Yoga courses of other applicants as equivalent to the essential qualifications specified in the advertisement A2/C/2/2012 dt. 22.11.2012.”

11) Learned counsel for the appellant contends that appellant has a

Master Degree in Physical Education and Post Graduate Diploma in

Yoga Education. The requirement for appointment to the post is

Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga or Yoga Therapy. The relevant

condition reads as under:

“Master’s in Yoga/Yoga Therapy or Master’s in Physical Education with Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed).”

12) Learned counsel for the appellant has filed the statement given by

Principal and Joint Director of the Kaivalyadhama Shriman Madhava

Yoga Mandir (S.M.Y.M.) Samiti vide Annexure S-11 and submitted

Page 5 of 10 that the qualification possessed by the appellant meets the

requirement of Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga or Yoga Therapy. It

is contended that different institutes grant Diploma with different

nomenclature. The Diploma in Yoga Education is nothing but

Diploma in Yoga, therefore, the appellant satisfies the eligibility

requirement. Though, the Selection Committee has not specifically

recorded that the qualification possessed by the appellant is in

terms of the conditions of advertisement but the members of the

Selection Committee were experts in the subject and once the

appellant was appointed, it necessarily means that they were

satisfied with the qualification possessed by the appellant as one

satisfying the eligibility conditions advertised. It is further

contended that in terms of the directions issued by the learned

Single Bench, the University has constituted an Equivalence

Committee and has found that the Diploma certificate produced by

the appellant satisfies the eligibility conditions, therefore, even if

there were some procedural irregularities in not recording the

eligibility of the appellant in the initial minutes of the Selection

Committee, such irregularities stand cured when the Equivalence

Committee considered the appellant eligible for appointment. It is

also contended that the suitability of the candidate in terms of

eligibility conditions advertised is for the experts to consider and

once experts have found that the appellant possesses the required

educational qualification, the Court while exercising power of

judicial review, could not take a different view that the qualification

Page 6 of 10 possessed by the appellant does not meet the qualification

prescribed in the advertisement. The reliance is placed upon

judgment of this Court in B.C. Mylarappa v. Dr. R.

Venkatasubbaiah & Ors.1, wherein this Court held as under:

“26. Admittedly, there is nothing on record to show any mala fides attributed against the members of the expert body of the University. The University Authorities had also before the High Court in their objections to the writ petition taken a stand that the appellant had fully satisfied the requirement for appointment. In this view of the matter and in the absence of any mala fides either of the expert body of the University or of the University Authorities and in view of the discussions made hereinabove, it would be difficult to sustain the orders of the High Court as the opinion expressed by the Board and its recommendations cannot be said to be illegal, invalid and without jurisdiction.”

13) In Rajbir Singh Dalal (Dr.) v. Chaudhari Devi Lal University,

Sirsa & Anr.2, this Court held as under:

“29. It may be mentioned that on a clarification sought from UGC whether a candidate who possesses a Masters degree in Public Administration is eligible for the post of Lecturer in Political Science and vice versa, UGC wrote a letter dated 5-3-1992 to the Registrar, M.D. University, Rohtak stating that the subjects of Political Science and Public Administration are interchangeable and interrelated, and a candidate who possesses Masters degree in Public Administration is eligible as Lecturer in Political Science and vice versa. Thus, this is the view of UGC, which is an expert in academic matters, and the Court should not sit in appeal over this opinion and take a contrary view.”

14) On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondents contended

1 (2008) 14 SCC 306 2 (2008) 9 SCC 284

Page 7 of 10 that it is not permissible for the Selection Committee to change the

selection criteria midway. Since the eligibility condition as per the

advertisement was Diploma in Yoga or Yoga Therapy, therefore,

Diploma in Yoga Education could not be treated as a qualification in

terms of the conditions of the advertisement. Reliance is placed

upon judgment of this Court in Prakash Chand Meena & Ors. v.

State of Rajasthan & Ors.3 wherein it was held that the Court

could not go into the question whether a degree is equivalent or

superior to the qualification prescribed in the advertisement.

15) We have heard learned counsel for the parties and find that the

judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court is not sustainable

in law.

16) The condition of the advertisement was Diploma in Yoga or Yoga

Therapy. The appellant possesses Diploma in Yoga Education. The

Court in exercise of power of judicial review could not come to a

conclusion that the Diploma possessed by the appellant does not

satisfy the eligibility conditions advertised. The Court has only

looked to the bare nomenclature of Diploma possessed by the

appellant. No doubt, in the proceedings of the Selection

Committee, it is not recorded that the Diploma possessed by the

appellant is equivalent to the educational qualifications advertised

but the Selection Committee was comprised of experts in the

subjects and, therefore, even if it was not specifically mentioned,

3 (2015) 8 SCC 484

Page 8 of 10 the decision could not have been interfered with only because the

Court finds that Diploma in Yoga Education is not the same as

Diploma in Yoga or Yoga Therapy.

17) On the other hand, the judgments referred to by the learned

counsel for the respondents are in respect of change of eligibility

criteria midway of the selection process. Such is not the fact in the

present case. The qualification prescribed in the advertisement

remains the same i.e. Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga or Yoga

Therapy. It is only Diploma in Yoga Education which has been

considered as equivalent to Diploma in Yoga or Yoga Therapy. Not

only the Selection Committee has found the appellant suitable but

even the Equivalence Committee, constituted in terms of the

directions of the learned Single Bench, also found the Diploma of

the appellant as the one satisfying the requirement of the

advertisement. Therefore, once the Experts have taken a decision

that the appellant meets the eligibility conditions of the

advertisement, the Court could not have interfered with and set

aside the appointment of the appellant.

18) Learned counsel for the respondents has referred to a curriculum of

Kaivalyadhama to argue that the Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga

Education and Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy are

different. We do not find that such curriculum can be relied upon

by the respondents to hold that the appellant is not eligible when

the committee of experts have found the appellant eligible.

Page 9 of 10

19) Consequently, we allow the present appeal and set aside the

judgment passed by the High Court. The appellant shall be

reinstated in service forthwith with all consequential benefits,

seniority and pay fixation but will not be entitled to pay for the

period he was out of service. No order as to costs.

.............................................J. (L. NAGESWARA RAO)

.............................................J. (HEMANT GUPTA)

NEW DELHI;

AUGUST 06, 2019.

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