Writ Petition Nos. 8030, 8892, 8415, 8702 and 8937 of 2015. Case: Pallavi and Ors. Vs Government of India and Ors.. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | Writ Petition Nos. 8030, 8892, 8415, 8702 and 8937 of 2015 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: S.S. Thombre, Advocate and For Respondents: S.B. Deshpande, ASG |
| Judges | S. S. Shinde and P. R. Bora, JJ. |
| Issue | Constitution of India - Article 12 |
| Judgement Date | March 02, 2016 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
S. S. Shinde, J.
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All these Writ Petitions raise similar issues and having almost similar facts claiming similar reliefs are being heard and disposed of by common Judgment.
In Writ Petition No. 8030/2015, direction is sought to the respondent No. 2 to consider qualification of the petitioner as equivalent to the qualification mentioned in the Notification issued by the respondent No. 3. There is also challenge to the impugned letter/order dated 27th May, 2015, issued by respondent No. 2, with further prayer seeking direction to the respondent No. 2 to allow the petitioner to complete her training and thereafter issue consequential orders. In Writ Petition No. 8892/2015, similar reliefs are claimed except the date of impugned order/letter is mentioned as 27th June, 2015.
In Writ Petition No. 8937/2015, Writ Petition No. 8702/2015 and Writ Petition No. 8415/2015, the petitioners have taken exception to the letter/order dated 3rd June, 2015, 27th June, 2015 and 9th July, 2015, respectively. It is further prayed that, respondent No. 2 may be directed to consider the qualification possessed by the petitioners as equivalent to the qualification mentioned in the Notification/Advertisement issued by the respondent No. 2 for the selection on the post of Agricultural Field Officers.
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In all these Petitions, the respective petitioners have completed B.Sc. [Agricultural Bio-Technology] degree course from various Universities. There is no dispute that, all the petitioners possessed said qualification, and to that effect, the concerned University has conferred degree on the respective petitioners.
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It is the case of the petitioners that, respondent No. 3 published an advertisement on 18.11.2013 for recruitment of the specialist Officers in the organizations wherein the respondent Banks are incorporated. An advertisement was issued for the post of Agricultural Field Officer [Scale-I] and eligibility criteria as mentioned for the Agricultural Field Officer [Scale-I] is 4 years degree [graduation] in Agriculture/Horticulture/Animal Husbandry/Veterinary Science/Diary Science/Agri. Engineering/Fishery Science/Pisciculture/Agri. Marketing and Cooperation/Co-operation and Banking/Agro-Forestry. Some of the petitioners belong to reserved category and to that effect, they have placed on record copy of validity certificates. In pursuant to the aforesaid advertisement, respective petitioners submitted their online applications for the post of Agricultural Field Officer [Scale-I], and according to them, they were found eligible for the said post. The petitioners deposited requisite fees. They appeared for the examination, and according to them, they were declared successful for the post of Agricultural Field Officer [Scale-I]. The petitioners were called for interview on various dates.
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It is the case of the petitioners that, at the time of interview, the concerned Authority has verified all original documents of the petitioners and found that, the petitioners are eligible, and therefore, they were interviewed. The petitioners received letters from the respondent No. 2 stating therein that, they have been selected. They also received offer letter of appointment in the service of different respondent banks, as Agricultural Filed Officer [Scale-I], in reserved categories from which the petitioners belong.
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It is further the case of the petitioners that, after receiving letter of appointment, the petitioners had reported at reporting Centre at Ahmedabad, and other places mentioned in said letters, and executed the bond, as well as Bank Officers had verified all the original documents relating to the educational qualifications of the petitioners. The petitioners were called for medical examination; they were declared fit for the said post. Thereafter, the petitioners received letters by which they were directed to report for mandatory induction training for the post of Agricultural Field Officer [Scale-I] at various Banks, Staff Training Centres for undergoing training.
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It is the case of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 8030/2015 that, on 27th May, 2015, the petitioner received e-mail at about 6.59 p.m. and along with that, letter dated 27th May, 2015, is posted on the e-mail address of the petitioner, informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification/degree possessed by the petitioner does not find mentioned in the advertisement, and therefore, the appointment letter issued in favour of petitioner came to be withdrawn.
It is the case of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 8892/2015 that, on 27th June, 2015, the petitioner received communication, informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification/degree possessed by the petitioner is not mentioned in the advertisement, and therefore, the letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner came to be withdrawn.
It is the case of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 8415/2015 that, on 9th July, 2015, the petitioner received communication, informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification/degree possessed by the petitioner is not mentioned in the advertisement, and therefore, the appointment issued in favour of petitioner came to be withdrawn.
It is the case of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 8702/2015 that, on 27th June, 2015, the petitioner received communication, informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification/degree possessed by the petitioner has not been mentioned in the advertisement.
It is the case of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 8937/2015 that, on 3rd June, 2015, the petitioner received communication, informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification/degree possessed by the petitioner has not been mentioned in the advertisement.
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The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in Writ Petition Nos. 8030/2015 and 8892/2015 submits that, as per the Government Resolution dated 7th September, 2011, issued by the State Government, thereby holding that, B.Sc. [Agriculture Biotechnology], B.Sc. [Agricultural Business Management], B.F.S.C., B.Sc. [Horticulture] are equivalent to B.Sc. [Agri]/B.Tech. [Agriculture Engineering] and such other degrees. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners invited our attention to the Government Resolution dated 7th September, 2011. It is further submitted that, the Director [Education], Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Education and Research has issued a letter dated 8th July, 2014, to the Director, I.B.P.S. House, 90 Feet, D.P. Road, Kandivali [E], Mumbai, thereby stating that, B.Sc. [Agriculture Biotechnology], B.Sc. [Agricultural Business Management], B.Sc. [Home Science], B.Tech. [Food Technology], B.F.S.C., B.Sc. [Horticulture] are equivalent to B.Sc. [Agri]/B.Tech. [Agriculture Engineering] and such other degrees, and therefore, requested to consider the selected candidates for the appointment. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners invited our attention to the contents of the said letter, which is placed on record at Exhibit-I of the compilation of the Writ Petition.
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It is further submitted that, the Chancellor of Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani, has issued a letter to the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Diary Development and Fishery Department, Maharashtra State, Mantralaya, Mumbai, thereby stating that, the Nationalized Banks are not considering the degrees of B.Sc. [Agriculture Biotechnology], Agricultural Business Management, etc. as equivalent to other B.Sc. degree, and therefore, requested to issue appropriate directions to the Banks. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners invited our attention to the contents of the said letter, which is placed on record at Exhibit-J. It is further submitted that, the petitioners and other similarly placed candidates have filed application to the respondent No. 2 on 06.07.2015, thereby stating that, the B.Sc. [Agricultural Biotechnology] is an allied specialization of Agriculture and is like B.Sc. [Agriculture] and has also asked to consider the selected candidates, who have obtained B.Sc. [Agriculture Biotechnology] degree and to issue appointment orders. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners invited our attention to the contents of the said application, which is placed on record at Exhibit-K.
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It is further submitted that, the Secretary and Director General of Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi has issued a letter dated 03.07.2015 to the respondent No. 3 thereby stating that, the B.Sc. [Agricultural Biotechnology] is a four years degree programme like B.Sc. [Agriculture]. It is an allied specialization of Agriculture encompassing several courses including crop production of field crops and horticultural crops, plant physiology, plant genetics and breeding, plant pathology and microbiology and organic farming etc., and therefore, it was further requested to look into the matter and issue necessary instructions to consider the selected candidates for the appointment of Agricultural Field Officers. But, in spite of the above communications and letters, the respondents have not taken any action to issue appointment order in favour of the petitioners. It is further submitted that, the Union Bank itself has given appointment to one candidate namely Vivek Hanumantrao Karpe on the post of RDO/AFO in Jaunpur Region during the year 2011 to 2014 and his degree was also B.Sc. Agricultural Biotechnology and the said information has been provided to one Yogesh Ghan by the Union Bank under the Right to Information Act, and...
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