AFR Court No. - 29 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 42121 of 2010 Petitioner :- Dr. Kirti Raje Singh Respondent :- The University Of Allahabad And Others Petitioner Counsel :- M. M. Sahai,Mr. Shashi Nandan Respondent Counsel :- A. S. G. I.,Ram Gopal Tripathi Hon'ble Sunil Ambwani,J.
Hon’ble Kashi Nath Pandey,J.
Heard Shri Shashi Nandan, Senior Advocate assisted by Shri M.M.
Sahai for the petitioner. Sri P.S. Baghel, Senior Advocate appears
for the University.
The petitioner was appointed as Guest Lecturer (Botany) in
pursuance to her selection by a Selection Committee after
advertisement in C.M.P. Degree College, Allahabad affiliated to
University of Allahabad on 27.11.2008. She was permitted to take
classes from 27.11.2008 to 10.2.2009. The post was advertised
again for the next academic year in August, 2009. The petitioner
again applied and was selected by the duly constituted Selection
Committee. Her term has come to an end in the month of
February, 2010.
By this writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for directions to
quash the advertisement dated 10.7.2010 published in Hindi daily
‘Dainik Jagaran’ advertising the same post to be filled up by a
Guest Lecturer in different subjects including the subject of
Botany and has prayed to allow her to continue as guest lecturer
until regular selection is made by the University without any claim
for regularization.
Shri Shashi Nandan, Senior Advocate submits that there is no
object to be achieved and rationale in filling up the post of guest
lecturer every year by selections when a duly qualified and
selected candidate is available with experience of previous year.
The College should not be allowed to adopt ‘hire and fire’, policy
every year and to substitute petitioner with another person. The
petitioner is M.Sc. and D. Phil (2001). Since she was awarded D.
Phil in 2001, she is exempted from qualifying the National
Eligibility Test. She has been treated arbitrarily in violation of
Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India in requiring her to
appear in selection every year for the same post.
Shri Shashi Nandan submits that the Ordinances of the University
applicable to the affiliated Colleges provide that where a person,
referred to in sub clause (a) of Ordinance XLIV (6), is engaged in
prescribed manner by an academic unit as guest lecturer in an
academic year, continuous to be eligible for such engagement, he
may be re-engaged as such by such academic unit for the
immediately subsequent academic year, without recourse to the
procedure specified under the provisions of sub clause (g), but
such re-engagement without recourse to the said procedure, shall
not be permissible beyond three consecutive academic years.
Shri Shashi Nandan submits that with the outer limit of three
years, the discretion of the College to engage the guest lecturer
every year upto the maximum of three years should be exercised
reasonably. The petitioner was duly selected by the Selection
Committee and is teaching regularly without any complaint against
her. The College, therefore, should be permitted to exercise the
discretion to re-engage her for the third year.
Shri P.S. Baghel, Senior Advocate appearing for the University of
Allahabad submits that the second proviso to Ordinance XLIV (6)
(h) created a serious problems for the University. The members
engaged from sessions to session basis started claiming permanent
employment as faculty member or engagement as guest lecturer
without any interviews. The Executive Council, therefore, decided
in its meeting dated 20.1.2009 to delete the proviso from the
Ordinances after which part time lecturer and guest faculty
members have no right to claim re-engagement.
Shri Baghel submits, that the petitioner was appointed as Guest
Lecturer on a fixed honorarium for specific period. Her
appointment in terms of condition No. 2 of the appointment letter
annexed as Annexure-1 was subject to the provisions laid down in
Ordinance XLIV of the University. She does not have a right to
claim further engagement for subsequent period without fresh
selection and interviews. He has relied upon judgments of this
Court in Birendra Bahadur Singh vs. Chancellor, Allahabad
University and others 2004 (2) ESC (Allahabad); Arvind
Kumar Singh (Dr.) vs. University of Allahabad and others
(2007) 1 UPLBEC 677 and Dr. Virendra Kumar Singh vs. Vice
Chancellor, Mahatama Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University,
Bareilly and others 2006 (1) ADJ 438 (All) (DB) in which the
Division Benches of this Court have not accepted the arguments
that the part time/guest/adhoc lecturer should be allowed to claim
any right to continue on the post from the period of his
engagement on contract. Once the period of contract has come to
an end, the part time lecturer has no right to continue and if he
wants re-engagement, he must appear in the selections.
The availability of the substantive post and the condition that the
appointment of Guest Lecturer can be made only on substantive
post cannot be treated as grounds for re-engagement.
The procedure for making appointment of a regular lecturer is
different than the procedure for appointment of Guest Lecturer. In
case of a regular appointment the Visitor of the University
nominates two experts in the selection committee and that a wider
advertisement is made inviting applications for appointment. In
Secretary, State of Karnataka vs. Uma Devi and other JT 2006
(4) SC 420 the Supreme Court laid emphasis on the adherence to
the rule of equality in public employment. The directions of the
Court to continue the employees appointed for a specific term
violate the rights of other eligible and qualified candidates under
Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
The petitioner is not holding any post to claim a right to continue
to be engaged for a period of three years or beyond such period.
The writ petition is dismissed.
Order Date :- 22.7.2010
RKP