JUDGMENT
Y.P. Nargotra, J.
1. The J&K Service Selection Board vide its Advertisement Notice No. 6 of 2005 dated 21.11.2005 invited the applications for the post of Lab Assistant available in Districts Kathua and Udhampur. The break-up of the vacancies as shown in the advertisement notice in regard to Districts Kathua and Udhampur was:
Kathua
S…01
ALC…02
Total…03
Udhampur
OM…01
S…02
RBA…01
ALC…01
Total…05
2. In terms of Clause 4 of the Advertisement Notice, an eligible candidate could apply for more than one post by submitting the separate applications. The qualification prescribed for the post of Lab Assistant was “matric with Diploma in Lab. Assistant Training from SMF or any other recognized Institute.” The petitioner has passed the Secondary School Examination and has also obtained diploma in MEP Lab Technology after undergoing the training at P. C. Memorial College, Hamirpur issued by the State Council for Vocational Training, Himachal Pradesh Sunder Nagar under the Directorate of Technical Education, Vocational & Industrial Training, Government of Himachal Pradesh. He submitted his application form under the ALC Category for the post of Lab Assistant pursuant to the above said advertisement for District Udhampur as well as for District Kathua. After obtaining the applications, the Service Selection Board short listed the candidates for interview on the basis of criteria formulated by it. The petitioner’s name did not figure within the list of shortlisted candidates for District Kathua. However, his name figured in the list of short-listed candidates for District Udhampur. So far as District Kathua is concerned, under the ALC Category though two posts were available in that category, yet only one candidate namely Pawan Kumar, who is a private respondent in this writ petition, came to be short listed.
3. Consequent upon his short-listing for District Udhampur, an interview call was sent to him by the J&K Service Selection Board under No. SSB/Div/J/2006/160-80 dated 20.2.2006, but before the petitioner could take the interview, the Service Selection Board under No. SSB/Div/J/2005/372 dated 27.3.2006 informed the petitioner as follows:
It is to inform you that your application form cannot be considered for interview due to the reason that as per the list provided by the Health Department, your institution i.e. Technical Education Vocational & Industrial Training Himachal Pradesh Sundernagar has not been recognized by the J&K Medical Faculty Jammu. The interview call letter may be treated as withdrawn. Hence you not to appear for interview on 6.03.2006.
4. Thus the petitioner was not allowed by the Service Selection Board to appear in the interview for the post of Lab Assistant in District Udhampur on finding him ineligible on account of the fact that the institute by which the diploma stood issued in his favour had not been recognized by the J&K State Medical Faculty, Jammu.
5. As regards the post of Lab Assistant in District Kathua, the stand of the Selection Board is that since the institution from which he had obtained the diploma was not recognized by the State Medical Faculty of the State, therefore was ineligible and, as such, his name was not included in the list of short-listed candidates. Mr. Shukla, learned Counsel appearing for the Board submits that later on one more candidate, namely, Farooq Ahmed came to be included in the list of short-listed candidates for District Kathua, so there were two short-listed candidates available under the ALC Category, namely, Farooq Ahmed and Pawan Kumar. Since the merit of Farooq Ahmed was found better as compared to Pawan Kumar, private respondent in the writ petition, so his name was recommended for appointment. On this Pawan Kumar filed a writ petition in this Court and a status-quo order has been issued on his writ petition. Thus, so far none has been appointed in District Kathua on the available post of Lab Assistant in the category of ALC. It may be mentioned here that when the petitioner filed this writ petition mentioning that two posts of Lab Assistant were available for District Kathua but only one candidate stood short-listed under the ALC Category, this Court vide interim order dated 2.3.2006 directed the Service Selection Board to allow the petitioner to participate in the interview for the post of Lab Assistant for District Kathua under the ALC Category with a rider that his result shall not be declared till further orders. It was also provided that selection for one post of Lab Assistant under the ALC Category for District Kathua shall only be made. Thus, on the strength of court order the petitioner appeared in the interview along with two other short listed candidates, namely, Farooq Ahmed and Pavam Kumar. The Service Selection Board has indicated the merit position of all the three candidates under the ALC Category for the post of Lab Assistant existing in District Kathua, which is as follows:
Mohd. Farooq…58.85 points
Pawan Kumar…58.00 points
Narinder Singh…42.48 points
6. Therefore, indisputably even if the petitioner is considered to be eligible for the post, he cannot be selected because of his lesser merit as compared to two other candidates as against the two available vacancies. As regards the one post for District Udhampur, the petitioner has not been interviewed by considering him ineligible. So the question arising for consideration is whether the petitioner possessed the prescribed qualification for being considered for the post of Lab Assistant. The recruitment to the post of Lab Assistant is governed by the Jammu & Kashmir Health & Medical (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 1992. The necessary qualification prescribed under the recruitment rules is matric with Diploma in Lab. Assistant training course from State Medical Faculty or any other recognized institute. Undisputedly, the petitioner is a matriculate and possesses a diploma issued from the State Council for Vocational Training, Government of Himachal Pradesh under the Directorate of Technical Education, Vocational & Industrial Training, HP. The said institute is a recognized institute of H.P. Government. It is also an admitted fact that the said institute has not been recognized by the J&K State Medical Faculty (Directorate of Health Services), Jammu.
7. The contention of learned Counsel for petitioner is that the qualification prescribed by the Recruitment Rules only requires that a candidate must possess a diploma in Lab Assistant Training from State Medical Faculty or from any other recognized institute. According to him, the expression ‘any other recognized institute’ does not mean that the recognition should only be from State Medical Faculty. According to him, if a candidate possesses a diploma issued by an Institute which is recognized by the Government of any other State, he would also be eligible under the said rules.
8. Mrs. Hakim, learned Dy. A. G., was pointedly asked to show any rule or law which requires the recognition of any other institute other than the State Medical Faculty for acceptance of the diplomas issued by it for the purposes of eligibility for appointment on the post of Lab Assistant in terms of the recruitment rules. She submits that she on her own has not been able to lay her hands on any such rule or law, however, she had sought information from the J&K State Medical Faculty and has received the response under No. SMF/6/05/4296 dated 5.4.2007. She placed the said letter on record, which reads as under:
The Dy. Advocate General,
J&K High Court,
Jammu.
No:-SMF/6/05/4296 Dated:-5-4-2007.
Sub:- SWP No. 348/06 titled Narinder Singh v. State and Ors.
Ref:- Your letter No. SH/DAG/07/2442 dated 29.3.2007.
Madam,
In this connection it is to inform you that Private Para Medical Institutes outside the State who apply for recognition of their Institutes with the J&K State Medical Faculty have to submit the standard application forms duly filled in along with requisite fee of Rs. 20,000/- per course for processing their application form, then the inspection is conducted by the team constituted by the Government and on the basis of recommendation made by the inspection committee the case is referred to the Government for according necessary recognition of the Institute for imparting the Para Medical Training Course.
9. It be seen that the said letter does not disclose the authority of any rule or law under which the State Medical Faculty acts in the matter in the first place and, this apart, it can apply to private institutes running outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir. It has no application to the institutes run under the aegis of the Governments of the States other than the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Meaning thereby that there is no rule or law in force in the State which bars the acceptability of the Para Medical Diplomas issued by the institutes recognized by any Government of the States other than the State of Jammu & Kashmir, in the State of Jammu & Kashmir for the purposes of recruitment. Thus, a Para-Medical Diploma issued by an institute outside the State which is recognized by the Government of the State in which it is situated would be equivalent to the Diploma issued either by the State Medical Faculty or any other institute recognized by the State Government within the State. For validity in the State of J&K a para-medical diploma issued by an outside institute recognized by the concerned State, it is not necessary that such outside institute should also be recognized by the State Government or State Medical Faculty.
10. The above being the position in law, the eligibility qualification prescribed in terms of the recruitment rules would stand satisfied if the person applying for the post of the Lab Assistant thereunder possesses a para-medical diploma either issued by the State Medical Faculty or any other institute within the State recognized by the State Government or any institute outside the State recognized by the Government of the State in which it is situated. The expression any other recognized institute in Recruitment Rules as used in Item No. II. C. of C. Laboratory Unit of Annexure “A” appended to the recruitment rules, would mean and include the institute within the State recognized by the State Government or the institute outside the State recognized by the Government of that State within which it is situated.
11. Therefore, the petitioner was fully eligible for being considered for appointment for the post of Lab Assistant available at both the places at District Kathua and District Udhampur. However, in view of the merit obtained by the petitioner against the post at District Kathua he is not entitled to any relief. As against the post at Udhampur, still he is not entitled to any relief because the selection process has already been completed and the selected candidate appointed, whose selection and appointment having not been challenged.
In view of the above, this writ petition deserves dismissed. It is as such dismissed along with the connected CMP.