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TMI Blog1980 (4) TMI 311X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ersities and meticulous forensic invigilation of educational organs may both be wrong, a balanced approach of leaving universities in their internal functioning well alone to a large extent, but striking at illegalities and injustices, if committed by however high an authority, educational or other, will resolve the problem raised, by counsel before us in this appeal from a judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court. Once We recognize the basic yet simple proposition that no islands of insubordination to the rule of law exist in our Republic and that discretion to disobey the mandate of the law does not belong even to university organs or other authorities the retreat of the Court at the sight of an academic body, as has happened here, cannot be approved. On the facts and features of this case such a balanced exercise of jurisdiction will, if we may anticipate our ultimate conclusion, result in the reversal of the appellate judgment and the restoration, in substantial measure, of the learned single Judge's judgment quashing the selections made by the University bodies for the posts of Readers in English way back in 1973. A perception in perspective of the facts whi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s teachers. Provided further that in the case of women- teachers of this (i.e. Allahabad University), in place of qualification No. (IV) requiring 5 years' teaching experience in post graduate classes a minimum of 5 Years teaching experience of the subject in the graduate classes in this University may also be considered adequate for the post of Readers. The statutory exercise of choosing the best among the applicants in conformity with the minimum qualifications is done by the selection committee which recommends to the 'executive' council its panel. While there is no specific legislative provision regarding the procedure to be adopted by the selection committee there is no doubt that arbitrariness is anathema, violation of natural justice vitiates and subject to this, self-created rules, flexible and pragmatic, fair and functionally viable, may well be fashioned by the selection committee. In this case the committee chose to interview the candidates who were otherwise eligible for consideration. 13 applicants turned up for interview. But respondent No, 9, Dr. Bhattacharya, and petitioner No. 2, Skand Gupta, apparently resented the viva voce test as unauthorized ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sy to appreciate the few submissions urged by the appellants in substantiation of their case that although the selection committee was legally constituted, the process of selection and the criteria for selection Were illegal, If the selecting were invalid dated by any lethal vice the council's action in accepting the commendees cannot survive. Nor can the chancellor's dismissal of the objections of the appellants lend life to what otherwise is non est. Thus, the crucial issue is whether the grounds of attack levelled against the selection have substance. A few basic facts must be remembered before We discuss the merits. All the parties with whom we are concerned as candidates, have acquired their master's degree from the Allahabad University. In tune with the hierarchical ethos of Indian society which does not spare the academic there is a pyramidal structure with lecturers at the bottom, Readers above them and professors at the top, speaking simplistically. Our concern in this appeal is with Readers; and the eligibility qualifications mentioned in ordinance 9 are the minimum, not the maximum. We may straight get into the meat of the matter. The substantial con tensi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... basics of natural justice fair play in action, reasonableness in collecting decisional materials, avoidance of arbitrariness and extraneous considerations and otherwise keeping with in the leading strings of the law. We find no flaw in the methodology of interviews.' Certainly, cases arise where the are of interviewing candidates deteriorates from strategy to stratagem and undetectable manipulation of results is achieved by remote control tactics masked as viva voce tests. This, if allowed, is surely a sabotage of the purity of proceedings, a subterfuge whereby legal means to reach illegal ends is achieved. So it is that courts insist, as the learned single Judge has, in this very case, suggested on recording of marks at interviews and other fair checks like guidelines for marks and remarks about candidates and the like. If the court is skeptical, the record of the Selection proceedings, including the notes regarding the interviews, may have to be made available. Interviews, as such, are not bad but polluting it to attain illegitimate ends is bad. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was right when be wrote. So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e must agree that the ordinance has a purpose when it prescribes atleast a high second class for a Reader's post. It is obligatory. Now we come to close grips with the Principal point- debated before us. When is a second class high, going by marks? For any layman the meaning is clear. For any purpose- oriented interpretation the decoding is simple. High is the antithesis of low and a high second class is, therefore, a contrast to a low second class. When the range of second class marks is wide, of the candidate who gets that class with marks within the lower half bracket you cannot say he gets a high second class. If he manages to get 48 marks he barely gets a second class-not a high second class. And common sense which is not an enemy of court sense, points clearly to the meaning of high second class as one where the marks fall a little short of first class marks and he narrowly misses first class. In the context of ordinance 9 and its purpose and the collocating of words used viz. 'first class or a high second class', the interpretation will misfire if we disregard the intent and effect of the adjective 'high' and indifferently read it to mean merely the mi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the respondent urged, that the 'selection Committee is an expert body. But their expertise is not in law, but in other branches of learning and the final interpretation of an ordinance is a legal skill outside the academic orbit. Rulings of this Court were cited before us to hammer home the point that the Court should not substitute its judgment for that of academicians when the dispute relates to educational affairs. While there is no absolute ban, it is a rule of prudence that courts should hesitate to dislodge decisions of academic bodies. But university organs, for that matter any authority in our system, is bound by the rule of law and cannot be a law unto itself If the Chancellor or any other authority lesser in level decides an academic matter or an educational question, the Court keeps its hands off; but where a provision of law has to be read and understood, it is not fair to keep the Court out. In Govinda Rao's case, Gajendragadkar, J (as he they was) struck the right note: What the High Court should have considered is whether file appointment made by the Chancellor Had contravened any statutory or finding rule or ordinance, and in doing so, the High Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nection, even the terminological in exactitude indulged in by Dr. Hem Lata Joshi (R. 5) is not complimentary, when she says that in her application she gave 54 marks as against the actual figure of 52.2 and when challenged, she excused herself by saying that her memory, working in a hurry, let her down. We are satisfied that if the Selection Committee had chosen to give an opportunity to the 2nd petitioner, even as they did to R. 9, he might well have turned up and having regard to his high marks, might also have stood a good chance of being selected. The criticism is not that the Selection Committee's action was mala-fide or biassed, but that there has been unequal treatment between equals. For this reason, the selection of R. 9 deserves to be struck down as violative of Art. 14. Other minor points which have been urged and countered do not deserve serious consideration and we decline to deal with them. The conclusion we reach is that the selection and appointments of respondents 7 and 10 are good; but the selection and appointment of respondents 5, 6, 8 and 9 are bad in law. The tragic sequel cannot be dismissed as none of our concern because the Court, by its process, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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