The High Court of Delhi dismissed a writ petition challenging the non-appointment of the petitioner to the post of Assistant Professor. The Court held that upon a correct calculation of screening marks as per university guidelines, the petitioner failed to meet the minimum eligibility criteria required for the interview and appointment.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
*** IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI**
% 1st December, 2016
NAMITA SINGH ..... Petitioner Through: Mr. Amit Singh, Advocate with Ms. Chandini Mehra, Advocate and Mr. Suman Kumar, Advocate.
versus
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI & ANR. ..... Respondents Through: Mr. Mohinder J.S. Rupal, Advocate with Ms. Simran Jeet, Advocate for respondent No.1.
CORAM:
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE VALMIKI J.MEHTA
To be referred to the Reporter or not?
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J (ORAL)
2(i) Petitioner pursuant to the advertisements issued by the respondent no.2/college dated 4.2.2014 and 14-21.2.2014 applied for one of the post in the advertisement being the post of Assistant Professor (History). Petitioner after selection by the Selection Committee was given an offer of
W.P. (C) No.2674/2016
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appointment for the post of Assistant Professor (History) in terms of letter dated 5.8.2015 of the respondent no. 2/college, and which letter reads as
under :-
“ SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJI COLLEGE (For Women)
(University of Delhi)
PUNJABI BAGH (West), New Delhi-110026
Ref. No. SPMC/APPtt/2015/529
Dated: 5/8/2015
Ms. Namita Singh E-88, 1st Floor Kirti Nagar New Delhi-110015 Mobile-9711749306
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am pleased to inform you that on the recommendation of a duly constituted selection committee, it has been decided to offer you an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of History under general category in this college on the following terms and conditions subject to the approval of the Governing Body of the college and subject to the University of Delhi recognizing you as a teacher of the University.
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If the offer of appointment, under the above terms & conditions is acceptable to you, you are requested to submit your original certificates/testimonials to the office immediately.
Yours faithfully Sd/Principal Copy for information to: 1. Section Officer (A/Cs) 2. Librarian.” (underlining added)
(ii) Para 8 of the aforesaid offer letter dated 5.8.2015 makes it clear
that the appointment of the petitioner is subject to verification of petitioner’s
qualifications as mentioned in the petitioner’s application.
notice dated 14.10.2015 reads as under:
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“ SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJI COLLEGE (For Women)
(University of Delhi)
PUNJABI BAGH (West), New Delhi-110026
Ref. No. SPMC/2015/841 Dated 14/10/2015
OFFICE ORDER
Ms. Namita Singh r/o E-88, First Floor, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi-110015, was never appointed in this college and her entry in the institution amounts to trespassing and unauthorized. Her entry in the college is banned and prohibited. She cannot enter in the institution for any purpose without the written permission of the undersigned. This has to be followed strictly.
Sd/PRINCIPAL
Copy to
on account of petitioner unauthorizedly entering into the staff council
meeting on 13.10.2015 and this communication reads as under:-
“ SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJI COLLEGE (For Women)
(University of Delhi)
PUNJABI BAGH (West), New Delhi-110026
Ref. No.SPMC/2015/847 Dated 14/10/2015
Ms. Namita Singh E-88, First Floor, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi-110015.
You took an unauthorized entry in the Staff Council meeting held on 13th October 2015 in Hall II and put your name and signature on the official document of members present list. This act on your part amounts to trespassing and an act if mischief and deception, which is not expected from an educated person like you. This action calls for further strict legal action, however taking
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a lenient view; you are strictly warned against such activities. This is in your interest. Your entry in the college is banned and prohibited.
Sd/PRINCIPAL”
respondent no.2/college to issue her the appointment letter, i.e the petitioner admitted that the final letter of appointment was not issued, and this letter
dated 11.10.2015 reads as under:
“Principal Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, University of Delhi, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi-110026 Date: 11th October, 2015 Subject: Re: Release of Salary
Dear Ma’am
This is in consequence to the reply (bearing “Ref. No. SPMC/2015/759” dated 22/09/2015) to my letter to you dated 17th September 2015. The said reply stated that offer letter issued to me by the college was subject to verification of my qualifications/certificates and fulfilling other conditions.
I humbly request you to please complete the verification of my qualifications/certificates along with other condition as soon as possible and issue me the Appointment letter and salary as I had joined the college on 10th August by completing all necessary procedures and have been reporting to duty every day since then. The delay is unnecessary as the same procedure has been duly completed with others who joined with me.
Ma’am, please try to understand that Delhi is an expensive city and survival costs involved are very high. Please take required steps and complete related steps as soon as possible.
With due regards
Sd/Namita Singh Assistant Professor Shyama Prasad Mukherji College,
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University of Delhi, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi-110026 Residence at E-88, First Floor Kirti Nagar, New Delhi Delhi Contact-9711749306” (underlining added)
the respondent no.2/college that as per the guidelines issued by the University of Delhi dated 13.10.2015, a person can be called for the interview for the post of an Assistant Professor (History) only if the candidate scores a minimum of 60 marks as per the system of marking given
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in this circular dated 13.10.2015, and once out of the 61 marks allotted to the petitioner, 10 marks wrongly given with respect to M. Phil. qualification are removed, then the petitioner would only get 51 marks and hence the petitioner was disqualified even to be called for the interview what to talk of her selection. The relevant Rule 7 and the assessment sheet handed over to the court by the respondents during the course of the argument as to how petitioner was wrongly given 61 marks read as under :-
Shyama Prasad Mukherji College
ASSESSMENT SHEET FOR APPOINTMENT OF PERMANENT FACULTY
Points are to be filled as per University of Delhi (DU) Notification
Name in Full: Namita Singh
Academic Qualifications:
| Examinations | Year | Subjects | Division/Grade | University | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s Degree |
2007 | History | III | DU | -- |
| Master’s Degree | 2010 | Medieval History |
I | DU | 16 |
| M. Phil. | 2011 | Turkish Eco | DU | 10 |
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| Ph. D. | Date of award |
Date of Registration |
Thesis Title | University | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | |||||
| Distinctions | |||||
| Total P | oints on bas | is of Academic | Qualification(S. | No.2) | 26 |
S. Name of the Designation Nature of Class Period Points
No. University/College and Scale of Appointment Taught (Max.
/Institution Pay (Ad- 20
Unde Post- From to
hoc/Tempora points
r- Grad
ry/Permanent Grad uate
uate
1. Shivaji College Ad hoc 24/7/ 10 3
13 /9/
13
2. Satyawati Ad hoc 10/9/ Ti
13 ll
Total Teaching Experience Total Points of the basis of 03
Teaching Experience (S.
Yr………………M…..9……..Days…… No.4)
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| S. No. | Publication Category | Publication Type | Max. Points (25) |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Research paper/Review Aritcle/Conference proceeding |
Recognized and Reputed referred Journal with ISBN/ISSN |
5X5 = 25 |
| Conference proceeding as full length papers, etc. (abstracts not to be included in related area/subject) |
|||
| ii | Books Authored | Subject Books (in related area/subject) by International / National level publishers/State and Central Govt. Publication with ISBN/ISSN numbers |
|
| iii | Books Edited | Edited Books/Journals (in related area/subject) by International / National level publishers/State and Central Govt. Publication with ISBN/ISSN numbers |
|
| iv | Chapter(s) in books | Chapters in books (in related area/subject) by International/ National level publishers/State and Central Govt. Publication with ISBN/ISSN numbers (Chapter(s) in self-edited book should not be considered |
|
| v. | Books/Articles translated and published |
Books/Articles translated and published by International/National level publishers/State and Central Govt. Publication with ISBN/ISSN numbers |
|
| vi | Books review/Popular article/Newspaper article (in related subject) |
Books review/ popular article in newsletter of learned bodies /societies/ Newspaper article (all in related area/subject) |
|
| Total Points on basis of S. No.5 | 25 |
Total Points as per DU Notification(2+3+4+5)
33+3=36+25+ 61
Signature”
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“(I)(b) Academic Qualifications for Colleges-Maximum 55 points
| S. No. | Examination | Catego | ry-I(60%) | Category II(>50% <60%) |
but |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Under Graduate | 12 | 9 | ||
| 2. | Post Graduate | 16 | 12(55% eligibility) |
||
| 3. | M.Phil/PG Degree in Professional Courses such as LLM, M. Tech, M.V.Sc., M.D.(in relevant subject) |
10* | |||
| 4. | Ph. D. | 17* | |||
| 5. | NET/NET-JRF | 7/10 | ” |
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petitioner passed the graduation course only in 3rd division, because as per the marking paragraphs of the guidelines dated 13.10.2015, marks are only given for graduation degree if the candidate has more than 50% marks while obtaining graduation degree. Therefore, it is seen that while the requirement of the candidate has to be at least 60 marks for being called to the interview, petitioner actually had only 51 marks, and therefore, could not have been even called for the interview and hence the petitioner could not even have been selected and appointed to the post in question.
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called for interview and thereafter for appointment to the post in question. Therefore, looking at it from any angle, the petitioner did not have the necessary eligibility criteria for being appointed to the post of Assistant Professor (History).
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and which process was done under a mistake and on realizing of which mistake, the petitioner’s offer of appointment was recalled.
the same is therefore dismissed, leaving the parties to bear their own costs.
DECEMBER 01, 2016 VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J godara/Ne
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3 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner was eligible for the post of Assistant Professor given the alleged error in calculating her screening marks.
Whether the offer of appointment, subject to qualification verification, can be enforced when the petitioner fails to meet the minimum eligibility criteria.
Whether the writ petition seeking appointment to the post of Assistant Professor has any merit.
Namita Singh
University of Delhi
Shyama Prasad Mukherji College (For Women)
Valmiki J. Mehta
As recorded by the court registry
A petition under Article 226 of the Constitution asking a High Court to issue a writ against the State or a public authority in a civil matter.
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
