Siddharth Jha v. The State of Bihar
Case brief
What is this about?
Siddharth Jha v. State of Bihar; Patna High Court; CWJC No.3088 of 2024; decision 20-02-2024; K. Vinod Chandran, CJ (author) and Harish Kumar, J. Subject: Block Horticulture Officer recruitment rules; Rule 4(3) of the Bihar Horticulture subordinate Service (Agriculture Subordinate Group-7) Rules-2024; exclusion of B.Sc. Forestry as equivalent qualification; challenge under Article 226. Precedent relied on: Bank of India v. Aarya K. Babu, (2019) 8 SCC 587. Outcome: writ petition rejected/closed; no constitutional defect found in restricting eligibility; petitioner may approach Government for amendment of Rules. Keywords: equivalence of educational qualifications, prescription of qualifications, employer's domain, writ dismissal.
What did the court decide?
Equivalence of qualification cannot be ordered by this Court in a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India; equivalence is a purely academic matter, and prescription of eligible qualification for appointment to any post is exclusively in the domain of the employer, herein the State.