Madras High Court: In a writ petition filed to quash the communication issued by the Deputy Secretary, Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (‘TNPSC’) and consequently, directing TNPSC to select and appoint the petitioner to the post of Typist with all consequential and other attendant service benefits, D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, J. while quashing the impugned communication, directed TNPSC to appoint the petitioner in the post of Typist on or before 31-07-2024 and to provide him all the benefits of service only from the date of such appointment including seniority, wages etc.
Background:
In the various services under the Government of Tamil Nadu namely, Tamil Nadu Ministerial Service, Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service, Tamil Nadu Secretariat Service etc., there exists a post of Typist. The said post of Typist is to be filled by way of direct recruitment from candidates possessing minimum general educational qualification.
By notification dated 14-11-2017, Secretary, TNPSC advertised for direct recruitment for various posts in all totalling 9351 vacancies. The method of selection was a written examination consisting of 300 marks with a minimum qualifying mark of 90. The petitioner who is fully qualified to apply for the post of Typist under the reserved category of Scheduled Caste duly applied. While filling up the application form, there was only one option to upload a postgraduate degree in the Online application form. The petitioner uploaded the M.L.I.S degree and thereafter, he could not further upload the M.B.A degree. The petitioner participated in the written examination and obtained 201 marks in the written examination. The petitioner was issued with a call letter to attend the certificate verification/counselling. TNPSC concluded that the petitioner’s post-graduate degree, which is only for a one-year duration, cannot be considered as a valid post-graduate degree, and also, produced his second post-graduate M.B.A degree which is of two years duration. However, no new documents were entertained by TNPSC, since the TNPSC had to go by the documents already uploaded alone. The petitioner was not considered as possessing a Postgraduate degree and therefore, was not selected.
Thus, by the impugned communication, the petitioner was also informed that his postgraduate qualification would not be considered. Aggrieved, the petitioner filed the present petition.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court said that the petitioner is bound to succeed as of the notification date, i.e., 14-11-2017, he possesses a Postgraduate degree obtained after an Undergraduate degree and of two years’ duration. The only flaw which is committed by the petitioner is that without uploading the said degree since he has another post-graduate degree, he uploaded the same. Thus, it is not that the petitioner did not possess the postgraduate qualification, but the petitioner could not upload both the postgraduate qualifications. After referring to Dolly Chhanda v. Chairman, JEE, (2005) 9 SCC 779, the Court said that there can be relaxation in the matter of submission of proof.
After examining the Clause 25 (Explanation-I) (C) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016, the Court said that the petitioner’s qualification is a valid postgraduate degree.
The Court said that there are also one-year postgraduate courses such as Master of Law and Master of Library Science which are valid degrees as per the UGC norms. Therefore, just because the numerals which were mainly intended to clarify S.S.L.C (minimum 10 years of study) + Higher Secondary (minimum two years of study) + Undergraduate + Postgraduate, the petitioner’s M.L.I.S cannot be rejected as an invalid degree for Government Service and such an approach would be a pedantic approach.
Explaining the proper reading of the said clause, the Court said that the Postgraduate degree holder should have undergone a minimum of 12 years of school education consisting of S.S.L.C equal to 10th Standard or Matriculation etc., + Higher Secondary of two years equal to Pre-University course etc., and thereafter undergone a valid undergraduate degree before joining the Post-Graduate degree.
The Court said the rule’s purpose is to eliminate the candidates with a direct postgraduate without basic qualifications and it is not concerned with the duration of the postgraduate course. Thus, the Court said that the approach adopted by TNPSC is an incorrect reading of the rule.
[K. Paranthaman v Secretary, Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, 2024 SCC OnLine Mad 2210, decided on 18-06-2024]
