Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Tuesday held that merely because a candidate possesses a degree, it does not mean that he/she is eligible for the post where the prescribed qualification is diploma or 10+2.
A bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Sanjay Dhar upheld the judgement passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in a case of candidates holding degrees who were found ineligible against the posts of Radiographic Technician, Clinical Staff for Casualty Bed, Technical Assistant/Technician (Anaesthesia), and Theatre Assistant/Technician in Government Medical College Anantnag and Government Medical College Baramulla, posts advertised in 2019 by the Services Selection Board (SSB) of J&K.
The Tribunal had come to the conclusion that the action of the respondent (SSB) in not accepting the candidature of the petitioners on the grounds that they did not possess requisite prescribed qualification as per the advertisement notice cannot be faulted and, accordingly, the petition was dismissed which challenged the selection list.
This judgment of the Tribunal was challenged by the petitioners before the High Court.
The bench in a 15-page judgement pronounced today while taking note of Supreme Court directives held that it is for the employer to determine and decide the relevance and suitability of the qualifications for any post, not for the courts to consider and assess.
“Thus, the Court cannot expand the scope of qualification prescribed in the advertisement notice by reading into the same a higher qualification,” the bench said.
The court recorded in the instant case that the advertisement notices clearly provide that the prescribed qualification is Diploma in the relevant field.
“The expression “above” is missing over here, leaving no scope for inclusion of higher professional qualification,” the court noted.
The court recorded that the advertisement notices were issued on the basis of the requisition made by the indenting department, which is the Health and Medical Education Department, and the prescribed qualification was governed by the Government Order issued in this regard, as there were no recruitment rules framed for the advertised posts.
The court also noted that in the instant case neither there was any specific rule which made the degree holders eligible nor was there any clarification issued by the government in this regard.
Further, the court recorded that there was no such material on record from which it could be inferred that degree holders were eligible for the advertised posts.
“For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any error or illegality in the impugned judgment passed by the Tribunal,” the HC said.
The court noted that the judgment of the Tribunal was well reasoned and lucid. “The same does not call for any interference. The writ petition lacks merit and the same is, accordingly, dismissed,” the court said and directed

NUSRAT SIDIQ