The Patna High Court, while dismissing a petition filed to challenge Rules 5(1) and 5(4) of the Bihar Gram Kachhari Secretary (Employment, Service Conditions, and Duties) Rules, 2014, held that the fact that the petitioners were matriculates and were earlier appointed in the post of Secretaries as per the then-existing rules, cannot be a ground to challenge the present rules, which require a higher qualification for appointment to the very same post.
Brief Facts:
The petitioners, who were earlier engaged on a contract basis in the post of Gram Kachhari Secretary, as per the Bihar Gram Kachhari Secretary (Employment, Service Terms and Conditions and Duties), Rules, 2007, challenge Rules 5(1) and 5(4) of the Bihar Gram Kachhari Secretary (Employment, Service Conditions and Duties) Rules, 2014. The petitioners had approached this Court with a similar prayer, which was disposed of, and the petitioners, finding the Court disinclined to consider their prayers, had submitted that they would be challenging the provisions of the Rules of 2014.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submitted that since they continued on contract employment for a long time, they should be adjusted to other vacant posts in the Gram Panchayats.
Observations of the Court:
The Court noted that all the petitioners were automatically sent out of their contractual employment when the Panchayats in which they were working were upgraded as Nagar Panchayat. No challenge was made at the time of such disengagement. The claim of regularization or absorption in any event cannot be entertained and as of now, especially considering the fact that earlier such a prayer was made and not pressed, the petitioners are estopped from raising such contention. Further, the challenge to the 2014 Rules is primarily based on the revision of educational qualifications in the Rules of 2014 from that provided in the earlier Rules of 2007.
The Court observed that the fact that the petitioners were matriculates and were earlier appointed in the post of Secretaries as per the then-existing rules, cannot be a ground to challenge the present rules, which require a higher qualification for appointment to the very same post. The employer has to decide the qualifications with respect to the employees and in the present case, the State Government had thought it fit to upgrade the qualification of Secretaries to Intermediate pass. It cannot at all be said that the said provision is ultra vires, illegal, or arbitrary and there is no argument addressed as to how it can be so challenged. Illegality and arbitrariness cannot be alleged against the prescription of a higher qualification by the employer.
The decision of the Court:
The Patna High Court, dismissing the petition, held that there is no reason to entertain the writ petition.
Case Title: Kumari Sangeeta & Ors. v The State of Bihar & Ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Justice K. Vinod Charan and Hon’ble Justice Partha Sarthy
Case no.: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.10247 of 2024
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Dinu Kumar
Advocate for the Respondents: Mr. Standing Counsel (21)
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
