Allahabad High Court
Shiva Ji Patel vs Union Of India And 2 Others on 21 December, 2022
Bench: Pankaj Bhatia
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 34
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 16387 of 2022
Petitioner :- Shiva Ji Patel
Respondent :- Union Of India And 2 Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Vinay Kumar
Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.,Dhurva Kant Chaturvedi
Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J.
Heard the counsel for the petitioner and Sri Dhurva Kant Chaturvedi the counsel for the respondents.
The present petition has been filed by the petitioner stating that the petitioner has applied for consideration in terms of the advertisement no.3/2018 advertised by the respondent no.1 for recruitment to the post of Junior Engineer.
It is stated that in terms of the advertisement, the eligibility condition required that the candidate should possess three years' diploma in engineering or bachelors degree in engineering/technology in the following seats as mentioned at serial no.1. It is stated that the petitioner appeared in terms of the said advertisement and qualified the same, however, at the time of document verification, the petitioner was non suited on the ground that the petitioner possessed the degree in 'Marine Engineering' which was not specified in terms of the advertisement.
The contention of the counsel for the petitioner is that the degree in Marine Engineering would be equivalent to the degree in the stream of engineering mentioned at serial no.1 of the advertisement in view of the certificate issued by the Institute of Marine Engineering by the Indian Maritime University, wherein it was observed in the following effect :
"3. It is brought out that most of the core basic and advanced subjects related to Mechanical Engineering like Strength of Materials, Engineering Mechanics, Thermodynamics, IC Engines, Workshop Technology, Machine Drawing, Fluid Mechanics, Material Science, Electrical, Electronics, etc are included in both theory and practical curriculum of B.Tech(Marine Engineering) of our University, which makes them efficient in dealing with Engineering and Technical Operations.
4. In view of the foregoing it is recommended to consider our B.Tech(Marine Engineering) graduates on par with Mechanical Engineering graduates.
5. This is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority."
In the light of the said, he argues that the respondents ought to have considered the degree in Marine Engineering to be equivalent to the degrees in the streams as specified in serial no.1 of the advertisement. He further places reliance on the communication addressed to the Chairman, Board of Railways by the Indian Maritime University, Kolkata stating that the degree in Marine Engineering provided by the Indian Maritime University is on par with the B.Tech. (Maniacal Engineering Course).
In the light of the said two documents, the counsel for the petitioner argues that the respondents erred in non suiting the petitioner only on the ground that the petitioner possessed the degree in Marine Engineering.
The respondents, on the basis of the instructions, which are taken on record argues that a clarification was issued by the AICTE wherein the degree in Marine Engineering was held to be a distinct branch of Engineering. It is further brought on record that there is no order passed by the employer i.e. the respondent to the effect of giving equivalence to the degree in Marine Engineering with that of degree in Mechanical Engineering.
The said issue came up for consideration before a Full Bench of this Court in the Case of Deepak Singh vs. State of U.P. and others in Writ A No.24273 of 2018 decided on 23.07.2019 wherein it was held that, it is the employer who is the most suitable equipped to provide for the qualification and unless there is a specific equivalence granted to a particular course, the employer cannot be forced to accept anything as equivalent to the requirements as specified by the employer.
The present case is squarely covered by the said judgment, as such, no relief, as prayed by the petitioner, can be granted.
The writ petition lacks merit and is dismissed.
Order Date :- 21.12.2022
VNP/-
