Delhi High Court
Gautam Kumar And Anr. vs Oil And Natural Gas Coporation ... on 18 November, 2013
Author: Valmiki J. Mehta
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) No.1600/2013
% 18th November, 2013
GAUTAM KUMAR AND ANR. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Arjun Natrajan, Advocate.
Versus
OIL AND NATURAL GAS COPORATION LTD. AND ANR.
...Respondents
Through: Mr. V.N. Kaura, Advocate for
respondent No.1.
Mr. A.K. Dubey, Advocate for
respondent No.2.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VALMIKI J.MEHTA
To be referred to the Reporter or not?
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J (ORAL)
1. By this writ petition, the petitioners, who were having Post
Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and were aspirants to the
posts of Graduate Trainees (Finance & Accounts) in terms of
advertisement no.3 of 2012(R&P) issued for the recruitment for the year
2012 by the respondent no.1, seek the relief of being considered for
appointment. The limited issue before this Court is whether having a Post
Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) is a qualification which is
W.P.(C) No.1600/2013 Page 1 of 5
acceptable as per the subject advertisement for being appointed as a
Graduate Trainee (Finance & Accounts).
2. Let me therefore at this stage reproduce the relevant portion
of the advertisement with regard to appointment of Graduate Trainees
(Finance & Accounts) and the same reads as under:-
A. DETAILS OF DISCIPLINES AND MINIMUM ESSENTIAL
QUALIFICATIONS
Sl. Discipline Posts Minimum Essential
No. Gen OBC SC ST PWD Total Qualification
(Refer point B
also)
- -
16. Finance & 23 10 - 1 * 34 Graduate Degree
Accounts (HH) with ICWA/CA or
MBA with
specialization in
Finance with
minimum 60%
marks
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
(a) The courses offered by Institutions/Universities through the regular mode
should be approved/recognized by Association of Indian Universities
(AIU)/UGC/AICTE. And in case of distance education courses the same should be
recognized by the joint committee of DEC, UGC and AICTE.
"xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
3. A reading of the aforesaid requirement shows that the
requirement which is stated to be a valid qualification as per the respondent
No.1/employer is a degree in ICWA/CA or MBA. Therefore, it is only a
degree which is required as a qualification for appointment and not a
diploma. It cannot be, and it was not disputed on behalf of the petitioners,
W.P.(C) No.1600/2013 Page 2 of 5
that it is the employer which decides what are the qualifications which are
required for appointment to the post and the Courts cannot substitute their
views for that of appointing authority to decide what should be the
qualifications for appointments unless of course there is ex facie violation
of Article 14 or any gross arbitrariness apparent on the face. Since the
requirement is only of an MBA and not PGDM, I cannot hold that PGDM
should be treated equivalent to MBA.
4. On behalf of the petitioners, reliance placed upon the general
instructions of the advertisement reproduced above of recognition by the
Association of Indian Universities cannot help the petitioners because
recognition also will have to be by the Association of Indian Universities
with respect to MBA degree and not of PGDM. Therefore, no benefit can
be derived by the petitioners of the portion of the general instructions of
the advertisement which is relied upon.
5. On behalf of the petitioners, in the rejoinder affidavit names
of four persons were given who were appointed in the years 2002, 2009
and 2010 to the posts of Graduate Trainees (Finance & Accounts) and it is
contended therefore that PGDM is being accepted by the respondent no.1
for appointment to the post of Graduate Trainees (Finance & Accounts).
Since this was an issue of substance I had called additional pleadings, and
W.P.(C) No.1600/2013 Page 3 of 5
the additional pleadings filed by the respondent no.1 show that at no point
of time PGDM has been accepted as equivalent to MBA for recruitment for
the posts of Graduate Trainees (Finance and Accounts) and the four
persons whose names are given in the rejoinder affidavit of the petitioners
were wrongly recruited by an honest mistake. It is stated that now
necessary action in accordance with law will be taken against the four
persons as stated by the petitioners who were appointed although they did
not have MBA Degrees but only had PGDM qualification. It is also
argued on behalf of respondent no.1 that a bonafide mistake which took
place with respect to some persons, though PGDM is generally not taken
as a valid qualification for appointment to the posts of Graduate Trainees
(Finance & Accounts), cannot give any legal right to the petitioners. I am
inclined to agree with this argument of respondent no.1 inasmuch as
PGDM has not been accepted by the respondent no.1 generally for
appointment to the post of Graduate Trainees (Finance & Accounts) and
mistakes committed by some officers cannot give any legal right to the
petitioners, more so because respondent no.1 states that not only the four
persons as stated by the petitioners have been appointed by mistake but
now a computer system has been created whereby PGDM qualification is
treated as a disqualification and not equivalent to an MBA degree for being
W.P.(C) No.1600/2013 Page 4 of 5
appointed as Graduate Trainees (Finance & Accounts) with the respondent
no.1.
6. In view of the above, I am not inclined to agree that the
PGDM should be taken equivalent to MBA for appointment as Graduate
Trainees (Finance & Accounts) of the respondent no.1. As already stated
above, it is the respondent no.1 which is fully entitled to decide its
requirements and qualifications for appointments to be made to a particular
post.
7. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed with the
observations that in accordance with law respondent no.1 shall take action
against the four persons who have been wrongly appointed taking on
record the fact that the respondent no.1 states that appointments of four
persons is on account of mistake, and the same is not a deliberate action to
give entitlement to PGDMs. Parties are left to bear their own costs.
NOVEMBER 18, 2013 VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J.
Ne
