Ranjna Janagal vs State Of Rajasthan
2021 Latest Caselaw 19259 Raj

                                                  (1 of 7)                     [CW-17751/2021]


         HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
                          JODHPUR
                    D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17751/2021

    Ranjna Janagal D/o Shravan Kumar Janagal, Aged About 26
    Years,    R/o      Near     Ramdev         Temple,        Badi        Jassolai,   Bikaner,
    (Rajasthan).
                                                                               ----Petitioner
                                             Versus
    1.       State Of Rajasthan, Through The Secretary Department
             Of Medical And Health, Govt. Of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
    2.       The Registrar, Rajasthan University Of Health Science,
             Jaipur.
    3.       The Secretary Medical Council Of India, Pocket-14,
             Sector-08, Dwarka Phase-1, New Delhi.
    4.       The Chairman National Medical Commission, Pocket-14,
             Sector-08, Dwarka Phase-1, New Delhi.
    5.       The Principal, Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner
             (Raj.).
                                                                            ----Respondents


   For Petitioner(s)               :     Mr. Bharat Devasi
   For Respondent(s)               :


                HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MEHTA
             HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SAMEER JAIN
                       Judgment
   17/12/2021
Reportable

   BY THE COURT: per Hon'ble Jain J.:

1. By way of present writ petition, the petitioner has claimed

the following reliefs:

"1. By an appropriate writ, order or directions, the respondents authorities may kindly be directed to consider the candidature of the petitioner for the post of Senior Demonstrator by including the M.Sc.(Med.) for subject Anatomy as requisite qualification in eligibility criteria in pursuance of notice dated 10.12.2021 and may also be provided appointment on above said post, in case petitioner will be stood in merit.

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2. That by an appropriate writ, order or directions, the norms 5 of the General remarks A of Schedule-II of regulations,2020 may kindly be declared ultra-vires to the extent of condition by keeping the "appointments are subject to non- availability of the medical teachers" and also may kindly be struck down.

3. That alternatively, respondent authorities may kindly directed to apply the norms 5 of the general remarks for regulations 2020 by which they reduced the quota of appointment of non- medical teachers from 30% to 15% subject to non-availability of medical teachers in respective department of Medical colleges.

4. Any appropriate writ, order or direction, which this Hon'ble Court considers just and proper in the facts and circumstances of this case, may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner.

5. Costs of the writ petition may kindly be awarded to the petitioner."

Facts of the case:

2. The petitioner is having qualification of M.Sc. (Medical) in the

subject of Anatomy and is also having adequate experience

thereof. She has got the said qualification of M.Sc. (Medical)

as Non-Medical category from RUHS, Jaipur.

3. The cause of controversy in the matter arose when the

respondent No.5-Principal, Sardar Patel Medical College,

Bikaner issued a notice dated 10.12.2021 whereby

applications for selection/appointment on the basis of

interview to be conducted on 17.12.2021 for the post of

Assistant Professor and Senior Demonstrator on urgent

temporary basis, were invited.

4. The petitioner claiming to be eligible for appointment on the

post of Senior Demonstrator, got a set back on the analysis

of the notice, wherein the advertised post restricted the

qualification to the extent of MBBS/MD/MSD/M.Ch. and

excluded M.Sc. (Medical) from non-medical category.

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5. It is contended that the Medical Council of India, as per the

Regulations of 1998 prescribed the minimum qualification for

teachers in medical institutions like that of respondent no.5

for the post of Senior Demonstrator to be

MBBS/MD/MSD/M.Ch and M.Sc. (Medical) from non-medical

category.

6. It is the case of the petitioner that in spite of Medical Council

of India recognizing her qualification for the post of Senior

Demonstrator, still the respondent No.5 has unjustifiedly and

arbitrarily ousted her vide notice dated 10.12.2021.

7. The petitioner has also challenged the Minimum Requirement

for Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations, 2020 issued under

notification dated 28.10.2020 whereby they have reduced

the quota of non-medical teachers from 30% to 15% of total

number of posts in the department subject to non-availability

of medical teachers. In this background, the petitioner is also

aggrieved by the action of respondent-authority whereby it

has curtailed the equal opportunities of employment for

petitioner and like candidates, who are having the

qualification of M.Sc. (Medical) in non-medical category and

as a result, it is claimed that their fundamental rights

enshrined under Constitution of India in Part-III namely

Article 14 and 16 are violated giving rise to the present writ

petition.

8. In the above background, the petitioner's counsel has

reiterated the submissions and has claimed for eligibility of

the petitioner in the subject recruitment process.

(4 of 7) [CW-17751/2021]

9. We have gone through the record of the petition and have

carefully considered the arguments putforth by the

petitioner's counsel.

10. On perusal of advertisement dated 10.12.2021 it is an

admitted position that candidates of non-medical category

have been ousted being not eligible for the required post of

Senior Demonstrators. It is also true that vide notification

dated 28.10.2020 issued under Section 57 of the Nation

Medical Commission Act, 2019 as per Schedule-II (A)

following is specified:

"NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 28th October, 2020 Schedule-II- STAFF REQUIREMENTS

A. GENERAL REMARKS:

1. Emphasis in medical education being on practical instruction and demonstration in small groups, the number of teachers must be as per provisions of this Schedule adequate to enable such instruction to be imparted effectively.

2. The teaching staff of all departments of medical college, shall be full-time.

3. These regulations cover the minimum requirements of under graduate medical education as per the annual MBBS student intake and the minimum patient load indicated n these regulations. However, the medical colleges/institutions and teaching hospital(s) need to make provision for additional staff as indicated below.

a) Additional teaching staff shall be provided proportionate to the workload.

b) Non-teaching staff shall be required in OPD, Indoors, Operation theatres and Intensive Care areas, emergency care area, labour room, clinical laboratories, or for outreach work where work load is heavy or is of a specialized nature.

c) Additional teaching staff shall be required when starting postgraduate courses in accordance with "Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000.

4. To ensure the exposure of undergraduate students to experienced teachers, it is essential to provide

(5 of 7) [CW-17751/2021]

adequate number of higher posts (Professors/Associate Professors) in every teaching department.

5. In department of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, non-medial teachers may be appointed to the extent of 15% of the total number of posts in the department subject to non-availability of medical teachers. The above mentioned non-medical teachers and the Statistician in the department of Community Medicine should possess qualification in that particular subject from a recognized university as per requirements in Teacher Eligibility Qualification Regulations."

11. On perusal of the said statutory notification emphasis is

drawn on clause (3), i.e., preamble, which specifies

intention and object of notification dated 28.10.2020 issued

by National Medical Commission, which is reproduced below:

"3. Preamble There is necessity to re-cast medical education and training to enable the Medical Graduate to be able to effectively discharge their role as a physician in this changing world. The new demands on medical education also necessitate redefining the standards. There is a need to define standards based on functional requirements, rather than in absolute terms. Quality should be the bench mark of the new standard. Optimization and flexibility in utilizing the available resources, and harnessing modern educational technology tools would facilitate in moving towards quality education even when resources are relatively scarce. The current regulations on minimum standards for undergraduate medical training institutions in India attempts to define the new standards in terms of the new paradigm."

12. After consideration of notification dated 28.10.2020 and

object intended through preamble and the same being

applicable and binding on all the medical colleges from the

Academic Session 2021-22 onwards it is crystallized that the

object for issuance of the said notification was to recast

medical education and training to enable the medical

(6 of 7) [CW-17751/2021]

graduate to be effectively discharging their role as physician

in the changing world, to define the new standards in terms

of new paradigm and it was emphasized that the quality in

terms of medical world should be the bench mark of the new

standard to cope up with modern educational technology

tools.

13. As per Schedule-II, sub-clause (5) of Clause (A) (supra) it is

also intended and aimed that medical education be on

practical instruction and administrated in small groups, the

teachers must have requisite skills, expertise and

specialization. Only in the cases where medical teachers

with MBBS/MD/MSD/M.Ch. qualifcation are not

available then only the selection of non-medical

teachers could be resorted to in the department of

Anatomy, Physiology for the appointment and that too, to

the extent of 15% from non-medical category candidates

against vacant posts,which was earlier 30%. The use of

word "may", "non-available of medical teachers" in the

notification makes clear the intention behind the said

amendment and restriction.

14. The contention of the petitioner that ousting the degree of

non-medical M.Sc. Vis-a-vis MBBS/MD/MSD/M.Ch. by way of

the questioned advertisement and restricting appointment to

the extent of 15% by way of notification dated 28.10.2020

amounts to a hostile discrimination and is violative of her

fundamental rights enshrined under Article 14 and 16 of the

Constitution of India.

15. On consideration of the said notification, a specific object is

reiterated in the preamble and the intention for issuance of

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notification is very clear that National Medical Commission

aims to impart quality education with higher standards and

to recast medical education and training to cope up with new

developments in the said field.

16. It is also true that MBBS/MD/MSD/M.Ch. are inculcate

degrees having exhaustive curriculum and significant in

comparison to M.Sc. Non-Medical degree possessed by the

petitioner and there is clear "intelligible differentia" in the

impugned action.

17. In the light of said discussion, when tested on rationality,

reasonableness , case of distinct classification is made out by

the respondents, with the given object, we are of the view

that the present writ petition does not call for any

interference because it is open for the appointing authority

to lay down and pre-requisite just, logical and rational

qualifications and eligibility required to achieve the given

object at their end qua the aspiring candidates. It is settled

time and again that the right of employment is not an

absolute right and is subject to just exceptions, which is also

recognized by Article 14 and 16 as held in (1993) 2 SCC 340

(Murgan P.Vs. State of Tamilnadu).

18. In the light of the above discussions, the writ petition is

dismissed.

19. The stay application also stands disposed of accordingly.

                                    (SAMEER JAIN),J                                       (SANDEEP MEHTA),J



                                    74-CPGoyal/-









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