Registrar's signature not must if certificate is valid: High Court
Patna: The Patna high court has ruled that a qualified aspirant for the post of university teacher in Bihar cannot be rejected outright merely because his experience certificate, though issued by an authorised signatory, does not bear the signature of the registrar as stipulated in the recruitment advertisement.
A single bench of Justice Harish Kumar delivered the judgment on Dec 15 while allowing a writ petition filed by Kumar Brajesh. A copy of the order came into the public domain on Wednesday evening.
The matter relates to appointments to the post of assistant professor (physics) in state universities. The petitioner, despite possessing the requisite teaching experience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, was denied appointment solely on the ground that his experience certificate carried the signature of the joint registrar (research and development) instead of the registrar, as required under the advertisement issued by the Bihar state university services commission.
Senior advocate Anand Kumar Ojha, appearing for Brajesh, submitted that the commission’s decision to reject his client’s candidature was taken without proper application of mind. He argued that the commission failed to appreciate that IITs, being statutory bodies created under the IIT Act, have their own hierarchical administrative structure with authorised officers, which is distinct from that of conventional universities typically administered through registrars.
Finding merit in the submission, Justice Harish Kumar observed that “reasoning is the essence of rule of law” and directed the commission to consider the appointment of Brajesh against existing vacancies in his category.
A single bench of Justice Harish Kumar delivered the judgment on Dec 15 while allowing a writ petition filed by Kumar Brajesh. A copy of the order came into the public domain on Wednesday evening.
The matter relates to appointments to the post of assistant professor (physics) in state universities. The petitioner, despite possessing the requisite teaching experience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, was denied appointment solely on the ground that his experience certificate carried the signature of the joint registrar (research and development) instead of the registrar, as required under the advertisement issued by the Bihar state university services commission.
Senior advocate Anand Kumar Ojha, appearing for Brajesh, submitted that the commission’s decision to reject his client’s candidature was taken without proper application of mind. He argued that the commission failed to appreciate that IITs, being statutory bodies created under the IIT Act, have their own hierarchical administrative structure with authorised officers, which is distinct from that of conventional universities typically administered through registrars.
Finding merit in the submission, Justice Harish Kumar observed that “reasoning is the essence of rule of law” and directed the commission to consider the appointment of Brajesh against existing vacancies in his category.
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