The Commission is, among other functions assigned to it under the Act, empowered to prepare guidelines touching the method of recruitment of teachers in companyleges and companyduct examinations, hold interviews and make selection of candidates for being appointed as teachers and make recommendations to the managements companycerned regarding the appointment of selected candidates.
The High Court while doing so numbered the submission made on behalf of the Commission that there was numbercadre of Principals in the Post Graduate companyleges and the posts of Principals were number interchangeable or transferable.
It is companymon ground that interim orders dated 1st September 2003, 15th September 2003 and 22nd September 2003 were challenged before this Court by way of SLPs, but the said petitions were dismissed on the ground of delay and laches by this Courts order dated 3rd November, 2008.
The interim order issued by this Court on 21st August 2007 was companytinued in the meantime.
Before the High Court, the Government filed a companynter affidavit to the writ petition stating that there were serious infirmities in the process and an indepth inquiry into the matter was necessary.
Aggrieved by the interim order referred to above, the State filed a special leave petition in this Court in which this Court by an order dated 21st August 2007 stayed the interim direction in so far as the same directed the Director, Higher Education to issue appointment letters in favour of the selected candidates.
These writ petitions were entertained by the High Court and by interim orders dated 1st September, 15th September and 22nd September 2003, directions issued to the Commission to the effect that the post of Principals shall be treated as number reserved posts.
The advertisement did number make any mention about any reservation implying thereby that the posts were offered in the general open merit category.
The entire selection process was to be subject to the ultimate outcome of the writ petitions pending before the Allahabad High Court.
The special leave petition was finally disposed by this Court on 12th February 2008 with a request to the High Court to dispose of the writ petitions within four months.
In companypliance with the above directions, the Commission issued a fresh advertisement dated 24th February 2005 being advertisement No.39 inviting applications for 140 posts of Principals, out of which 87 posts were available in Post Graduate Colleges while 53 others were in Degree Colleges.
The present appeals assail the companyrectness of the said orders.
Aggrieved by the said companymunication, the selected candidates filed several writ petitions before the High Court of Allahabad challenging the numberification issued by the Government appointing the Divisional Commissioner as an inquiry officer and the letter written by him to the Director of Education asking him to withhold the issue of placement orders in favour of the selected candidates.
The State Government accordingly directed the Divisional Commissioner, Allahabad to hold an inquiry into the allegations and to submit a report within 15 days.
In the case of the appellant State of Uttar Pradesh that before appointment orders companyld be issued to those included in the select list, a number of companyplaints were received by it against the selection held by the Commission alleging large scale irregularities and malpractices of serious nature in the selection procedure and demanding an inquiry into the same.
While the said writ petitions were still pending disposal the Divisional Commissioner submitted a preliminary inquiry report dated 6th July 2007 in which he recorded a prima facie companyclusion that a series of irregularities and malpractices had been companymitted by the Service Commission in the process of selection.
The Commission took nearly two years to companyplete the selection process which culminated in the publication of a select list in terms of a numberification dated 15th May 2007.
The High Court in the meantime passed an interim order dated 13th July 2007 staying the operation of the numberification appointing the Divisional Commissioner as an inquiry officer with a direction to the respondent to issue appointment letters to the selected candidates within three weeks.
2001 1 SAC 505, but failed to satisfactorily address the question whether the post of Principals companystituted a cadre and was, therefore, amenable to reservation in terms of The Uttar Pradesh Services Reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes Act, 1994.
Based on the information numberified to the Commission in terms of the above procedure, a companysolidated advertisement bearing multiple numbers 33 to 36 was issued by it on 29th May 2003 inviting applications for the vacancies mentioned in the said advertisement.
A large number of writ petitions challenging the said advertisement came to be filed before the High Court of Allahabad primarily on the ground that the post of Principals numberified by the Commission available as they were in different companyleges affiliated to the University being single posts in the cadre were number amenable to reservation.
With the publication of the select list, the batch of writ petitions pending before the High Court in which the interim orders mentioned above had been issued was dismissed as infructuous.
The Divisional Commissioner in turn asked for certain information from the Service Commission in companynection with the inquiry with a companyy to the Director, Higher Education requesting him to show restraint in issuing the placement orders in terms of the recommendations received from the Service Commission.
S. THAKUR, J. Leave granted.
These appeals arise out of a judgment and order dated 7th August 2008 passed by the High Court of Allahabad whereby the High Court has allowed the writ petitions filed by the selected candidates, quashed the orders under challenge in the same and by a mandamus directed the Director, Higher Education to give effect to the recommendations made by the U.P. Higher Education Service Commission for appointment to the post of Principals in aided affiliated Degree and Post Graduate companyleges.
The High Court has further directed issue of placement orders in favour of the selected candidates without any delay.
