High Court of Bombay Considered Equivalence of B.Sc. (Agricultural Bio-Technology) Degree for Recruitment of Agricultural Field Officers. Petitions Filed Against Withdrawal of Appointments by Nationalized Banks on Grounds of Degree Not Listed in Advertisement.

High Court: Bombay High Court Bench: AURANGABAD
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Issue of Consideration

Whether the B.Sc. (Agricultural Bio-Technology) degree is equivalent to the prescribed qualifications for the post of Agricultural Field Officer, and whether the withdrawal of appointment letters was justified.

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Case Details

2016 LawText (BOM) (03) 16

Writ Petition No.8030 of 2015, Writ Petition No.8892 of 2015, Writ Petition No.8415 of 2015, Writ Petition No.8702 of 2015, Writ Petition No.8937 of 2015

2016-03-02

S.S. Shinde, P.R. Bora

Mr. S.S.Thombre, Mr. A.T. Jadhavar, Mr. S.B.Deshpande, Mr. S.V.Natu, Mr. P.K.Joshi, Mr. A.G.Talhar, Mr. D.G.Nagode, Mr. P.B.Paithankar, Mr. R.B.Bagul, Mr. S.V.Warad

Pallavi d/o. Sadashiv Bande, Sachin s/o. Santaram Thenge, Chandrakant s/o. Vasudeo Dhakane, Yogesh s/o. Omprakash Ghan, Sopan s/o. Ramchandra Devkar

Government of India, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection

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Nature of Litigation

Writ petitions challenging the withdrawal of appointment letters for the post of Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I) in various nationalized banks, and seeking directions to consider the petitioners' B.Sc. (Agricultural Bio-Technology) degree as equivalent to the qualifications specified in the recruitment advertisement.

Remedy Sought

Petitioners sought quashing of the withdrawal letters and directions to the respondent banks to treat their B.Sc. (Agricultural Bio-Technology) degree as equivalent to the advertised qualifications, allow them to complete training, and grant them appointment orders.

Filing Reason

After the petitioners were selected, interviewed, and issued offer letters, they reported for induction training, but later the respondent banks revoked their appointments on the ground that their degree was not listed in the advertisement.

Issues

Whether the B.Sc. (Agricultural Bio-Technology) degree possessed by the petitioners is equivalent to the qualifications prescribed in the recruitment advertisement for Agricultural Field Officer (Scale-I) in nationalized banks. Whether the withdrawal of the appointment letters, after the petitioners had been selected and had commenced training, was arbitrary and illegal.

Submissions/Arguments

The petitioners' counsel argued that a Government Resolution dated 7 September 2011 and a letter from the Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Education and Research dated 8 July 2014 state that B.Sc. (Agriculture Bio-Technology) and other degrees are equivalent to B.Sc. (Agriculture) and other similar degrees. The counsel also relied on a letter from the Chancellor of Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University requesting the government to direct nationalized banks to consider these degrees as equivalent. The petitioners contended that they were found eligible at all stages of the selection process, their original documents were verified, and they had already commenced training, thus the belated withdrawal was unjustified.

Judgment Excerpts

All these Writ Petitions raise similar issues and having almost similar facts claiming similar reliefs are being heard and disposed of by common Judgment. It is the case of the petitioners that, respondent no. 3 published an advertisement on 18.11.2013 for recruitment of the specialist Officers... On 27th May, 2015, the petitioner received e-mail ... letter dated 27th May, 2015, ... informing that, letter of appointment issued in favour of petitioner is withdrawn, on the ground that, qualification / degree possessed by the petitioner does not find mentioned in the advertisement... The learned counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that, as per the Government Resolution dated 7th September, 2011, issued by the State Government, thereby holding that, B.Sc. [Agriculture Biotechnology]... are equivalent to B.Sc. [Agri] / B.Tech. [Agriculture Engineering]...

Procedural History

Writ petitions were filed before the High Court directly, reserved on 17 February 2016, and judgment pronounced on 2 March 2016.

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