NASRULLAH KHAN vs SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, HEADQUARTERS, IRRIGATION
This petition for special leave to appeal arises from an order of the Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore, which dismissed the petitioner's appeal challenging the termination of his services as a draftsman in the Irrigation and Power Department, Punjab. The core legal question was whether the petitioner possessed the requisite qualifications for initial recruitment as a draftsman under Rule 7 of the West Pakistan Irrigation Department Draftsmen's Service Rules, 1962, having obtained a certificate from the Government School of Engineering and Polytechnic Institute, Rasul, rather than passing the formal Draftsmen's Examination mandated by the rules. The Supreme Court held that the Punjab Service Tribunal's decision was unexceptionable as the petitioner's certificate merely indicated completion of a course rather than passing the required examination, and his provisional appointment was subject to government approval which was validly withheld due to lack of qualifications. The key principle laid down is that provisional appointments made subject to statutory qualification approvals are lawfully terminable if the candidate fails to meet the strict prescriptive criteria laid down in the governing service rules.
- Whether a candidate holding a course completion certificate rather than passing the prescribed draftsmen's examination fulfills the qualification requirements under the West Pakistan Irrigation Department Draftsmen's Service Rules, 1962?
- Does a provisional appointment made subject to government approval of qualifications create an enforceable right to the post when approval is withheld?
- Can the Supreme Court interfere with a Service Tribunal's finding regarding the interpretation of service qualification rules when the candidate lacks the mandated credentials?
- Rule 7, West Pakistan Irrigation Department Draftsmen's Service Rules 1962
ORDER
1. S. A. NUSRAT, J.-This petition for special leave is from the order of the Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore, dated 3-11-1982.
2. The petitioner, who had secured a certificate for the session 1967-68 from the Government School of Engineering and Polytechnic Institute, Rasool, was appointed to the post of draftsman in Sargodha region of Irrigation Department in N.P.S.-11 on 21-5-1980. Thereafter, certain posts of draftsmen became available in the office of Director, Floods, Punjab, Lahore and the petitioner sought transfer to one of the posts through proper channel. This was not done and meanwhile the said two posts were advertised by the respondent No. 2 for initial appointment. The petitioner, therefore, applied for his appointment against one of the said posts through the Chief Engineer Sargodha and his application was forwarded by the Chief Engineer, on 20-6-1981. The Chief Engineer, Floods, respondent No. 2 thereupon made a reference to the Secretary, Board of Technical Education enquiring about the value of the certificate issued to the petitioner by the Government School of Engineering and Polytechnic. The Secretary of the Board in his reply to the said letter, dated 22-10-1981 informed the respondent No. 2 that the Board had no charter to determine the suitability of any qualification for a particular candidate for a job and it was, therefore, for the appointing authorities to take decision at their own level. The letter further' stated "that the Rasul certificate in civil draftsmanship of 850 hours of Session of 1966-67 contained sufficient material to enable the holder of the Certificate to work as Draftsman in the Government or Private Organization". The petitioner was selected for appointment as draftsman provisionally in the Hyderology Directorate of the Irrigation and Power Department, Punjab, Lahore and such intimation was conveyed to him, on 27-10-1981.
3. The petitioner filed an appeal to challenge the said order and his resultant termination of his services before the Service Tribunal, Punjab, which was dismissed as per impugned judgment.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner had the requisite qualification as provided in rule 7 of the West Pakistan, Irrigation Department Draftsmen's Service Rules, 1962, and. As such the order terminating his service on the ground of lack of qualification was illegal and the said rule was not properly considered by the learned Tribunal. The relevant rule reads as under: "7. Qualifications.-(I) No person shall be appointed to a post in the service by initial recruitment unless he has passed the Matriculation Examination from a recognised University or Board and has passed the Draftsmen's Examination or Overseers Examination from Government Engineering School, Rasul or holds a diploma Engineering from a recognised Institute.
(2) .
5. The above rule requires passing of draftsmen's examination from Govern--ment Engineering School, Rasul. The certificate issued to the petitioner clearly indicates that he had just completed a course of civil draftsmanship. The said certificate was issued by the school itself and not by the Punjab Board of Technical Education. Lahore. Even in the letter issued by the Secretary, Punjab, Technical Education, Lahore, dated 22-10-1981 which was strongly relied upon by the learned counsel for the petitioner, it was not stated that the petitioner had passed any examination. On the contrary it was stated that the certificate issued to him by the Engineering school Rasul for the session 1966-67 just provided sufficient material to work us draftsman. It may be mentioned here that the certificate issued to the petitioner was for session 1967-68 and not for the session 1966-67 as mentioned in the letter of the Board.
6. The letter proposing the appointment of the petitioner itself was subject to the approval of the Government with regard to the qualification possessed by the petitioner and admittedly the Government, as mentioned above, had declined to accord approval to the appointment of the petitioner as he was not found to fulfil necessary qualification. The offer of appointment of the petitioner was also provisional and contained sufficient warning e that his services were liable to be terminated with no claim to the post.
7. For the reasons mentioned above, the order passed by the learned Service Tribunal is unexceptionable and no case has been made out for grant of leave to appeal. The petition, therefore, fails and is dismissed accordingly.
8. M. Z. M.