Himachal HC Orders Appointment of Petitioner as Drawing Master, Protects Existing Candidate’s Job
Shimla, Sept 16: In a significant ruling, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to appoint petitioner Anand Swarup as Drawing Master after finding that he was wrongly denied marks for his teaching experience.
Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that the Selection Committee erred in ignoring Swarup’s three-year teaching certificate from Government Senior Secondary School, Gumma, merely because he was appointed on a PTA basis without prior departmental approval.
The court held that the key factor was experience gained, not the mode of appointment.
“Had the Selection Committee considered his teaching experience, the petitioner would have scored 5.16 marks against the private respondent’s 3.75 and been selected,” the court noted.
However, the court also protected the services of the private respondent (already appointed and regularized eight years ago), stating she was not at fault and should not be ousted for mistakes made by the authorities.
The bench relied on earlier Supreme Court rulings to emphasize that innocent appointees should not suffer due to administrative lapses.
Accordingly, the High Court ordered that Swarup be appointed as Drawing Master but without disturbing the existing teacher’s post.
While Swarup will not get back wages since he never worked in the post, his seniority and continuity will be considered on a notional basis.
With this, the petition was allowed and disposed of.
