Chandigarh The Punjab and Haryana high court has held that the experience gained by a candidate from service in some other state can’t be discounted while recruitment in the same category.

The bench of justice Aman Chaudhary directed the Punjab government to consider appointment of one Jyoti Bala, who was one of the candidates for the 375 posts of centre head teacher advertised in 2019. She had cleared the written examination and was at serial number 151, but appointment was denied even after being eligible as per other conditions in the advertisement, with the remarks “experience from Haryana as a guest teacher.”

In September 2020, she had appealed in the high court against the government decision.

Her counsel BS Bajwa had argued that the Punjab State Elementary Education (teaching cadre) Group C Service Rules, 2018, do not state that experience should be only from a school in Punjab.

The state’s counsel had argued that a decision was taken by the competent authority in 2019 that the teaching experience acquired from another state is not to be considered and further clarified that candidates who have worked as a ‘guest teacher’ were not eligible for recruitment.

The court observed that there can be no restrictive interpretation by the state. It also found that eligibility conditions were same in Haryana and Punjab.

“..the cancellation of the candidature of the petitioner on the premise of, she having worked in a government school, beyond the territorial boundaries of the respondent-state, is hereby declared to be perverse and illegal,” the court observed.

Regarding the ineligibility of a guest faculty, the bench observed that the term is a misnomer as employees working in a stopgap arrangement, be it as part time, contractual, guest etc, are all in effect ‘ad hoc’. “The aspect to be seen is the sphere of their duties, responsibilities and the quantum of work in terms of classes taken and subjects taught,” the bench said.

The court termed the state’s decision “palpably arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the constitution” and directed that Bala be appointed, subject to her merit position.