LexCHAIRMAN, SCHOOL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY, LEH versus MAKHAN LAL MATTO AND ANR.
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CHAIRMAN, SCHOOL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY, LEH
A
v.
MAKHAN LAL MATTO AND ANR.
\
JULY 25, 1990
[KULDIP SINGH AND N.M. KASLIWAL, JJ.]
B
School of Budhist Philosophy-Appointment of Principle-
Board of Management whether competent to alter or amend the rules
·r-
governing appointments.
Appointments to various posts in School of Budhist Philosophy, c
Leh, were governed by the Rules framed by the Board of management in
the year 1973. According_ to the said rules, the qualifications pres-
cribed for the post of Principal as also for the Administrative Officer
were identical. In March 1973, one M.L. Mattoo, Respondent No. I,
....__
who at that time was working as the Administrative Officer of the
School was given the additional charge of the post of Principal. There-
D
after the Board of management at its meeting held on 22.8.1978,
decided that qualifications prescribed for the post of Principal should
be revised, so as to make it obligatory for the Principal to have a
thorough academic knowledge of Buddhist Philosophy-the primary
object of the institution being research and propagation of Budhist
philosophy. A selection committee was constituted by the Board of
E
,-__,d,
management to appoint a suitable person as Principal of the school and
one Tashi Paljor, was appointed as Principal. Being aggrieved by the
said appointment, Respondent No. I, filed a writ petition in the High
Court contending that he was removed from the additional charge with-
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out affording him an opportunity of being heard and further that he
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was not considered by the selection committee. The High Court rejected
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the first contention but allowed the writ petition on the ground that he
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was not considered for the post of Principal and thus his right under
Article 16 was infringed. Thereupon the management advertised the
post of Principal to be filed by direct recruitment on the basis of the
revised qualifications. Respondent Mattoo challenged the· advertise-
ment by means of a writ petition on the ground that the revised qualifi-
G
cations were not validly prescribed and as such the post of Principal
could only be filled in on the basis of the pre-revised qualifications. He
based bis contention on the concession made by the counsel for the
management, when his earlier petition was heard, that the petitioner
_........_
possessed the requisite qualifications. According to him the rules have
not been amended. The High Court accepted the contention of Mattoo
H
r-
515
A
B
c
516
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
I 1990] 3 S.C.R.
and allowed the writ petition, quashed the impugned advertisement and
directed the management not to make appointment on the basis of the
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advertisement in question. Hence this appeal by the Board of management
of'the school.
Allowing the appeal, this Court,
HELD: The Board of management is fully competent to alter or
amend the rules in any manner and at any time. [521E]
The qualifications /experience for the post of Principal were
validly revised by amending the rules in August 1978. The advertise-
ment issued on January 5, 1982, was in accordance with the Rules and
the High Court was not justified in quashing the same. [522B]
Since respondent No. I does not possess the revised qualifications, >
he is not eligible to be considered for the said post. [52 IF]
·
D
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appe~I No. 3492
of 1990.
From the Judgment and Order dated 3.8.1988 of the Jammu &
Kashmir High Court in LP.A. No. llOof 1988.
E
N.S. Mathur, Ramesh C. Pathak, G. Venkatesh Rao and Baby
F
Lal for the Appellant.
E.C. Agarwala, Ms. Purnima Bhatt, V.K. Pandita and Atul
Sharma. for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
KULDIP SINGH, J. Special leave granted.
The School of Buddhist Philosophy, Leh (hereinafter called the
'School') is an affiliate institution of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit
G
University, Banaras. The management of the School is in the hands of
a society called Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh which is
registered under the Jammu and Kashmir Registration of Societies
Act. Appointments to various posts in the School are regulated by the
.>--
rules framed by the Board of management in the year 1973. The
academic and other qualifications for the post of Principal under the
H
rules, are as under:
SCHOOL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY v. M.L. MATTO {SINGH, J.I
517
"Academic Qualification
At least Master's Degree in Humanities or SExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.