JUTHIKA BHATTACHARYA versus STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS.

Citation: [1977] 1 S.C.R. 477 · Decided: 01-09-1976 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: Y.V. CHANDRACHUD · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

477 
JUTHIKA.BHA TTACHARYA 
v. 
STATE OF MADRY A PRADESH & ORS. 
September 1, 1976 
[Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, P. K. GOSWAMI AND A. C. GUPTA, JJ.J 
, 
lnterpretation-."s/1011/d" co11tained in a clause "should possess a post-graduate 
degree and requisite experience" whether nu11u/atory or director--"Post-graduate" 
-Meaning of. 
Paragraph 3(b), of a memorandum dated December 21, 1967 issued by the 
State Government provides that for absorption in the post of Principal of a 
Higher Secondary School, the person concerned "should" possess a post-graduate 
degree and should also possess the prescribed experience. 
An amendment intro-
duced by the memorandum dated December 6, 1972 •says that wherever the 
qua.!ification for a post is post-graduate, the person concerned will have to 
obtain this degree within three years o~ absorption. 
But this amendment wa~ 
made applicable only to persons who had been working in schools run by Jan-
pad Sabhas and Municipaf Committees and for all teachers of non-Government 
schools taken over by the Government 1967-orders applied. 
The appellant, who was a B.A.B.T., was the Head,Mistress of a Private 
school. When the administration of the school was taken over by the Govern· 
ment, she was .fixed in a lower time scale of pay because, under the rules, 
no person could l:>e appointed 
a~ Principal unless she held a post-graduate 
degree and possessed the requisite experience. 
The High Court dismissed her Writ Petition. In apepal to this Court it 
was contended that (i) her appointment in a lower post was illegal because she 
could have obtained the Post-graduate degree within the three years' time from 
the date of her absorption; (ii) the word 'should' used in the 1967-memorandum. 
showed tha~ the rule is directory in character; (iii) since she held B.A.B.T., she 
should be considered as having a posj-graduate qualification; 
(iv) she wa~ dis-
criminated against because in the ~chools run by Government from their incep-
tion, teachers who did not hold a Master's degree were appointed as Principals 
and (v) the qualifications of the teaching staff have to be the same as prescribed 
in the Regulations of the Board of Secondary Education. 
Dismissing the appeal, 
HELD: 
(1) In view of the express statement in the 1972-Memorandum 
that it would be applicable only to previous teachers of Janpad Sabhas and 
Municipalities, the n-ppellant could not claim the benefit of the particular faci-
lity. 
[479 E-FJ 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
(2) The word 'should occurring in paragraph 3(b) must be understood in a 
mandatory sense. The use of word "should" cannot justify the construction 
that for absorption in the post of a Principal of a Higher Secondary School the 
G 
incumbent may or may not possess the Post-Graduate Degree. 
In· a mcmora-ndum 
containing a set of rules prescribing the qualifications for various posts, it is 
meaningless to provide that the incumbent of a certain post. may or may not 
possess a certain qualifica,tion, if the possession of the particular qualification is 
considered to be a matter of no importance or consequence. 
Paragraph 3 (b) 
consists of a complex provision one part of which refers to the requirement of a: 
Post-Graduate Degree and the other to the need to possess a certain amount of 
experience. 
Both the clauses of a single sentence are governed by the verb 
H 
"should". If the requirement as to the possession of a Post-graduate Degree 
is to be directory in character, the same consideration must apply equally to 
the requirement of experience, with the result that Jior efigibility for the post 
of.a Principal, it would neither be necessa·rY to possess any particular educational 
qualification nor any particular experience of teaching. 
[480 C-E] 
A 
B 
c 
D 
478 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1977] 1 S.C.R. 
(3) By "Post-graduate Degree" is meant a Master's degree like the M.A. or 
M.Sc. and not a Bachelor's degree like B.T. Jn expressions like "post-nuptial", 
"post-operative" etc., "post" m~~ms ''.a.fter", _the emphasis being _on the happen-
ing of an event after a certaui. pomt of time. 
In the educational world the 
expression "post-graduat_e" has acquired a special significance. It is. _the holder 
of a Master"s Degree hke the M.Ed. or LL.M., who earns recogml10n as the 
holder of a. post-graduate degree. That is the sense in which the expression is 
used in the Memorandum. 
[480 G, 481 A] 
( 4) The State Govemme~t ~ad a _valid reason for prescribing c<?mparativ_ely 
stringe

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