Himachal High Court today quashed the appointment of Director of forensic laboratory (Junga) J R Gaur, saying he did not fulfill the essential qualifications for the junior posts held in the past.
The appointment “cannot stand on the principle that when the foundation goes, the superstructure can also not stand,” said a single bench on the petitions of Bharat Raj Rawat, Arun Sharma and Dr. Minakshi Mahajan, presently working as assistant Directors at FSL. Justice V.K. Sharma observed that Gaur did not fulfil the essential qualifications at the time of his appointment as assistant Director on deputation from FSL, Madhuban (Haryana) in 1990 and he was later promoted as Deputy Director and Director and quashed the notifications issued by the government in this regard.
The petitioners had challenged his appointment mainly on the grounds that his initial appointment as Assistant Director on deputation vide was void ab initio as he did not fulfil the requisite educational qualifications and eligibility conditions. The incumbent was required to hold a Master’s Degree in Chemistry/ Physics/ Botany/ Zoology/ Bio-Chemistry/ Forensic Science/Mathematics from a recognised University or equivalent, but Gaur who was holding a degree of M.Sc. Anthropology, was not eligible/qualified for the post. “It is now a well settled principle of law that any appointment made in violation of the constitutional scheme of equality as adumbrated under Article 14 of the Constitution of India as also in violation of the provisions of the Act and the subordinate legislations framed there under would be wholly illegal and without jurisdiction,
