Compilation Vol 3 Corrected (1-943).pmd - Goa Public Service ...

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12. METHOD OF SELECTION AND DISCIPLINEWISE RESERVATION:-
We have already dealt with and answered the third issue regarding eligibility of the petitioner for the
post of Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering and we have seen that he has indisputably no
basic degree in Electrical Engineering, which is a mandatory requirement as per the Recruitment Rules
and as such he has been correctly found not eligible for the same. The question whether viva voce test
can be the sole method of selection or whether disciplinewise reservation or earmarking of reserved
post before the selection process commenced is required by law, we shall presently address them in
the light of the legal position settled by the Apex Court in a line of decisions.
13. REASON FOR THE ORAL TEST AS THE ONLY METHOD:-
In the case on hand, the Commission has adopted viva voce test only for 100 marks to test
suitability of the candidates and the reason for the same, as has been pleaded by the Commission in
the counter-affidavit, is that only 19 candidates were in the field for 17 posts and, therefore, no written
test was considered necessary. We are not convinced. We do not consider it correct that number of
candidates only should determine the method of selection. The post of Assistant Professor in the
Engineering College is not only a Gazetted Post but undoubtedly to be regarded as a high public
office. In Ajay Hasia vs. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi, reported in (1981) 1 SCC 722, the Apex Court
observed as follows:-
“Oral interview test is undoubtedly not a very satisfactory test for assessing and evaluating the
capacity and caliber of candidates, but in the absence of any better test for measuring personal
characteristics and traits, the oral interview test must, at the present stage, be regarded as not
irrational or irrelevant though it is subjective and based on first impression, its result is influenced
by many uncertain factors and it is capable of abuse”. [Emphasis ours)
We pause here for a moment to remind ourselves that this observation is about measuring personal
characteristics and traits only by oral interview. In our case, there is no specific contention that the test
for 100 marks was only for measuring personality and character by oral test. Normally, such high
marks should not be only for evaluating personality and character, it ought to be for assessing depth of
knowledge and command in the subjects concerned as well.
Though, however, the above observation was made in the context of admission of students in
Regional Engineering College, Srinagar, the Apex Court brought into its observation the matter of
public employment also in the following words:-
Tripura PSC