Holding

The Board of Management is fully competent to amend the rules; the 1978 amendment was valid; the 1982 advertisement was lawful; Mattoo was ineligible; the High Court judgment was set aside.

Summary

The Board of Management of the School of Buddhist Philosophy, Leh, amended its 1973 recruitment rules in August 1978 to require that the Principal possess a specialised academic background in Buddhist Philosophy. After appointing Tashi Paljor under the revised criteria, M.L. Mattoo, who had been serving as Administrative Officer with additional charge of Principal, challenged his removal and the subsequent 1982 advertisement for the post, alleging violation of Article 16 and claiming the amendment was invalid. The Jammu & Kashmir High Court quashed the advertisement, holding the amendment ineffective. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the Board, a society registered under the Jammu & Kashmir Registration of Societies Act, is fully competent to amend its rules, that the 1978 amendment was validly made with Government approval, and that the 1982 advertisement complied with the amended rules. Consequently, Mattoo, lacking the revised qualifications, was ineligible for the post, and the High Court’s order was set aside.

Issues considered

The Board of Management's authority to amend recruitment rules and qualifications for the post of Principal.
Whether the 1978 amendment of qualifications was validly effected and approved by the Government of India.
Whether the High Court was correct in quashing the 1982 advertisement and the writ petition on the ground of invalid amendment.
Whether M.L. Mattoo's right to equality under Article 16 of the Constitution was infringed.
Whether the Society qualifies as a 'State' under Article 12 for the purposes of the writ petition.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 12, s. Article 14, s. Article 16, s. Article 311
Jammu and Kashmir Registration of Societies Act

Subjects

appointmentqualification amendmentArticle 16Article 12public employmentrecruitment rulesBoard of ManagementBuddhist Philosophyconstitutional lawstate

Judgment

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
governing appointments.
·r-
Appointments to various posts in School of Budhist Philosophy,
Leh, were governed by the Rules framed by the Board of management in c
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-
~ out affording him an opportunity of being heard and further that he
was not considered by the selection committee. The High Court rejected F
~ the first contention but allowed the writ petition on the ground that he
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

515

r-
516 SUPREME COURT REPORTS I1990] 3 S.C.R.

and allowed the writ petition, quashed the impugned advertisement and
A
directed the management not to make appointment on the basis of the ~
advertisement in question. Hence this appeal by the Board of management
of'the school.

Allowing the appeal, this Court,
B
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
c 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
Lal for the Appellant.

E.C. Agarwala, Ms. Purnima Bhatt, V.K. Pandita and Atul
Sharma. for the Respondents.

F 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
A
At least Master's Degree in Humanities or Social Sciences,
with knowledge of Rules and Regulations, procedures and
Accounts. ·

Experience B

Minimum experience of 7 years, out of which at least 2
years should be in administration such as administrative
Asst!. and not less than 3 years in teaching in Higher
Secondary and/or Degree classes."

The qualifications for the post 'of Administrative Officer under the c
1973 rules are identical.

M.L. Mattoo (Respondent No. 1), who was functioning as the
Administrative Officer, was given the additional charge of the post of
Principal by an order dated March 26, 1973 issued by the Ministry of D
Education and Social Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.

The Board of Management in its meeting held on August 22,
1978 decided that apart from the qualifications prescribed under the
Rules, the person selected for the post of Principal should have a
thorough academic background in Buddhist Philosophy. Pursuance to E
the said decision the qualifications/experience for the po•t of Principal
prescribed under the Rules were revised as under:

"Essential:

(a) A consistently good academic record possessing F
eminent scholarship in Buddhist Philosophy as a sub-
ject of specialisation at M.A. or Doctoral level.

or

Acharya Degree with research experience to Buddhist G
Philosophy or equivalent.

or

An ·equivalent degree of traditional monastic education
in Buddhism. H
518 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

(b) Evidence of research work and/or public work in the
A
field. -I"

Desirable:

(a) 5 years teaching experience in Buddhist Philosophy
B and allied subject at the degree level..

(b) 5 years of administrative experience."

The Board of Management constituted a selection committee to
appoint a suitable person as Principal of the School. By an order dated
C January 9, 1979 one Shri Tashi Paljor, who fulfilled the revised qualifi-
cations, was appointed as Principal of the School. Aggrieved by the
said appointment M.L. Mattoo filed Civil Writ Petition No. 256 of
1979 in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on the ground that he
was removed from the additional charge without affording an oppor-
tunity of hearing to him and further that he was not considered by the
J) selection committee. He contended that selection was liable to be
quashed being violative of Article 16 of the Constitution of India. The
writ petition was resisted by the Management on the ground that it was
not a 'State' under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and as such
the writ petition was not competent. At the hearing of the writ petition
the counsel for the Management conceded that the society was a
E 'State' within Article 12 of the Constitution of India and as such the
writ petition could not be dismissed on that ground. The High Court
rejected the contention of M.L. Mattoo that he was entitled to an
opportunity of hearing or Article 311 was attracted. The High Court,
however, allowed the writ petition on the ground that the petitioner
was not considerd for the post of Principal and as such his right under
F Article 16 of the Constitution of India stood infringed The operative
part of the High Court judgment is as under: ·

"Mr. V.K. Gupta has on the authority of Ajay Hasia's case
(supra) frankly conceded that the society being an instru-
mentality or agency of Government of India, was 'state' for
G the purpose of Part III of the Constitution, as such, the
petitioner had a fundamental right to be considered for the
post alongwith the third respondent. He not having been so
considered, and it also being admitted that he possessed
the requisite qualifications, the rule of equality enshrined
in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution stood clearly
H violated. That being so, as in fact it is, the impugned order
SCHOOL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY v. M.L.· MATTO [SINGH, J.! 519

passed by the second respondent appointing the third
A
respondrnt as the Principal of the School has to be
quashed."

Thereafter the Management advertised the post of Principal to
be filled by direct recruitment on the basis of revised qualifications.
The advertisement was published in the 'Kashmir Times' of January 5, B
1982.

M.L. Mattoo filed another writ petition being Civil Writ Petition
No. 29 of 1982 challenging the advertisement on the ground that the
revised qualifications had not been validly prescribed and as such the

- post of Principal could only be filled on the basis of the pre-revised
qualifications. According to him the revised qualifications were
advertised only to make him ineligible for the post. The main thrust of
c

Mattoo's argument was that his earlier writ petition was decided by the
Hjgh Court on October 29, 1981 wherein the counsel for the Manage-
ment conceded that he possessed the requisite qualifications for the
post of Principal. Admittedly Matto does not possess the revised quali- D
fications. According to him the earlier writ petition was filed in the
year 1979 and had the qualifications been revised by amending the
rules in 1978, the counsel for the management would have certainly
brought the same to the notice of the Court and since it was not done
there was factually no amendment to the rules. The High Court
accepted the contention of Mattoo and allowed the writ petition by its E
judgment dated June 9, 1988 on the following reasoning:

"It is stated in para No. 13 of their counter that qualifica-
tions were changed in August, 1978 with the approval of
the Govt. of India. This statement is not accepted for two
reasons one, that this was not the defence of the respon- F
dents in writ petition No. 256/1979 in which petitioner's
eligibility was granted by the High Court for the post of
Principal; and second, that after the decision of the High
Court granting eligibility to the petitioner for the post of
Principal in writ petition No. 256/1979,, the respondents
plea on the basis of some policy or note whereby qualifica- G
tions were changed in 1978 prior to the filing of the writ
petition No. 256/1979 cannot be now pressed into service
nor would be permitted to be made because same will be
barred by doctrine of constructive res judicata."

The High Court quashed the advertisement dated January 5, H
520 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

1982 and restrained the management from filling the post of Principal
A on the basis of the impugned advertisement. The management has ...
come up to this Court in appeal against the above said judgment of the
High Court of Jammu and Kashmir.

The learned counsel for the appellant has invited our attention to
B the proceedings of the meeting of the management of the School held
on August 22, 1978. It was decioed in the said meeting that the person
selected for the post of Principal of the School must have academic
background in Buddhist Philosophy in addition to the qualifications "'i· •
prescribed under the Rules. Thereafter the amended qualifications

-
which have been reproduced above were prescribed by the Board of
Management.
c
It is not disputed that the recruitment Rules could be altered by
the Board of Management at any time with the sanction of the Govern-
ment of India. Mr. E.C. Agarwala appearing for the respondent M.L.
7
Mattoo has, however, contended that the recruitment rules were never
D amended and in any case there was no sanction of the Government of
India regarding the amended Rules.

Learned counsel for the appellant has invited our attention to the
affidavit of Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, Chairman, Board of
Management of the School filed before the High Court. Dr. Kapila
E Vatsyayan is the Additional Secretary to Government of India in the ~-
Ministry of Education and Culture. Para 13 of the affidavit is as under:

"When in the year 1978, the question of appointment of a
Principal of the school on regular basis was under the con-
sideration of the Board of Management, it was held that
F keeping in view the objects of the school being a research
Institution to propogate Buddhist Philosophy a thorough "+
academic back~round in Buddhist Philosophy was consi-
dered as one of the essential qualifications for the post of
Principal of the School as will be evident from the extract
from brief note on Agenda Item I considered in the meet-
G ing of the Board of Management held on 22nd August,
1978 Annexure IV. Shri Tashi Paljore was appointed as
Principal as stated in para No. 5 of the petition as he
possessed this qualification and was selected by a duly .-..
appointed Selection Committee. The contention of the
petitioner that this qualification has been added now after
H the decision of writ petition No. 256 of 1979 is incorrect. As
SCHOOL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY v. M.L. MATTO [SINGH. J.[ 521

stated above, the qualifications were changed in August
A
1978 with the approval of Govt. of India.

These qualifications are obviously very necessary for
the fulfilling of the objectives of the Schools of Buddhist
Philosophy, Leh (Ladakh). In the absence of these qualifi-
cations, the very object for which the Institution exists is B
bound to be defeated. The qualification has been provided
the interest of the Institution and for the attainment of the
object for which it exists, namely imparting and propagat-
ing Buddhist Philosophy. The Recruitment Rules of 1975,
Annexure 'D' to the petition were framed by the Board at
that time. Under the Rules and Regulations of the Board,
the Board of Management is competent to amend the c
same."

It is obvious from the affidavit of Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan repro-
duced above that the qualifications for the post of Principal were
revised by amending the Rules and the revised qualifications were D
approved by the Government of India. No rejoinder was filed by M.L.
Mattoo to the above affidavit. ·

The High Court was not justified in disbelieving the contents of
the affidavit. The rules are not statutory. The Board of Management is
fully competent to alter or amend the rules in any manner and at any E
time. The affidavit by the Chairman of the Board of Management who
is additional Secretary to Government of India to the effect that the
rules were amended in 1978 with the approval of the Government of
India, should have put an end to the controversy. We have no hesita-
tion in holding that the qualifications for the post of Principal of the
School stood validly reviced by the amendment of the Rules.in August, p
1978. Since respondent No. 1 Shri M.L. Mattoo does not possess the
revised qualifications, he is not eligible to be considered for the said
post.

In the earlier writ petition No. 256/1979 the question as to
whether the qualifications for the post of Principal had been revised G
was not before the High Court. The main contention of the Manage-
ment, before the High Court, was that the Management society was
- not a 'State' under Article 12 and as such no writ petition was compe-
tent. At the hearing the counsel for the management, however, con-
ceded that the society was a 'State' under Article 12 of the Constitu-
tion of India. It is no doubt that the High Court has mentioned that it H
522 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990) 3 S.C.R.

A was admitted by the counsel for the Management that Mattoo posses-
sed the requisite qualifications for the post but we do not understand .,.
how in the face of categoric affidavit·of Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan such a
statement could be made before the High Court.

B We, therefore, hold that the qualifications/experience for the
post of Principal were validly revised by amending the Rules in
August, 1978. The advertisement issued on January 5, 1982 was in
accordance with the Rules and the High Court was not justified in
quashing the same. We, therefore, allow the appeal, set aside the '--1
judgment of the High Court and dismiss the writ petition filed by M.L.
Mattoo before the High Court. There shall be no order as to costs.
c
Y. Lal Petition dismissed.

'\:.