SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Feb 4: A legal battle that spanned a quarter of a century finally came to an end on January 30, with the Jharkhand High Court refusing to unsettle the lecturer appointments made at J.M. College, Bhurkunda, saying it would be unfair to reverse decisions that have stood the test of time.
The case revolved around Arbind Sharan, who had approached the court seeking appointment as a Physics lecturer, alleging that reservation norms were violated when appointments were made two decades ago.
A Long Wait for Appointment
Sharan had applied for the post in 1994, appeared for interviews in 1999, and was recommended by the then Bihar College Service Commission in February 2000.
But the appointment never came.
For years, he knocked on every possible door — the college authorities, higher education officials, and even the National Commission for SC/ST — arguing that while he waited, others were appointed without following the reservation policy.
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The Lecturer Who Was Already Teaching
The dispute directly affected Binod Kumar Singh, who has been teaching Physics at the college since April 2000. Singh intervened in the case, pointing out that he was appointed against a separate advertisement for a single post, for which Sharan had never applied.
Singh told the court that he was selected as the first-choice candidate for the third post of lecturer and had since completed more than 25 years in service, including confirmation by the university in 2011.
What the Court Said
Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi noted that:
- The disputed post came from a separate advertisement with only one vacancy
- Reservation rules do not apply to a single post
- The petitioner had not applied for that specific vacancy
- Teachers appointed under the process have been working for over two decades
“In such a situation, the court cannot direct a U-turn now,” the judge observed, stressing that disturbing settled careers after 25 years would be unjust.
With these findings, the High Court dismissed the petition, bringing closure to one of the oldest service disputes pending before it.
For the teachers who have spent decades in classrooms, the ruling brings relief. For the petitioner, it marks the end of a long and exhausting legal journey.