Lost meaning, 25 yrs old plea dismissed

Chandigarh, September 6

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Nearly 25 years after a candidate challenged an order declaring him disqualified for Hindi Master’s post, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed his petition because it could not be decided while it still had relevance.

The development took place on a petition filed by Uttam Chand against the State of Punjab and other respondents. He had challenged letter/order dated July 30, 1996, issued by Punjab Director, Education Department (Schools), whereby he was held not qualified for the post of Hindi Master.

He had also sought issuance of directions for grant of approval for his appointment as ‘Hindi Master’ in a senior secondary school in Amritsar. In an attempt to substantiate his contentions, the petitioner had relied on a letter dated August 12, 1994, by the Himachal Pradesh University in support of his claim of eligibility for appointment as ‘Hindi Master’.

Taking up the matter, a Judge asserted: “I am of the opinion that by sheer efflux of time, even if the petitioner were to be given the benefit of letter dated August 12, 1994, the relief that he was seeking when the writ petition was filed, is rendered infructuous”.

The Bench added this was particularly in view of the fact that the petitioner’s date of birth was May 30, 1964. “In all likelihood, petitioner would have moved on greener pastures of life by sheer passage of more than two decades from the time when the petition was filed,” the Bench further added.

Before parting with the order, the Bench granted liberty to the petitioner to move appropriate application, if any cause of action still survived. —TNS