Plea challenging appointment of section officers disposed off

PANJIM, AUG 10
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Tuesday disposed off a writ petition  filed challenging appointment of five section officers of High Court on contract basis.
A Division Bench of Justices A S Oka and F M Reis disposed off the petition filed by one Kashinath Shetye who had challenged the appointment of section officers on grounds that their appointments were made in violation of the Constitutional mechanism.
The petition was disposed as Advocate General Subodh Kantak told the Court that four section officers have been discharged from service on completion of their service period and no extension was granted to any of them.
As regards to one section officer who is still in the service of High Court, the Advocate General said his period of service ends on September 1, 2010.
The counsel for the petitioner Adv S N Joshi had objected to appointment of retired superintendents from district and othercourts claiming that post of section officer of the High Court is group A gazetted post. Whereas post superintendent of the lower court is non-gazetted post.
Therefore, superintendents from lower courts could not have beenappointed. As also, they did not fulfil eligibility criteriarequired to be appointed as section officer of the High Court. Besides serving as assistant for a period of five years in the High Court, the candidate should also clear departmental examination conducted by the High Court to be eligible to be appointed on the post of section officer, he pointed out.
The five section officers appointed on contract basis also did not full fill this criteria and hence their appointment was un lawful and should be strike down, he argued.
The petition was disposed off as it turned infructious with retirement of four section officers whereas remaining one would complete his term at the end of the month.
Currently, twenty posts of section officers are need to be filled in the High Court whereas there are just seven posts of assistants of which four have been promoted as section officers.
In this regard, AG told the court that thirty –nine new posts of assistants will be filled after obtaining cabinet approval.