Govt. of India National Commission for Minorities Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market, New Delhi-3 Petitioner: Dr. Mrs. Farah Deeba, Flat No. 305, Spoorthy Apts., 40-Sirur Park Road, 3rd Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore-560003 Respondent: Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Govt. of India File No. M/KT/203/12/2014 The Bench of the Commission consisted of: i. Shri Naseem Ahmad, Chairperson ii. iii. iv. Dr. Ajaib Singh, Shri. T. N. Shanoo, Ms. Mabel Rebello, v. Shri. Praveen Davar, 2. The Secretary and Under Secretary, NCM assisted the Bench. Brief record of hearing held in the Conference Room of the National Commission for Minorities on15.05.2014 at 12.00 Noon. 3. Present: I. Petitioner- Dr. Farah Deeba with Dr. Razi Ahsan, Flat No. 305, Spoorthy Apts., 40-Sirur Park Road, 3rd Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore-560003 1
II. Respondent- Shri Anup K. Thakur, Secretary with Shri Raja Sekhar Vundru, Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Govt. of India, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi-110114 4. The petitioner Dr. Farah Deeba s case is that the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DAHD&F) has not issued the appointment letter to her husband Dr. M. Feroz Khan who was selected after the interview by the UPSC on 26.11.2013 for the post of Director General, Fishery Survey of India (FSI). Commission took cognizance of representation of Dr. Farah Deeba regarding discrimination in issuing of appointment letter to her husband Dr. M. Feroz Khan, who is presently working as Sr. Scientist at Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Bangalore. Generally, result of such interviews is conveyed within 2-3 weeks but the appointment letter has not been issued till date, despite the fact that UPSC had recommended to the Respondent Department to issue appointment letter to Dr. M. Feroz Khan. It is alleged that the other internal candidate Mr. Premchand, who is holding charge of DG without regular appointment, is playing foul in nexus with officials in the Department. The petitioner has alleged that the Department, while committing gross injustice with the successful candidate, is disrespecting the decision of a constitutional body like UPSC. She further alleged that DAHD&F officials have vested interest in stopping a Muslim from becoming DG and have also not given proper replies to RTI applications in this regard. 5. The DAHD&F informed this Commission (NCM) that the Department had invited applications for filling up the post of Director General in FSI on deputation (including short-term contract basis) and after scrutiny/examination of the applications, it was found that Dr. M. Feroz Khan was not fulfilling the essential qualification of twelve years experience in Marine Fisheries Research and Development, out of which at least five years must be actual experience in the planning, programming, implementation and monitoring of fisheries resources survey by exploratory fishing, deploying a fleet of vessels. All the applications were sent to UPSC with a remark against Dr. M. Feroz Khan that he was ineligible, for recommending a suitable candidate. UPSC conducted interview of two candidates who were eligible according to them and recommended the name of Dr. M. Feroz 2
Khan for appointment. In the meantime, the Department received representations from employees of FSI regarding essential qualification of the candidate recommended by UPSC. Further, one of the employees also represented to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on the same matter. In view of this, DAHD&F decided to take up the matter with DOPT, UPSC as well as the parent department of Dr. M. Feroz Khan i.e. ICAR. Reply from DOPT is awaited. UPSC has given its view that the issue of Dr. Khan s qualifications may be taken up with his parent cadre ICAR. 6. During the hearing held on 15.05.2014 the petitioner reiterated that the actions of DAHD&F smacked of mala fide intentions blended with anti-muslim mindset. According to her, the act of entertaining representations of employees is illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable as it amounts to challenging the authority of a constitutional body like UPSC. She added that it was for UPSC to decide which of the candidates were to be called for interview in the light of the advertised qualifications. She strongly argued that her husband Dr. M. Feroz Khan possessed all the required qualifications for the post. According to her, the Respondent Department was fully in the knowledge that UPSC had shortlisted Dr. M. Feroz Khan for interview, as is evident from their letter dated 07.11.2013 addressed to the two candidates including Dr. M. Feroz Khan. Discussion: 7. The Commission put to the Respondent DAHD&F to produce copy of letters written to DOPT, UPSC and also copy of reply from ICAR, and the same was complied with. In their letter dated 17.4.2014, ICAR has clarified that Dr. M. Feroz Khan possesses more than five years' experience in monitoring of fisheries resources based on catch data collected by CMFRI and field survey, but his experience in planning, programming, implementation and monitoring of marine fisheries resources survey by deploying a fleet of vessels is limited to his participation in cruises on board the research vessels Sagar Sampada and Cadalmin only. 3
8. The petitioner strongly objected to this by informing that Dr. Feroz Khan was a Marine Biologist in CMFRI from 1986 to 2002 and he is a specialist in deep sea fishing; that he has covered more than 7 Projects and undertaken 20 cruises and his studies are published in more than 100 journals including the top most international ones which are testimony to his experience and knowledge. She added that the letter dated 17.04.2014 from ICAR did not specifically say that Dr. M. Feroz Khan was ineligible; and that it was for UPSC to form an opinion in this regard, and as per their opinion Dr. M. Feroz Khan did possess the requisite experience. 9. While replying to the points raised by the petitioner, Secretary, DAHD&F did not support her allegations regarding communal bias. But he had no answer to her plea that it was for the UPSC to form an opinion about the qualifications and experience of Dr. M. Feroz Khan. On being put to a straight question by NCM whether they could reject the recommendation of UPSC, he stated that normally it was not done. He added that there was a long drawn procedure for doing so, including laying the reasons for rejection of UPSC's advice before the Parliament and that they would not be inclined to take that route. Decision: 10. After hearing both sides, the Commission is of the view that DAHD&F should have accepted the recommendation of UPSC which is a constitutional body and should not have referred the matter to DOPT and UPSC again. Even if there was any point of doubt, DAHD&F could have taken up the matter with UPSC at the time when the two candidates were shortlisted by UPSC for the interview. The Commission is also of the view that if there is any grievance against the appointment of Dr. Feroz Khan by any employee, they could challenge his appointment before a Court of appropriate jurisdiction. In these circumstances, the Commission holds that appointment letter should be issued to Dr. M. Feroz Khan without further loss of time. On their own the Respondent Department should not do anything which per se might give an impression to the petitioner that her husband was being denied justice just because he happens to belong to a notified minority community. 4
11. It is worth mentioning here that the Respondent Department has informed this Commission that the other candidate interviewed by UPSC for the same post has approached National Commission for Scheduled Castes, airing his grievance against the recommendation of UPSC in the present case. In this context, it has been found that this Commission asked the Respondent Department on 2.4.2014 to send their comments regarding the petition before this Commission, whereas the other candidate approached National Commission for Scheduled Castes two days thereafter i.e. on 4.4.2014. These happenings give some credence to the allegation of the petitioner that the Respondent Department was involved in stalling the appointment of petitioner s husband to the post in question. It would, therefore, be appropriate if a copy of this order is also forwarded to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes for their information. (Naseem Ahmad) Chairman (Dr.Ajaib Singh) (T.N. Shanoo) (Mabel Rebello) (Praveen Davar) Authenticated True Copy. application. Additional copies of order shall be supplied on (A. Sengupta) Under Secretary to the Govt. of India 16.05.2014 5