Pune man wins court battle for job he rightfully deserved

A 41yearold Pune resident who accused MSRTC of wrongfully rejecting his application for a job that he rightfully deserved in 2018 has been selling idlis to make a living and still struggling to make ends meet However a recent high court judgment has brought cheer to his familyGautam Mailagir had applied for the post of junior clerkcumtypist at Maharashtra State Road Transport Company MSRTC after securing the seventh rank in an online exam However his job application was rejected because his basic computer certification was from Maharashtra State Board of Vocational Examination MSBVE and not from Maharashtra State Certificate in Information Technology MSCITGautam Mailagir prepares idli at his home at Manjari Budruk PuneMailagir who lives at Manjari Budruk in Pune approached the Bombay High Court for justice It was then that he learnt that a Government Resolution GR issued in 2013 stated that computer certification for recruitment can be accepted from 86 more institutes including MSBVEThe Bombay HC on Monday directed the MSRTC to appoint Mailagir and issue his appointment letter within the next 45 days Mailagir is now confident that his financial difficulties will end soon and he will be able to send his fiveyearold daughter to schoolAdvocate Rajeshwar Panchal fought Gautam Mailagirrsquos case in the Bombay HCMailagir who lives at Manjari Budruk in Pune said ldquoThis job was very important to me to improve my financial condition which is so weak that my wife Swati 28 has to work as a security guard on an hourly payment of R60 I make about Rs 80Rs 150 daily selling idlis I couldnrsquot send Gargi to school as we could not afford the school fee of Rs 25000 My son Shitanshu 8 studies in Std IIIrdquoWhy MSRTCAn Arts graduate Mailagir said he previously worked in the back office of a reputable developer but lost his job In 2017 he came across an MSRTC ad inviting applications for the post in Aurangabad division ldquoThere were 157 vacancies and 14 seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes I appeared in an online exam and was among the top 10 scorers with the seventh rank I was confident of getting the job as I was not only from a Scheduled Caste but also a top rankerrdquoGautam Mailagir with his family at their home in PuneldquoIn April 2018 I even received an email from MSRTC declaring that I was selected for the post However during scrutiny of the documents MSRTC officials verbally informed me that the MSBVE certificate wasnrsquot acceptable and only those from MSCIT are validrdquo he said Mailagir said he appealed to them that his MSBVE certificates were among those approved by the state government but ldquoI was still disqualifiedrdquoldquoBut I decided to not give up as this job was my only hope for financial stability I learnt about Advocate Rajeshwar Panchal I approached him and he filed a plea before the HC in 2018rdquo he added ldquoA few months ago I filed an RTI application on my lawyerrsquos advicerdquo Mailagir saidAdvocate Panchal said ldquoWe wanted to know whether MSRTC had its own rules mandating that candidates possess MSCIT certificates and if itrsquos bound by the state GR In response MSRTC supplied a circular issued by its central office directing all original managers to act on terms of the aforesaid GR However before supplying this circular under RTI the MSRTC had made a contrary argument before the courtrdquo Mailagir said ldquoMSRTC officials kept hiding this circular and even issued a statement claiming it wasnrsquot applicable to themrdquolsquoMany denied jobsrsquoPanchal said ldquoThe circular shows that many other candidates like Gautam had submitted the certificates from institutes equivalent to MSCIT but were not appointedrdquoPanchal added ldquoMSRTC wrongly denied a job to my client despite the fact he had secured the 7th rank We are very happy to finally get justice from the high courtrdquo This case is an example of how the corporations or public authorities like MSRTC show lack of empathy towards candidates who work hard for public sector employmentrdquoCourtrsquos observationThe division bench of Justice Sadhana Jadhav and Justice Surendra Tavade observed ldquoSubmission of a Certificate showing that the candidates have passed MSCIT is inevitable for the State Government employees However it is for the Corporations to adopt the Government Resolution dated 4th February 2013rdquoThe other sideAdvocate Yashodeep Deshmukh who represented the MSRTC in court said ldquoMSRTC will now issue appointment orders to the petitioner Gautam Mailagir MSRTC has taken the decision to extend recognition to certificates issued by 86 other institutes that will benefit a large number of job applicantsrdquo