MUHAMMAD AKHTAR SHABBIR, J. --- The appellant has called in question the orders dated 3.4.2002, 12.6.2002 and 9.10.2002 passed by the respondents.
2. The facts giving rise to the present appel are to the effect that the appellant, a qualified medical Doctor did . Her M.Phil. In Physiology and was engaged in teaching as 'Assistant Professor since 1992, firstly in Nishtar Medical College, Multan, and thereafter, joined Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi. The appellant was author of eleven publications in the. Relevant subject published in medical Journals recognized by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, such as The Professional', 'Mother and Child', 'Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal', 'Journal of Pakistan Medical Association' etc.
3. In response to an advertisement published in the newspaper on 23.12.2001 by the Federal Public Service Commission, respondent No 1, for the posts of Professor of Physiology in Jinnah Post- Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, the appellant alongwith other candidates applied for the said post, but her application was rejected by the F P.S.C. And she was conveyed through letter dated 3.4.2002 that her application was rejected on the grounds that she lacked the requisite experience of Associate Professor as well as to publications as Associate Professor. Feeling aggrieved thereby, the appellant filed an appeal/representation on 28.4.2002 which was rejected by respondent No. 1 on 12.6.2002. The appellant challenged both the orders through Writ Petition No. 2023 of 2002 for redressal of her grievance which was disposed of vide order dated 7.10.2002 by the learned Single Judge of this Court transmitting writ petition to respondent No. 1 and directing him to treat it as a review petition, but on 9.10.2002, the same was rejected, hence the present appeal.
4. I have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the appellant as well as learned Deputy Attorney General and decide to dispose of this appeal as a notice case. Parawise comments from respondents Nos. 1 to 3 were called for, which were received and perused wherein the said respondents taken a specific stand that the appellant was not fulfilling ' the requirement for her appointment as Professor in Physiology.
5. Federal Public Service Commission has issued an advertisement in the newspaper daily Jang'
Karachi on 23.12.2001 wherein under Item No. 192 applications were invited for the appointment of eight Professors i.e. (A) Physiology; (B) Plastic Surgery; (C) Radiology; (D) Ophthalmology; (E)
Pharmacology; (F) Neurology, (G) Renal Medicine; and (H) General Surgery, Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi. The qualifications and experience, according to the above said advertisement, were as under:---
(i) M.B.B.S. Or equivalent medical qualification recognized by P.M.D.C. OR M.Sc. Of a recognized University in case of Basic Science in the relevant subject (for non-medical graduates).
(ii) D.Sc., Ph.D., F.C.P.S., M.D., M.S., M.Phil., etc. In the respective subjects. F.C.P.S./M.D. With M.P.H. (for Public Health Institutions only)
OR equivalent qualification recognized by P.M.D.C.
(iii) three years teaching experience as an Associate Professor in the respective subject provided that total experience as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor is. Not less than eight years in a Post-Graduate Institute OR nine years as Assistant Professor in Undergraduate Institute OR four years teaching experience provided that total experience as Assistant Professor/Associate Professor is not less than twelve years in Undergraduate Institute.
(iv) Must have produced at least two research papers during three years as Associate Professor provided that totaL research papers as Assistant Professor/Associate Professor is -not less than five OR at least three research papers during Associate Professorship provided that total research papers as Assistant Professor/Associate Professor are not less than seven if experience is in undergraduate medical college.
(v) (a) For all basic science subjects a non- medical is eligible provided a medical graduate with requisite qualification is not available.
(b) For appointment as a Professor, candidates possessing a D.Sc./Ph.D. Degree, the thesis or major subjects/courses should be related to the subject in which they are appointed.
Candidates without a basic medical qualification are eligible for appointment as Professor provided they possess at least D.Sc./Ph.D.Degree and provided a medical graduate with the requisite qualification is not available. Maximum age 52 years. Domicile Punjab-4, NWFP-2, NAFATA-1 and Baluchistan- 1 Note:- Candidate must clearly indicate in their application forms for which category (A to H) they have applied for. Separate application form must be used for each post.
6. The Pakistan Medical & Dental Council in its regulations for the appointment of Teachers and Examiners in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical and Dental Institutions of Pakistan, which were framed in exercise of the powers conferred under the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council Ordinance, 1962; approved and amended by the Council up to 7.1.1997, provided the qualification for the post of Professor as under:--- Basic qualification: M.B.B.S. Or equivalent medical -qualifications recognized/registered by the PM & DC..
Additional Postgraduate qualification: D.Sc./Ph.D./F.C.P.S./M.D./M.S./(related clinical subject ) OR - equivalent qualification recognized/registered by the. PM & DC.
Experience: Three years teaching experience as an Associate Professor in the respective subjects provided that the total experience as assistant Professor and Associate Professor shall not be less than eight years OR Nine years teaching experience as an Assistant Professor in the respective subject.
Research: At least two research papers in three years to be published in standard medical journal as approved by the PM & DC before promotion as Professor.
8. Regulations for the appointment of Teachers and Examiners in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical and Dental Institutions of Pakistan have been framed in exercise of the powers conferred under the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council Ordinance, 1962, which were approved and amended by the Council upto 7.1.1997. These Regulations supersede all previous regulations on the subject. Admittedly, the petitioner was serving as Assistant Professor-firstly in Undergraduate Institution and secondly in Postgraduate Medical Institution. Pakistan Medical and Dental Council provided the basic qualification for the appointment of Professor, which is reproduced as under:--- "(i) M.B.B.S. Or equivalent medical qualifications recognized /registered by the PM & DC plus Additional Postgraduate qualification as D.Sc./Ph.D./F.C.P.S./M.S. /M.D./M.Phil (Pak.) in respective subjects.
(ii) F.C.P.S./M.D./M.S./(related clinical subject)
OR equivalent qualification recognized/registered by the PM & DC.
(iii) Three years teaching experience as an Associate Professor in the respective subjects provided that the total experience as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor shall not be less than eight years OR Nine years teaching experience as an Assistant Professor in the respective subject; and
(iv) At least two research papers in three years to be published in standard medical journal as approved by the PM & DC before promotion as Professor."
9. The appellant being an Assistant Professor has applied for the appointment of Professor in her subject. So far as the basic qualification and additional qualification are concerned, she was fulfilling the same but was dropped by the Federal Public Service Commission on the ground of having lack of nine years teaching experience as an Assistant Professor in Undergraduate Institution and total experience as Assistant Professor/Associate Professor is not less than twelve years in Undergraduate Institution. If a candidate is Associate Professor and the applied for the appointment of Professor, he must have three years' teaching experience as an Associate Professor in the respective subjects provided-. That the total experience as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor shall not be less than eight years in Postgraduate Institution. The review petition filed by the petitioner was rejected by the Federal Public Service Commission on the ground that her interpretation regarding Para-III of the advertisement was not correct as her total experience more than nine years was as Assistant Professor while as per Rules, she must have experience as Associate Professor. Neither she has experience as Associate Professor nor two research Papers were published in her credit.
10. Whether the interpretation of the word "or" regarding Para-III of the advertisement would indicate the meanings of disjunctive or conjunctive. The word "or" can be. Interpreted in order to give effect the real intention of the legislature. Ordinarily the word "or" should be construed in disjunctive sense unless the compulsion of context requires otherwise. In this context, reference can be placed on a case of P. v. R (K.L.R. 1993 Civil Cases 336). It is the duty of a Court of law to primarily adhere to the strict literal interpretation of the words used, and the substitution of conjunctions should not be made without sufficient reason. But if such adherence is destructive of the object of the enactment and leads to anomalies and absurdities, it is fair to assume that the Legislature did not use the words in the. sense and in such a case the conversion of 'and' into the disjunctive 'or' is permissible, as laid down in L.H. Sugar Factory, Pilibhit v. Moti (A.I.R. 1941 Allahabad 243 (Full Bench).
11. The fundamental principle of construction is that the word used in a Statute must be understood in their ordinary grammatical sense. This will, nowever, not prevent ry the Court from depart from the ordinary grammatical meaning of a word if it appears from the context or a consideration of the other provisions of the Statute that it was not the intention of the Legislature to give it anothe meaning. Similarly, if the ordinary grammatical meaning of word results in creating absurdity or anomaly or rendering the Legislation of no effect, the narrower or broader meaning may be given to the word of it may be construed in such a way to obviate the absurdity or anomaly on the principle that it could not have been the intention of the Legislature to create absurdity or anomaly or to render its enactments of no effect, as laid down in a case of The Food Inspector Thichur Municipality Trichur v. O.D. Paul and another (AIR 1965 Kerala 96). In a case of Muhammad SanuIllah v. Allah Din(1993 MLD 399), it has been observed that the use of word or signifies a distinctive sense and it cannot be read as "and" unless of course context provided so. In another case, M..Ldrees v: The State (1990 P.Cr.L.J. 655), it has been observed that the word "or" used would indicate alternative. Although the word "or" is normally used in disjunctive sense, yet the intention of the Legislature may be to read "or" and "and" one for the other, when it has the significance and meanings equal to the word "and" implying conjunctive and not disjunctive. The word "and" sometime is to be read as "or" and sometime it is to be read as "or" in order to carry out the intention of the Legislature. Reliance can be placed to a case of Ishwar Singh Bindra and others v.
State of U.P. (AIR 1968 Supreme Court 1450).
1'2. In another case of Muhammad Arshad Khan v. J & P Coats Pakistan Ltd., Karachi and 2 others (P.L.D.)
1977 Karachi 83), it has been observed that Maxwell on Interpretation of Statute says that in ordinary use "and" is conjunctive and the word "or" disjunctive but sometime to carry out the intention of Legislature, it becomes necessary to read "or" in place of "and" and vice versa. But such intention of the Legislature has to be evident from the language of the Statute itself. In another case, Syed. Yakub Shah v. The State (P.L.D. 1978 Quetta 158), it has also been observed that in ordinary usage "and" is used in conjunctive sense and "or" in a disjunctive sense but very often the intention of the Legislature is best deciphered by reading the two words, one for the other.
13. On 21.5.1998, an amendment in the Punjab Health Department (Medical and Dental Teaching Posts) Service Rules, 1979, was made and the minimum qualification for initial recruitment and transfer for various posts were substituted. The qualification for appointment of Professor, according to the amended Rules is as under:- "The qualification for an Associate Professor for his initial recruitment as Professor was 3-years teaching experience as Associate Professor provided that the total experience as Assistant/Associate Professor is not less than 8-years or 9-years experience as Assistant Professor in Undergraduate Medical Institution."
14. It, therefore, means that the qualification for an Assistant Professor for his initial recruitment as Professor was his nine years' teaching experience as an Assistant Professor in the subject and five research papers should be published in standard medical Journals while working as Assistant/Associate Professor. The interpretation of the word "or" made in the preceding paragraphs would means that the word "or" is used in the aforesaid Regulations as disjunctive and not conjunctive, as per strict interpretation of the word "or".
15. From the minute consideration of the qualification of Professor, as per advertisement and the Regulations of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the amendment made by the Government vide Gazette Notification dated 21.5.1998, it is manifestly clear that the ordinary grammatical sense- and keeping in view the fundamental principle of construction of the word "or" has been used to indicate it as disjunctive. There is really a clear understanding of what the word "or" means while one must construe a word or phrase in a 'section of an Act of Parliament/regulations/Rules with all the assistance one can from the decided cases and, if one will, from the dictionary, is not in doubt; but having obtained all that assistance, one must not at the end of the day distort that which has to be construed and give it a meaning which in this context one does not think it can possibly bear.
It is settled principle that. we are not the slaves of words but their masters. We sit have to give them their natural and ordinary meaning in the context in which we find them
16. From the above `discussion and' interpretation of the word "or", I find that for the initial recruitment, the qualification of nine years teaching experience as Assistant Professor with at least five research papers published in standard medical Journals was the requirement for appointment of the post of Professor in the subject of Physiology.
17. The proviso of total experience as Assistant/Associate Professor not less than twelve years in Undergraduate institute was not the requirement of the Rules and it was in conflict with the condition of nine years teaching experience as Assistant Professor because further the word "or" has been used whereafter four years teaching experience as Associate Professor was the condition. So the qualification for appointment as Professor for a candidate of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor are not conjunctive, rather disjunctive and separate. This argument is further supported from the notification dated 10th of June, .
1998 issued by the "Government of Baluchistan, Service & General Administration Department, which provides the terms and conditions as well as qualification for the appointment of Professor in BS-20, which reads as under:--- "Against serial No. 5 for the post of Professor (BS-20), the following shall be substituted:--- "3 years' teaching experience as an Associate Professor in the respective subject.
Provided that the total experience as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor shall not be less than 8 years, or 9 years' teaching experience as an Assistant Professor in the respective subject."
Similarly the same qualification for the appointment against the post of Professor is provided in the advertisement issued by the Sindh Public Service Commission wherein for an Assistant Professor to be appointed as Professor; the teaching experience was nine years.
18. In the instant case, the petitioner was appointed as Assistant Professor in Nishtar Medical College, Multan on 3.12.1992 and was made regular with effect from 16.3.1994. In this respect, the Principal, Nishtar Medical College, Multan, has issued experience certificate in favour of the petitioner, which is annexed with this petition. The appellant also claims to be the Author of eleven publications in the relevant subject, which were published in medical Journals recognized by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, such as "The Professional",. 'Mother and Child', `Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal', 'Journal of Pakistan Medical Association' etc.
19. For the foregoing reasons- and following the dictum laid down in the esteem authorities of the superior Courts cited in the cases supra, I have no option but to allow this appeal, as a result of which the impugned Order dated.
3;4.2002, 12.6.2002 and 9.6.2002 are set aside and the petitioner is declared eligible to apply for the post of Professor. No order as to costs. revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.