1 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 3532 of 2021 1 - Dr. Supriya Mishra D/o Shri K P Mishra Aged About 35 Years Resident Doctor Department Of Periodontics , Government Dental College, Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Dr. Rajkumkar Diwan S/o Shri Pawan Kumar Diwan Aged About 39 Years Dental Surgeon Department Of Oral Medicine And Radiology, Government Dental College , Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 3 - Dr. Anumeha Jha D/o Shri Sudhir Kumar Jha Aged About 36 Years Resident Doctor Department Of Prosthodontics (Crown And Bridge) Government Dental College , Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh. ... Petitioners versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary , Health Department Mantralaya , Mahanadi Bhawan, Naya Raipur , District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Director Medical Education Department , Old Nurses Hostel , Dks Bhawan Premises, Raipur , District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 3 - Principal Government Dental College , Raipur , District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Dental Council Of India Through Secretary , Aiwan E Galib Marg, Kotla Road, Temple Lane, New Delhi. ---- Respondents For petitioners : Mr. Anup Majumdar, Advocate For State : Mr.Abhyuday Tripathi, Panel Lawyer For respondent No.4 : Ms. Anu Mishra, Advocate holding the brief of Mr. Malay Shrivatava, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey Order on Board 13.04.2026 1. The petitioners have filed this petition seeking following relief (s) : -2- “10.1 That, the respondent authorities may be directed to convene the departmental promotion committee meeting to consider the names of petitioners immediately for promotion to the post of Reader and granting them all the consequential benefits flowing- out from their date of acquiring the eligibility for promotion to the post of Reader. 10.2 That, the respondent authorities may be directed not to fill-up the posts of Assistant Professors, Lecturers, Readers and Associate Professors and Professors as approved under the Rules of 2013 by the contractual employees in purported compliance of the Rules of 2019. 10.3 That, any other relief/reliefs which may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, may also be allowed.” 2. The facts in brief are that the petitioners were appointed on the post of Resident Doctor and Dental Surgeon under the respondent authorities vide order dated 22.01.2017. The names of the petitioners appear at Serial No.3,4 & 9 in the said order. The petitioners completed five years of teaching experience and became eligible for promotion to the post of Assistant Professor but their claim was not considered on the ground that the Resident Doctors were not eligible to seek promotion directly to the post of Associate Professor/Reader. Thereafter, the petitioners were promoted to the post of Assistant Professor vide order dated 12.04.2023. 3. Mr. Majumdar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners would submit that at present, the petitioners have completed more than 8 years of teaching experience and they are in feeder cadre to the post of Associate Professor but the representations made by the 3 petitioners have been rejected on the ground that they do not possess the required teaching experience. He would refer to relevant service Rules to demonstrate his case. 4. On the other hand, Mr. Tripathi, learned Panel Lawyer appearing for the State would oppose the submissions made by Mr. Majumdar. He would submit that in BDS Course Regulations, the Resident Doctor/Dental Surgeon have been declared Non- teaching clinical post, therefore, the petitioners are not eligible for promotion to the post of Associate Professor from the post of Assistant Professor. 5. Ms. Mishra, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.4 would support the contention made by Mr. Tripathi. 6. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the documents placed on record. 7. The services of the petitioners are governed by the Chhattisgarh Medical Education (Gazetted) Service Recruitment Rules, 2013 (for short ‘the Rules of 2013’) and according to the Rules, the feeder cadre of Associate Professor is Assistant Professor Dental and the feeder cadre of Assistant Professor Dental is Resident/Dental Surgeon. 8. The petitioners were appointed on the post of Resident Doctor/Dental Surgeon and they were promoted after completion of five years of services to the post of Assistant Professor vide order dated 12.04.2023. The required qualification for promotion to the post of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor is as under : -4- “Assistant Professor : A Bachelors Degree in Dental Surgery from an Indian University with Masters in Dental Surgery / Diplomate of National Board recognised by the Government of India on the recommendations of the Council, in the speciality. Associate Professor : A Bachelors Degree in Dental Surgery from an Indian University with Masters in Dental Surgery / Diplomate of National Board recognised by the Government of India on the recommendations of the Council, and with four years of teaching experience in the speciality after post-graduation.” The petitioners were appointed as Resident Doctor/Dental surgeon vide order dated 22.08.2017 and in the year 2021, they completed four years of teaching experience. 9. The State failed to demonstrate that the petitioners/Dental Surgeon/Resident Doctor were never engaged as Teaching Staff. Reliance has been placed on BDS Course Regulations modified on 27.06.1983 wherein, non-teaching clinical post has been defined. 10.It is stated in said provision that three posts of Residents should be created to attend on Oral-Surgical in-door as well as out-door emergency cases. This provision clarifies that only three Residents can be deployed or appointed to attend on Oral-Surgical in-door as well as out-door emergency cases. It is nowhere stated in this provision that all the Residents would be treated non-teaching clinical post, therefore, the contention made by Mr. Tripathi, learned Panel Lawyer appearing for the State cannot be accepted. The State Government vide letter dated 20th October, 2011 sanctioned teaching posts in the dental colleges. In the communication dated 20.05.2020, the Principal of Government Dental College, Raipur mentioned the names of the petitioners 5 against dental teaching staff. 11.Taking into consideration the fact that the petitioners fall within the purview of the teaching staff, therefore, they are entitled for promotion to the post of Associate Professor from the post of Assistant Professor, if they fulfill all other requisite criteria. The petitioners are held eligible and entitled for promotion to the post of Associate Professor in light of existing service Rules. Therefore, the respondent authorities are directed to consider the names of the petitioners for promotion to the said post. The entire exercise shall be completed by the respondents within a period of 120 days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 12.With the aforesaid observation(s)/direction(s), the present petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Rakesh Mohan Pandey) Judge Rekha