Allahabad High Court
Shilpa Saroha vs State Of U.P. And 2 Others on 2 April, 2024
Author: Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
Bench: Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC:55598 Reserved on : 29.03.2024 Delieverd on : 02.04.2024 Court No. - 65 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 13888 of 2019 Petitioner :- Shilpa Saroha Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Seemant Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Rijwan Ali Akhtar,Yatindra Hon'ble Saurabh Shyam Shamshery,J.
1. Heard Shri Seemant Singh, learned counsel for petitioner and Shri Yatindra, learned counsel for respondent nos. 2 and 3.
2. Petitioner has participated in Assistant Teacher Recruitment Examination - 2018 and claimed that she was declared qualified and was allowed to participate in later part of counselling but at the stage of allotment of school, process was stopped on ground that she has passed B.Com and D.Ed. simultaneously.
3. Learned counsel for petitioner has referred minutes of a meeting of a Committee of University Grant Commission wherein issue of pursuing more than one degree or diploma simultaneously was considered and he further referred the following decision taken in the meeting:-
"b) A student pursuing a degree programme under regular mode may be allowed to pursue a maximum of one certificate/diploma/advanced diploma/PG diploma programme simultaneously either in regular or open and distance mode in the same university or from other institutions. "
4. Learned counsel further submitted that in pursuance of above decision there was no legal bar for undertaking B.Com and D.Ed. course as a regular student by the petitioner simultaneously. Learned counsel also referred a document annexed in short counter affidavit filed on behalf of U.G.C. i.e. a public notice issued by the University Grant Commission on subject:-
"Clarification on allowing student pursued two degrees simultaneously and he referred following communicating notice."
5. Learned counsel submitted that by way of public notice a student was not allowed to pursue his Degrees simultaneously but it does not bar to pursue one degree course and one diploma course, even as a regular student simultaneously. Referred Public Notice is reproduced hereinafter:-
"PUBLIC NOTICE SUBJECT: CLARIFICATION ON ALLOWING STUDENTS TO PURSUE TWO DEGREES SIMULTANEOUSLY.
The Commission had sought the comments of the Statutory Councils. The responses, so far, received do not endorse the idea of allowing the students to pursue two degree simultaneously. Therefore, the universities shall conduct their programmes in accordance with the First Degree and Master Degree Regulations, 2003 prescribed by the UGC and also follow the norms and parameters prescribed by the Statutory Council concerned, wherever relevant."
6. Per Contra, learned counsels for respondents submitted that petitioner has pursued B.Com degree course from University of Delhi as a regular student from Bhim Rao Ambedkar College and has claimed that she has simultaneously undertaken two years Diploma in Education as a regular student at Madhyamik Shiksha Mandal, Madhya Pradesh Bhopal i.e. a college far away from Delhi.
7. Learned counsel further submitted that it is not possible that at same time, the petitioner could have attended minimum classes at both places and he further submitted that permission to grant to undertake simultaneously two courses i.e. one degree and one diploma would not mean that petitioner is permitted to do two courses simultaneously without even attending it.
8. Heard counsel for parties and perused the record.
9. It is not under dispute that petitioner has simultaneously undertaken two courses as a regular student i.e. B.Com from Delhi University and D.Ed. course from a college situated at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, even it is considered that U.G.C. has permitted that a student may pursue a maximum of one certificate/diploma/advanced diploma/PG diploma programme simultaneously with one degree course either in regular or open and distance mode in same university or from other institutions, however, said permission would not be for a factual position as exists in present case, so much as it could not humanly possible to attend regular classes at Delhi and Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh simultaneously.
10. Petitioner has claimed that she studied as a regular student in two institutions simultaneously one situated at Delhi and other situated at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The permission granted by the U.G.C. could be construed, so far as undertaking two simultaneous course in same university or in any other institution as a regular student so that he/she could manage study regularly, however, in present case, it is nothing but a misuse of a permission to have simultaneous course as a regular student one at Delhi and other at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
11. It is not possible for a common human to remain present or even mark minimum required attendance as a regular student at both institutions simultaneously, therefore, it is nothing but a fraud. It is not humanly possible to undergo simultaneously two courses at different places having distance of about 800 k.m. as a regular student, therefore, there is no illegality in impugned order whereby the counselling of petitioner was stopped on ground that she has pursued two courses simultaneously at different places one at Delhi and other at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Therefore, writ petition being sans merit, is accordingly dismissed.
Order Date:- 02.04.2024 P.Pandey