Bombay High Court
Vinothan Krishnan Raman vs University Of Mumbai And Others on 31 July, 2012
Author: D.Y.Chandrachud
Bench: D.Y.Chandrachud, R.D.Dhanuka
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.872 OF 2011
Vinothan Krishnan Raman ..Petitioner.
versus
University of Mumbai and others ..Respondents.
.....
Mr. Vinothan Krishnan Raman - Petitioner in person.
Mr. Rui A. Rodrigues for Respondents 1 to 4.
Mr. Atul Damle for Respondent No.6.
......
CORAM : DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD, and
R.D.DHANUKA, JJ.
31 July 2012.
1.
ORAL JUDGMENT (PER.DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD, J.) :
The Petitioner obtained the B.Com. degree in 1987 from the University of Mumbai with an aggregate of 41.88% marks. In 2009, the Petitioner appeared for the Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree examination conducted by the Annamalai University. A provisional "double degree" certificate was issued by the Annamalai University on 16 October 2009. The Petitioner sought admission through the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) of the University of Mumbai for pursuing an M.A. in Political Science in 2009. He passed Part I of the M.A. examination in April 2010 and Part II in April 2011. In the meantime in August 2010 the Petitioner took admission for the Three Year LL. B. degree course of the University of Mumbai through the Thane Law College. The University of Mumbai declined to grant eligibility to the Petitioner to pursue the LL. B. degree course. According to the Petitioner the University verbally declined to grant him eligibility after the first semester examination. These proceedings were instituted before the Court on 15 April 2011 seeking the following reliefs:
i)The University of Mumbai be directed to recognize the B.A. degree conferred upon the Petitioner by Annamalai University;
ii)The marks received by the Petitioner in Part I of the M.A. degree course be considered;
iii)The Petitioner may be issued with a hall ticket for the examination commencing from 18 April 2011.::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 :::
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2. By an interim order dated 15 April 2011 the Division Bench directed the University to permit the Petitioner to appear for the First Year LL. B. examination which was to commence from 18 April 2011 with the clear understanding that he will not be entitled to claim an equity on any count at a later stage and that the result of the First Year examination shall be kept in abeyance till the further orders of the Court. Subsequently, the Petition came to be amended to seek a direction that the Petitioner be permitted to seek admission to the Second Year of the LL. B. degree course and that if he had failed in any of the subjects at the second semester examination, that he could be permitted to appear in those subjects again.
3.
During the pendency of these proceedings, the Division Bench directed on 9 June 2011 the impleadment of the University Grants Commission and the Bar Council of India. Pursuant thereto, UGC has filed an affidavit before this Court of its Education Officer dated 24 January 2012. The University of Mumbai has also placed an affidavit in reply on the record. The Bar Council of India has appeared through counsel. The Bar Council of India has placed on the record its Rules of Legal Education, 2008 framed under the provisions of the Advocates Act 1961.
4. The Petitioner has argued in person. The University and the Bar Council of India have addressed submissions before the Court through counsel. The Rules of Legal Education, 2008 framed by the Bar Council of India under the Advocates Act 1961 define the expression "First Degree" in Rule 2(viii) as follows:
"(viii) "First Degree" means Bachelor Degree in any branch of knowledge such as Arts, Fine Arts, Science, Commerce, Management, Medicine, Engineering, Pharmacy, Technology etc. conferred by Universities or any other qualifications awarded by an institution / authority recognized by the Bar Council of India, from time to time."
5. Rule 7 provides for the minimum marks which are required to be obtained in the qualifying examination for admission and is as follows :
"7. Minimum marks in qualifying examination for admission ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 ::: PNP 3/8 WP872-31.7.sxw Bar Council of India may from time to time, stipulate the minimum percentage of marks not below 45% of the total marks in case of general category applicants and 40% of the total marks in case of SC and ST applicants, to be obtained for the qualifying examination, such as +2 Examination in case of Integrated Five Years' course or Degree course in any discipline for Three years' LL.B. course, for the purpose of applying for and getting admitted into a Law Degree Program of any recognized University in either of the streams.
Provided that such a minimum qualifying marks shall not automatically entitle a person to get admission into an institution but only shall entitle the person concerned to fulfill other institutional criteria notified by the institution concerned or by the government concerned from time to time to apply for admission."
6. Ordinance 5077 of the University of Mumbai prescribes the conditions of eligibility for obtaining admission to the first semester of the Three Year LL.B. degree course. The requirement under Ordinance 5077 is as follows :
"A Candidate of being eligible for admission to the First semester of 3 years LL.B. Degree Course must have passed/ completed Degree Examination in any Faculty of a recognized University or equivalent qualification with minimum 45% of marks at the qualifying examination if there is no Eligibility test and, 40% of marks at the qualifying examination if there is an eligibility test. However, the above percentage of Marks shall be relaxed by 5% for the candidates belonging to SC/ST categories."
7. The University Grants Commission had framed regulations in 1985 in exercise of powers conferred by Section 26(1)(f ) of the University Grants Commission Act 1956. These were called the UGC (the minimum standards of instructions for the grant of the first degree through non-formal / distance education in the faculties of Arts, Humanities, Fine Arts, Music, Social Sciences, Commerce and Sciences) Regulations 1985. Under Regulation 2(2) no student shall be eligible for the award of the first degree unless he has successfully completed a three year course culminating in the B.A./ B.Sc. or B.Com. degree, ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 ::: PNP 4/8 WP872-31.7.sxw as the case may be. The UGC has therefore stated in its affidavit that under the Regulations of 1985, unless and until a candidate has successfully pursued a first degree course of three years' duration, he would not be eligible for admission to a Master's degree course. From time to time, the UGC had relaxed the application of the UGC Regulations, 1985 regarding the minimum standards of instructions for the grant of first degree. On 30 June 1999 the UGC took a decision that candidates who had completed their B.A. under one sitting during the year 1998-99, may be treated as having fulfilled a valid degree requirement for all purposes including admission to higher degrees and employment. Subsequently, the UGC framed the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards of Instructions for the Grant of the First Degree through formal education), Regulations 2003. Regulation 8.1. provides as follows :
"8.1 No student shall be eligible for the award of the first degree unless he/she has successfully completed a programme, of not less than three year duration and secured the minimum number of credits prescribed by the university for the award of the degree.
8.2 The degree to be awarded may be called the bachelor's degree in the respective discipline in accordance with nomenclature specified by the UGC under Section 22 (3) of the UGC Act."
8. The Petitioner passed his B.Com degree examination from the University of Mumbai with 41.88% marks in the aggregate. On the basis of this examination, he would not be entitled to obtain admission to the LL.B. degree course since under Rule 7 of the Rules of Legal Education, 2008, a candidate in order to obtain admission to the Three Year LL.B. degree course has to obtain atleast 45% of the total marks in the qualifying examination. The requirement is 40% for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Petitioner is a general category candidate and did not meet the norm of a minimum of 45% marks. But according to the Petitioner, he was entitled to secure admission to the LL.B. degree course on the basis of his having obtained the B.A. degree from Annamalai University. Now in this regard the regulations that were framed by the UGC initially in 1985 and subsequently in 2003 are abundantly clear. The Regulations of 2003 held the field when the Petitioner was seeking admission to the LL.B. degree course. Under those Regulations, for a ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 ::: PNP 5/8 WP872-31.7.sxw person to be eligible for the award of a first degree, the student is required to successfully complete a programme of not less than three years duration. In its affidavit in reply, the UGC has explained the distinction between the educational quality of the Bachelors degree and the Masters degree obtained through the regular mode as distinguished from a degree obtained in one sitting as follows :
"That at this stage it is relevant to clarify that so far as the Bachelors Degree [the first degree] and the Masters Degree [the second degree] obtained through one sitting is entirely different from the Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree obtained through regular mode as in the one sitting program, the candidate takes the examination of all papers in one sitting whereas in the degrees obtained through the other mode / regular mode, the candidate has taken the examination of various papers at the
9. end of the academic session / semester."
In the circumstances, the UGC has stated that in view of its Regulations unless and until a candidate has pursued the first degree course of three years duration, he would not be eligible for admission to the Masters degree course. Moreover, a candidate who has obtained a Bachelor or Master's degree in contravention of the UGC Regulations, cannot be regarded as holding a valid degree. The Petitioner obtained his B.A. degree in one sitting from Annamalai University in 2009 and it is admitted that he had not followed a Three Year degree programme at that University. The UGC is unquestionably entitled to frame regulations in the interest of education and more specifically in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 26(1)(f) of the University Grants Commission Act 1956. Under that provision the Commission is empowered to make rules and regulations to define the minimum standards of instructions for the grant of any degree by any University.
10. The Petitioner has a B.Com. degree from the University of Mumbai which has been obtained after following a regular Three Year schedule. The difficulty on the part of the Petitioner in seeking admission to the LL.B. degree course is that he dos not meet the qualifying requirement of 45% marks in the B.Com. degree examination. This would breach Rule 7 of the Rules of Legal Education 2008 framed by the Bar Council of India and Ordinance 5077 of the Ordinances of the University of Mumbai. The degree obtained by the Petitioner from ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 ::: PNP 6/8 WP872-31.7.sxw Annamalai University was a degree obtained in one sitting. The Petitioner not having pursued a regular Three Year degree course at the Annamalai University, there could be no question of utilizing that qualification as the basis of admission to the LL.B. degree course. When the Petitioner filed these proceedings on 15 April 2011, he had passed the First Part of the M.A. degree examination of the University of Mumbai. Subsequently, he passed the Second Part of the M.A. degree examination in August 2011. We are of the view that the Petitioner would be eligible for admission to the LL.B. degree course as a result of the subsequent development which has taken place during the pendency of these proceedings, culminating in the award of the M.A. degree. Counsel appearing on behalf of the University has stated before the Court that since the Petitioner had appeared through the Institute of Distance and Open Learning, there was no requirement of obtaining clearance of the change in faculty from commerce to arts. However, we find from the record that the Petitioner had already obtained admission to the LL.B. degree course in August 2010 at the Thane Law College.
It was only after he passed his M.A. degree examination in August 2011 that he would be eligible to seek admission to the LL.B. degree course of Mumbai University.
11. In the decision in Sanatan Gauda v. Berhampur University 1, the Supreme Court considered the Regulations framed under the Berhampur University Act 1966 which did not prescribe any particular requirement of marks for postgraduate students to obtain admission to the LL.B. degree programme. On this basis, the Supreme Court directed that since there was no requirement of any particular marks for postgraduate students such as the appellant (who had passed his M.A. examination), the University should be directed to declare his results for the law examination. The factual difference which must be noted is that in the case before the Supreme Court, the student when he took admission to the law college had submitted his mark sheet together with the M.A. degree certificate. In the present case, the Petitioner had not passed the M.A. degree examination when he took admission to the LL.B. degree programme of the Mumbai University since it was only subsequently that he had passed the examination. The Petitioner appeared for the First Year examination 1 AIR 1990 SC 1075.
::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 :::PNP 7/8 WP872-31.7.sxw in pursuance of the permission granted by the Division Bench on 15 April 2011 with the clear notice that this will abide by the result of the Petition.
12. The net result is that while the Petitioner would now be eligible to seek admission to the LL.B. degree course, he was not eligible to do so in August 2010 for the reason that - (i) He had failed to obtain atleast 45% in the B.Com. degree examination of the Mumbai University and would consequently fail to meet the eligibility requirement under Rule 7 of the Rules of Legal Education 2008 and Ordinance 5077 of the Mumbai University; and (ii) The B.A. degree which the Petitioner obtained in one sitting from Annamalai University failed to meet the requirement of the UGC Regulations of 2003. The eligibility of the Petitioner now to seek admission to the LL.B. degree of the University of Mumbai is on the basis of his having passed the M.A. degree examination of the University of Mumbai in August 2011. The Petitioner submits that there was no failure on his part to provide information to the University and in view of that position, even if he has been granted admission wrongly, he should be allowed to pursue and complete his remaining studies. We are of the view that the Petitioner, on the basis of the clear requirement of eligibility, would not have been entitled to pursue the LL.B. degree course on the date on which he applied for admission. The college which was affiliated to the University granted admission, but before the University allows a student to appear at the examination, it is entitled to determine as to whether the student meets the requirement of eligibility. It would not be open to this Court in the exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue any direction contrary to the statutory requirements which hold the field. However, having regard to the fact that the Petitioner has completed his M.A. degree examination, we are of the view that it would be in the interests of justice if the Vice-Chancellor of the University is directed to consider as to whether the Petitioner can be given due credit for the First Year of the LL.B. degree examination which he has already passed. If a relaxation of that nature can be granted in accordance with the provisions of law, the Vice-Chancellor may take a considered decision in the matter after furnishing to the Petitioner a brief opportunity of placing such material or submissions as he may consider appropriate. The date on which the Vice-Chancellor will permit the Petitioner to ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 18:55:34 ::: PNP 8/8 WP872-31.7.sxw place his submissions may be communicated within a period of one week from today and a considered decision should be taken within a period of one week thereafter. In the event that the Petitioner is held eligible to seek admission to the Second Year of the LL.B. degree course, the University will issue necessary directions to the college in that regard. We dispose of the Petition in the aforesaid terms.
There shall be no order as to costs.
(Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J.)
ig (R.D.Dhanuka, J.)
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