Madhya Pradesh High Court
Vinod Magardey vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 31 January, 2018
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THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
Writ Petition No.2102/2018
Vinod Magardey Vs. State of M.P. & others
Jabalpur, dated 31/01/2018
Mr. Brindavan Tiwari, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr. Samdarshi Tiwari, Additional Advocate General for the
respondents/State.
Challenge in the present petition is to an advertisement No.7 of 2017 published on 12.12.2017 (Annexure P/1) inviting applications for the post of Assistant Professor in various subjects by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission.
The argument of the petitioner is that he is M.Phil Degree holder having obtained such Degree in the year 2001, therefore, in terms of Clause 2(G)(iii) of Essential Education Qualification conditions of the advertisement, the petitioner is eligible for consideration for the post of Assistant Professor. The petitioner relies upon the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2010 notified by the University Grants Commission on 18.9.2010. As per the said Regulations, the qualifications for the post of Assistant Professor are as under:-
4.4.1. Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Commerce, Education, Languages, Law, Journalism and Mass Communication i. Good academic record as defined by the concerned university with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) at the Master's ....2...
Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University, or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university.
ii. Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited by the UGC like SLET/SET.
iii. Notwithstanding anything c/ontained in sub-clauses (i) and
(ii) to this Clause 4.4.1, candidates, who are, or have been awarded a Ph.D. degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009, shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities/Colleges/Institutions.
iv. NET/SLET/SET shall also not be required for such Masters Programmes in disciplines for which NET/SLET/SET is not conducted.
However, subsequently such Regulations were amended on 4.5.2016. The amended qualifications read as under:-
4.4.1. Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Commerce, Education, Languages, Law, Journalism and Mass Communication i. Good academic record as defined by the concerned university with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) at the Master's Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University, or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university.
ii. Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lecturer/Assistant Professor conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited by the UGC like SLET/SET.
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Iii. Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-clauses (i) and (ii) to this Clause 4.4.1, candidates, who are, or have been awarded a Ph.D. Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009 or the subsequent Regulations if notified by the UGC, shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities/Colleges/Institutions.
Further, the award of degrees to candidates registered for the M.Phil/Ph.D. Programme prior to July 11, 2009, shall be governed by the provisions of the then existing Ordinances/By laws/Regulations of the Institution awarding the degrees and the Ph.D. candidates shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of "NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities/ Colleges/ Institutions subject to the fulfillment of the following conditions:-
(a) Ph.D. Degree of the candidate awarded in regular mode only;
(b) Evaluation of the Ph.D. thesis by at least two external examiners;
(c) Candidate had published two research papers out of which at least one in a referred journal from out of his/her Ph.D. work;
(d) The candidate had presented two papers in seminars/conferences from out of his/her Ph.D. work;
(e) Open Ph.D. viva-voce of the candidate had been conducted.
(a) to (e) as above are to be certified by the Vice Chancellor/ Pro-
Vice Chancellor/Dean (Academic Affairs)/Dean (University Instructions)"
iv. NET/SLET/SET shall also not be required for such Masters Programmes in disciplines for which NET/SLET/SET is not conducted.
Condition 2(G)(iii) in the advertisement is the translated version of clause printed in bold above.
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The argument of the petitioner is that since he is holder of M.Phil Degree prior to July 11, 2009, therefore, he is exempt from the requirement of minimum eligibility condition of National Eligibility Test (NET), State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) and State Eligibility Test (SET).
We do not find any merit in the said argument. The Clause printed in bold is in two parts. First part is the award of Degree to candidates registered for the M.Phil/Ph.D. Degree prior to July 11, 2009. Such Degrees, granted in terms of the provisions of the then existing Ordinances/By Laws/Regulations of the Institution awarding the Degrees are valid. Thus in terms of such Clause, M.Phil Degree granted to the petitioner would be a valid Degree as it has been granted by the existing provisions of the Barkatullah University in the State of Madhya Pradesh. However, second part is in respect of exemption from requirement of minimum eligibility condition of NET, SLET or SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor. Such exemption is only to Ph.D. Degree holder candidates. Admittedly, the petitioner is neither registered for Ph.D. Degree prior to July 11, 2009 nor is Ph.D Degree Holder. Therefore, M.Phil Degree awarded to the petitioner is a valid Degree, but he is not exempt from the requirement of minimum eligibility condition of qualifying NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment as Assistant Professor.
In view thereof, we do not find any merit in the present writ petition. The same is dismissed.
(Hemant Gupta) (Vijay Kumar Shukla) C. Chief Justice Judge Digitally signed by CHRISTOPHER PHILIP Date: 2018.02.01 03:48:10 -08'00'