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2. The petitioners are aggrieved by the aforesaid Regulations, 2009 inasmuch as it does away with the exemption from compulsory NET/SLET examination for appointment as Lecturers in Universities. The said exemption was earlier provided by the UGC vide UGC (Minimum qualifications required for the appointment and career advancement of Teachers in Universities and Institutions affiliated to it) (2nd Amendment), Regulations, 2006 (hereinafter referred to as, "Regulations 2006"). The relevant portion of Regulations 2006 is as under:-

"NET shall remain the compulsory requirement for appointment as Lecturer for those with Post Graduate Degree. However, the candidates having Ph.D. degree in the concerned subject are exempted from NET for PG level and UG level teaching. The candidates having M.Phil Degree in the concerned subject are exempted from NET for UG level teaching only."

3. Mr. Amit Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the power to frame Regulations had been exclusively conferred under the UGC Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as, "Act") on the UGC and the Union of India (for short "UOI") could not have interfered with the said power. According to him, the impugned Regulations framed by the UGC pursuant to direction by UOI vide letter dated 12th November, 2008 was abdication of statutory power by the UGC. It was submitted by the learned counsel that when a particular act is prescribed to be done in a particular manner under any statute, then the act must be done in that manner or not at all. To emphasise the said submission, reliance was placed on the decisions of the Supreme Court in Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh Vs. State of U.P. AIR 1954 SC 322; Deep Chand Vs. State of Rajasthan AIR 1961 SC 1527 and State of U.P. Vs. Singhara Singh AIR 1964 SC 358 wherein the rule laid down in Nazir Ahmed Vs. King Emperor AIR 1936 PC 253 was upheld that when a power is given to do a certain thing in a certain way, the thing must be done in that way or not at all.

(emphasis supplied)

20. It is pertinent to mention that UGC made the NET examination compulsory for appointment to the post of teachers and lecturers in the universities for the first time by way of Regulations in 1991. The 1991 Regulations were based on the recommendations of Expert Committees appointed by the Union of India from time to time for evaluation, upgradation and maintenance of the standards of higher education in the country.

22. In view of the recommendations of the final report of Mungekar Committee, the Union of India gave policy directions vide letter dated 12th November, 2008 to UGC to issue regulations to make NET compulsory for appointment of teachers/lecturers in universities. The relevant portion of the said directions are reproduced hereinunder:-

"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers, conferred by sub- section (1) of Section 20 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, the Central Government hereby directs that (1) the UGC shall, for serving the national purpose of maintaining standards of higher education, frame appropriate regulations within a period of thirty days from the date of issue of this Order prescribing that qualifying in NET/SLET shall generally be compulsory for all persons appointed to teaching positions of Lecturer/Assistance Professor in higher education, and only persons who possess degree of Ph.D. after having been enrolled/admitted to a programme notified by the Commission, after it has satisfied itself on the basis of expert opinion, as to be or have always been in conformity with the procedure of standardization of Ph.D. prescribed by it, and also that the degree of Ph.D. was awarded by a University or Institution Deemed to be University notified by the UGC as having already complied with the procedure prescribed under the regulations framed by the Commission for the purpose.