Anand Yadav & Ors. vs State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

HELD: 1.1 This Court, at the inception, expresses its reservation about the manner in which the writ petition was filed and a decision was taken in the impugned order of the High Court without even calling upon the relevant authorities, i.e., the UGC and the NCTE to put forth their stand. The first authority is undisputedly the one to determine and specify the nomenclature of degrees, while the second is the authority of teacher education. A decision based in the absence of concerned authorities is likely to and has caused confusion. Affected candidates, or at least some of them in a representative capacity, were bound to be heard and no decision could have been taken behind the back of these candidates. It is only before this Court that the complete contours of the controversy have emerged and the stand of all the relevant parties have been sought to be examined. [Paras 26-28] [946-D-G]

1.2 The stand put forth by the UGC/respondent No. 4 is unequivocal in its terms that M.Ed. degree is indeed a master’s degree in Education in terms of the notification issued by it under the UGC Act in terms of Section 22. In that sense, the matter is put to rest in terms of recognition of M.Ed. as a post-graduate degree by the competent authority. The question of equivalence, as submitted by respondent No.4/UGC was to be left to the NCTE. It is in view thereof that NCTE was added as a party (respondent No. 5) and has, once again, put forth its position quite unequivocally. The NCTE has drawn a distinction between the two degrees to the extent that while M.A. (Education) is a degree in the discipline of Education, the M.Ed. degree is a practitioner’s degree. Reference has also been made to a Committee constituted in pursuance of the impugned judgment, which is an expert committee. In view of the recognition of the M.Ed. programme of one-year duration, in order to acquire an M.Ed. degree, one has to spend two years after the first degree because for an M.Ed. degree, a B.Ed. degree is mandatory. It is in these circumstances a conclusion was reached that, from the point of view of duration and curricular inputs, M.Ed. qualifies itself as a master’s programme in Education and is even recognised by the UGC and NCTE as such. In a sense this puts to rest one of the controversies raised by respondent No. 3, i.e., initially M.Ed. was a one-year programme, and only subsequently converted into a two-years programme in 2015, as this very issue has been examined by an expert committee of the NCTE, and the NCTE concluded in favour of the appellants. There is also a categorical statement in the last paragraph of the counter affidavit of the NCTE to the effect that the M.Ed. is a master’s degree recognised by apex bodies like the UGC and NCTE for appointment as Assistant Professor in Education and they are also eligible for the NET/SLET/JRF. Another important aspect may also be noticed, i.e., the employer ultimately being the best judge of who should be appointed. The choice was of respondent No. 2. who sought the assistance of an expert committee in view of the representation of some of the appellants. The eminence of the expert committee is apparent from its composition. That committee, after examination, opined in favour of the stand taken by the appellants, and respondent No. 2 as employer decided to concur with the same and accepted the committee’s opinion. It is really not for the appellants or the contesting respondent to contend how and in what manner a degree should be obtained, which would make them eligible for appointment by respondent No. 2. [Paras 29-31][946-G-H; 947-A-H]

1.3 It is not this Court’s view that an employer like respondent No. 2 can do as they please - they are guided and bound by the terms of the UGC Act and the regulations thereunder, but then here, there is no doubt about the M.Ed. degree being a post graduate degree, in view of not only what the UGC stated before this Court, but having promulgated the relevant Regulations as far back as 2010 as amended from time to time. The issue of equivalence has been rightly considered by the NCTE and while recognising some distinct aspects of two the degrees, it has clearly stated that for the job of Assistant Professors (Education), both are eligible. It is not as if a person with an M.Ed. degree is eligible for all the posts which were advertised for Science, Arts and others. Their eligibility has been found only for the post of Assistant Professor (Education), which is directly relatable to the subject to be taught. The fact that both M.Ed. and M.A. (Education) degree-holders have to take a common test for the purposes of NET is not conclusive, but it is one of the factors to be considered, and once the expert body being the NCTE, inter alia, has taken that aspect into consideration apart from other factors to opine equivalence for the purpose of appointment to the post of Assistant Professor in Education, it would not be appropriate to take a contra view. Matters of education must be left to educationists, of course subject to being governed by the relevant statutes and regulations. It is not the function of this Court to sit as an expert body over the decision of the experts, especially when the experts are all eminent people as apparent from the names as set out. [Paras 32-34][948-A-F]

Zahoor Ahmad Rather & Ors. v. Sheikh Imtiyaz Ahmad & Ors. (2019) 2 SCC 404: [2018] 14 SCR 1082 – relied on.

1.4 The impugned order of the High Court has almost been predicated entirely on the judgment in Dr. Prit Singh case, as if there was no issue alive to be dealt with, even though the distinction was recognised in a subsequent judgment of the Dr. Ram Sevak Singh case. Sometimes, without looking into the real ratio decidendi, a judgment is followed as a precedent. This is what appears to have happened in the impugned order. There are even some other judgments of the High Courts, which in turn were then sought to be relied upon to canvas a proposition that there is a widespread acceptance of M.Ed. not being equivalent to M.A. (Education). That they are two different degrees is obvious; this is even recognised by the NCTE while emphasising the subtle distinction between the two degrees as one being a master’s degree but not a professional degree, while the other being a professional degree. If the two degrees are identical, there is no question of equivalence. The issue of equivalence only arises when there are two different degrees and what is to be decided whether for certain purposes they can be treated as equivalent. This is exactly what has happened as a result of the respective expert committees set up by respondent Nos. 2 & 5. The employer, i.e., respondent No. 2, had accepted the recommendation of the expert committee. The UGC has also taken a stand that insofar as the two degrees are concerned, both are post graduate degrees, and the equivalence authority being respondent No.5 has also opined on the basis of an expert committee, that the two can be treated as equivalent for the post of Assistant Professor in Education. Thus, it is neither for the contesting party, i.e., respondent No.3, nor for this Court to sit as a court of appeal over the decision of the experts.

Respondent No.3 has in fact been selected in the 2014 selection process as per the final list released on 22.5.2018. The impugned judgment is not sustainable and has to be set aside, and the challenge to the corrigendum dated 11.7.2016 is repelled. The result having already been computed and awaiting declaration should now be declared forthwith. [Paras 35-37][949-A-H; 950-A-D]

Dr. Prit Singh v. S.K. Mangal & Ors. 1993 Supp (1) SCC 714: [1992] 1 Suppl. SCR 337 – distinguished.

Praveen Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors. 2014 SCC OnLine HP 4307; Dr. Ram Sevak Singh v. Dr. U.P. Singh & Ors. (1999) 2 SCC 189; Dr. M.S. Mudhol & Anr. v. S.D. Halegkar & Ors. (1993) 3 SCC 591:[1993] 1 Suppl. SCR 115– referred to.