Chandigarh High Court Judgment on Equivalence in Qualification

In this post we will discuss about the decision of Punjab and Haryana high court in which it had directed the Haryana Government and HSSC to Tata panel to determine equivalent of subject and nomenclature of degrees required for appointment to a PGT post.

EQUIVALENCE IN QUALIFICATION FOR JOBS SHOULB BE LEFT TO EMPLOYER : HIGH COURT

INTRODUCTION : In this post we will discuss about the decision of Punjab and Haryana high court in which it had directed the Haryana Government and HSSC to Tata panel to determine equivalent of subject and nomenclature of degrees required for appointment to a PGT post.

Facts of the case : A number of petitions were filed by the candidates who were not considered eligible by the HSSC for appointment to the post of PGT home science on the basis of nomenclature of their MSc degrees related to home science. Most of the petitioner possessed degrees in MSc (food and nutrition) But one of them are identified as Sonia lakhra had a degree in MSc (extension education), petitioners Suman Lata and Banita had a degree in MSc (dietetics and food service management) petitioners Manju Kumari and pushta Rani had a degree in MSc ( food science and technology ) and petitioner Tanuja had a degree in MSc ( food technology).

The petitioners had approached the high court seeking directions to declare their qualifications equivalent to MSc home science. Representing one of the petitioners’ senior advocate Chetan Mittal contended that the expert committee constituted by the Haryana government had given a report in her favour and various institutions such as kurukshetra University and University grant commission 2 recognised that both the qualifications are equivalent.

Contesting the issue the Haryana government contended that in the exercise of its power of judicial review the high court is not expected to go into the question of equivalence of qualifications. The question of equivalence of qualifications for recruitment is a matter which should be left to the employer recruitment agency and the experts. As per the service rule the requirement is a degree in MSc ( home science) and there is no provision for recognising any equivalent qualification.

Legal issue :whether while exercising its power of judicial review the high court can go into the question of equivalence of qualifications or not?

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Decision of hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High court : after hearing all the parties the high court observed that the entire dispute is required to be limited to the employer in this case the Haryana Government and the recruiting agency with a direction to take a final decision on this aspect full stop the high court also asked the authorities to hear the petitioners either virtually or by way of giving them a physical hearing the Punjab and Haryana High court has directed the Haryana Government and Haryana staff selection commission to set up a committee of experts to determine equivalence of subject and nomenclature of degrees required for appointment to the post of a post graduate teacher in home science. The High court ruled that equivalence in qualification for appointment to a post should be left to the employer or subject experts. The high court asked the state government authorities to take a final decision on the issue within a period of two months after deputing a senior official at the level of secretary in the department of education along with a subject expert to decide the matter.

Conclusion : Thus in the case in hand the hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High court held that the equivalence in qualification for jobs should be left to the employer.

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This post is written by Karishma Jain

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