GURUPAD K HEGDE Vs. UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition an important question relating to the power of the Board of Studies and the procedure required to be followed in the matter of awarding certain Doctorate Degrees under the revised Regulations framed by the University of Mysore, arises for consideration.

(2.) The facts of the case, in brief, are as follows : The petitioner possesses M.A. Degree in Sanskrit and has been a teacher in Sanskrit for the last 16 years. He had passed B.A. with Sanskrit as major subject in First Class in the year 1966, of the Karnataka University. He passed M.A. Degree in Sanskrit of the Karnataka University in the year 1968 in First Class, First Rank. He is working as Head of the Department of Sanskrit in Lal Bahadur and S.B. Solabanna Shetty Commerce College, Sagar. In accordance with the regulations for awarding Research Degrees in D.Litt/D.Sc/ D.E./D.Ed. etc., the petitioner made an application in the prescribed form praying for awarding the Doctorate Degree in D. Litt in Sanskrit. The Board of Studies of the Mysore University for Sanskrit considered the application of the petitioner and passed the following Resolution.

(3.) Sri Udya Holla, learned Counsel, appearing for the petitioner in support of his contention that the decision was contrary to the regulations of the University, submitted as follows : According to the regulations, when an eligible candidate made an application and the matter is placed before the Board of Studies, the only course open to the Board war to send a panel of examiners consisting of 10 names and it was for the Committee of Academic Council or the Board of Appointment of Examiners, as the case may be, to select 5 examiners out of them, and it was for the 5 examiners to consider as to whether the applicant should be granted to Degree sought for or not and it was only when atleast 4 of the 5 examiners opined that the application deserves to, be granted, the further steps as prescribed under the regulation should be taken. In the present case, the Board of Studies instead of sending the panel of names of examiners to the Board of Appointment of Examiners, itself went into the research papers and other books produced by the petitioner and took a final decision as indicated in the Resolution extracted earlier. The Controller of Examinations has communicated the said decision of the Board of Studies and therefore the decision of Board of Studies as well as the communication of the Controller of Examinations are liable to be set aside and a direction should be issued to the University to follow the procedure prescribed under the regulations. He also submitted that out of 5 persons, who constituted the Board of Studies, one of them was a Professor in Urdu and another a Professor of Philosophy and the third person was only a M.A. in Sanskrit without any Doctorate Degree and the regulation did not invest these persons with the power to decide as to whether the research papers and books of the petitioner in Sanskrit merited the grant of D. Litt. Degree or not.