DHANYA BABU.V. Vs. UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner challenges Exhibit P11 by which the University of Calicut had denied the request of the petitioner for equivalency in respect of the M.Com degree obtained by her from Indira Gandhi National Open University (for short 'IGNOU'). The equivalency had been denied on the ground that as per the regulations for admission of M.Com of Calicut University, the candidate who has passed B.Com or BBA (earlier BBS) Degree of University of Calicut or B.Com, BBA or BBM or BBS of any other University or Institute in any State, recognised by UGC or AICTE with minimum 45% marks alone are eligible for admission. In respect of the petitioner, she had only B.Sc Physics as Degree qualification, by which she had obtained M.Com Masters Degree from IGNOU. The University had not considered the request for equivalency in the proper perspective. Reference is made by the petitioner to Exhibit P7 by which it is stated that in the case of courses conducted by IGNOU, all degrees shall be recognized as equivalent to the degrees of the University and eligibility is not a criteria. Reference is also made to Exhibit P8 which relates to the recognition of courses of other Universities by Calicut. There also, according to the petitioner, eligibility is not a criteria. It is submitted that as per UGC guidelines, the basic qualification for admission to M.Com course is only Graduate Degree irrespective of the subject in which the candidate has the Degree and when IGNOU had granted M.Com degree on the basis of UGC guidelines, the University of Calicut cannot insist that the basic qualification should be either B.Com or BBA. It is also contended that the petitioner has the Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) which also ought to have been considered by the Academic Council before rejecting the request for equivalency. It is contended that on account of the University not granting equivalency certificate, petitioner is unable to obtain any advantage of having M.Com Degree in any of the Colleges coming under the University of Calicut.

(2.) Statement is filed on behalf of respondents 1 and 2 inter alia stating that as per Exhibit P1 it is clearly stated that while recognizing courses of other Universities, the duration, nomenclature, discipline and eligibility criteria (which includes admission criteria) should be same as that of corresponding courses of the Calicut University. In that view of the matter, the Academic Council had considered the issue and had decided not to grant equivalency as far as the petitioner is concerned since the petitioner's basic degree for admission to M.Com is B.Sc Physics, which is not a recognised graduate degree for admission to M.Com in Calicut University. Therefore, it is submitted that the petitioner cannot make any claim for equivalency.

(3.) Counter affidavit is also filed by the fourth respondent wherein references has been made to Exhibit R4(b), which is the qualification prescribed by UGC. Serial No.33 relates to M.Com and the entry qualification is stated as "Bachelor's". It is therefore contended that as far as IGNOU is concerned, Bachelor's Degree is the minimum qualification for M.Com.