VIJAYALEKSHMI Vs. UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issue involved in all these writ petitions is the same in that what is impugned is the selection conducted by the Travancore Devaswom Board, to the post of Principal in the various colleges falling under its management and affiliated to the Kerala University and the Mahatma Gandhi University (hereinafter referred to as 'the University for short). The selection to the post of Principal is made on the basis of seniority -cum -fitness from among qualified selection grade lecturers. One of the grounds on which the selection is challenged is that the Devaswom Board had, in respect of those colleges that were affiliated to the MG University, insisted on candidates possessing a PhD qualification for consideration to the post of Principal. In respect of those colleges that were affiliated to the Kerala University however, the said PhD qualification was not insisted upon. The differential stipulation of PhD qualification by the Devaswom Board was on account of the fact that, while the MG university had decided to adopt the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as 'the UGC Regulations' for short) that mandated the possession of a PhD qualification by those seeking appointment to the post of Principal in colleges affiliated to Universities, the Kerala University had chosen not to adopt the said Regulations during the relevant period. A question that arises for consideration in these cases, however, is whether, irrespective of any adoption by the Universities in question, the UGC Regulations of 2010, to the extent they stipulate a minimum qualification to be possessed by a candidate seeking promotion to the post of Principal, would automatically apply to the selection that was conducted by the Devaswom Board.

(2.) The Statutory Provisions under the Kerala University Regulations Relating to Qualifications of Teachers, which have been adopted by the MG University, and the UGC Regulations of 2010 that deal with the qualifications for the post of principal are as follows:

(3.) 0.0. RECRUITMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS