JYOTI AGARWAL Vs. STATE OF SIKKIM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner, by filing the instant Writ Petition, seeks the following reliefs;

(2.) The Petitioner assails the Communication, dated 08.08.2018, vide which the State-Respondents No.1 and 2 informed the Respondent No.4-C.M.P. College, Allahabad University, where the Petitioner was employed, that Master of Arts in Mathematics for short, M.A. (Math)' is not a recognized Course in the University Grants Commission (UGC)/Distance Education Council (DEC) for the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management University, Sikkim (EIILM University). Therefore, the Degree of the Petitioner in the subject was neither valid nor genuine.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the Petitioner, advancing his arguments before this Court, submitted that the Petitioner has been a meritorious student all through her academic career. On graduating in History and Mathematics from the Allahabad University, she enrolled in the EIILM University for M.A. (Math) in the 2010-2012 Session, after making all relevant queries with regard to the validity of the Degrees conferred by the University, which was listed on the official Website of the Respondent No.3- UGC, as a recognized University. Similarly, the official Website of the EIILM University indicated that all Courses offered by it were UGC recognized. The Petitioner appeared in the Internal and External Examinations conducted by the University for the Session 2010-2012 and successfully cleared the M.A. (Math) in the First Division. Pursuant thereto, she appeared in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering in 2014 in which she duly qualified. On 22.06.2014, the Petitioner appeared in the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-UGC Test for Junior Research Fellowship and National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship and emerged successful. That, thereafter she pursued a Doctoral Degree in Philosophy (Mathematics) in Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad and cleared the First and Second Semester Examinations in 2017-2018. That, on applications being invited from eligible candidates for the post of Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics by the Respondent No.4, she applied for and was appointed in the said post, which she joined on 08.01.2018. That, the instant matter arose on an anonymous Complaint lodged with the College regarding the Petitioner's Degree, upon which the Principal sought information from State-Respondent No.2 and in response received the impugned Communication of 08.08.2018. It is urged by Learned Counsel for the Petitioner that the impugned Communication is absolutely vague lacking material facts. That, the EIILM University, Jorethang, Sikkim, was established in 2006 and under Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (Act No.3 of 1956) (UGC Act), any University defined under Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act can grant/confer a Degree, on the Degree being notified by the Central Government under Section 22 (3) of the Act. That, 'Master of Arts' is reflected in the Notification of the UGC issued on 07.06.1999, at Serial No.60 of Appendix-I of the UGC Act. Consequently, once the Degree was specified in the Notification, the question of the Petitioner's Degree being invalid does not arise. Admittedly, the EIILM University was dissolved by the State vide its Order dated 08.05.2015, however the Petitioner had already completed her Course and Degree awarded to her in 2013, hence the dissolution of the University has no effect on her Degree. Now, no explanation is forthcoming from any authority on why her Degree is invalid, which is prejudicial to her as she has completed several other Courses pursuant to her Degree in M.A. (Math). Moreover, her salary has also been withheld by the College where she was employed. Hence, the prayers in the Writ Petition supra. To buttress his contentions, Learned Counsel relied on the Order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, dated 06.12.2019, in Deepak Rajak v. Scheduled Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee and Others Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).27886/2019. It was argued that although the Petition therein was dismissed by the Hon'ble Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Hon'ble Supreme Court despite dismissing the Special Leave Petition, clarified in the Order that the impugned Order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court shall be confined to the M.D. Course and not to the M.B.B.S. Course. Reliance was also placed on the decision of this High Court in Vineet Singh and Another v. State of Sikkim and Others 2016 SCC OnLine Sikk 210 and the Judgment of the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jodhpur, in Shanti Lal v. State of Rajasthan S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.9198/2017.