Kerala High Court: The Bench of P.V. Asha, J. dismissed a civil writ petition filed by an Assistant Professor holding that Court cannot interfere with the academic qualifications prescribed for an academic post.
The petitioner, an Assistant Professor working on contract basis in the faculty of Dairy Sciences and Technology of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University filed the instant petition challenging the First Statute relating to qualification for the post of Assistant Professors in the said University.
Petitioner’s contention was that the qualification prescribed for appointment as Assistant Professor in the concerned faculty was vague and made with malafide intention to give appointment to certain persons. Respondent submitted that the petitioner was challenging the statute only because she is an MBA holder with B.Sc in Computer Science and NET qualified without any basic qualification/ degree in Dairy Science and Technology.
The Court examined the provisions of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Act, 2010 and opined that UGC Regulations as well as Clause 140 of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University First Statutes provided that the qualification for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor should be good academic record with at least 55% marks at the Masters Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University or equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university with pass in NET. The discipline in question is Dairy Business Management. Admittedly, the petitioner had no qualification having any relevancy in dairy.
Relying on the Judgment of Apex Court in Dr Basavaiah v. Dr H.L. Ramesh, (2010) 8 SCC 372 it was held that the qualifications as to academic requirement had been prescribed by the government with the help of experts in the field. Therefore, this Court was not supposed to interfere with such matters which had already been dealt with by competent persons having sufficient expertise in the field. [Rekha U. Menon v. Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, 2018 SCC OnLine Ker 7702, Order dated 19-12-2018]
